9. Troy’s defense took a big hit with a handful of players heading off to the NFL, including 11th overall pick Leodis McKelvin. Is the defense going to hold them back this season?
DC: Only if the cornerbacks don’t develop and the defensive tackles don’t turn out to be productive. Troy has three very experienced safeties in Tavares Williams, Sherrod Martin, and Terence Moore—Moore will play the nickel back this year—and the two top linebackers are juniors (they must both stay healthy though).
BM: Maybe the CBs (early) but, overall, the defense will be good. The line is athletic (remember DeMarcus Ware of the Cowboys and Osi Umenyiora of the Giants were Troy Trojans) with a couple of great speed ends, Brandon Lang and Kenny Mainor. There’s experience with linebacker Boris Lee and safety Sherrod Martin.
The corners are the weak spot, but everything else defensively is excellent. I’m not talking stop-the-Buckeyes-cold excellent, but really good.
10. Troy signs a lot of junior college players. What do you think of this strategy? Is it the best way for them to compete, or is it overused?
BM: Face it, Troy isn’t going to go head-to-head with Auburn and Alabama and Georgia and Florida State and win a lot of recruiting battles. They have to look a little closer and take some more chances on kids, particularly JCs and prep school guys.
You can take a “project” as a freshman and develop him, and maybe he’ll be ready to contribute by his junior year, or you can take a physically mature, ready-for-prime-time juco and plug him right in. It’s not a magic wand, and you can overuse the JC route (particularly if a couple of them are misses).
Here's the best way I can characterize it: You don’t want to build with them, but you can patch with them.
DC: I think it’s the best way to reload and compete for championships year after year in the Sun Belt. That way, if a starter gets hurt, a JUCO can be plugged in if there’s one there, instead of a true freshman. ULM did that this year, and with what they have coming back, it’s why I picked them to win the Sun Belt.
11. Finally, pretend you are an anonymous coach and give us a few quotes about Ohio State.
DC: “It’s going to be war out there. There's no secret that they're the most physical team we'll play all year. Those linebackers are the best we'll see, and that big back (Beanie Wells) is unmatched by anyone in our league. I just hope we can counter some of our speed with the big punches in the gut we'll get from how physical of a team we are.”
BM: “College football people will go goose-pimply over their talent—for good reason—but the thing that I’ve noticed more than anything the last several years is how well they always seem to be prepared, defensively especially.
The common thread of logic about their linebackers, for instance, is that James Laurinaitis is a rough, physical guy. Bobby Carpenter was physical and tough. I understand that, but I also notice that those guys never seemed to be out of position, or confused, or fooled. I think Tressel and his staff have a great reputation as recruiters but are underrated as game-day coach-'em-up guys.
Troy’s defense is fast and athletic, but not tremendously big. If I was Jim Tressel, Beanie Wells carries it 35 times, 30 times between the tackles!”
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