The “Battle for the Belt” is on the line, first place in the Sun Belt West Division, the winner becomes bowl eligible, a national TV audience via ESPNU, bragging rights
JON JOHNSON for a year in this in-state rivalry – all the storylines that make the Troy at South Alabama matchup at Hancock Whitney Stadium more intriguing than ever. But Troy head coach Jon Sumrall and South Alabama head coach Kane Wommack understand all the hype surrounding the game means nothing if their teams aren’t well prepared to play for 60 minutes on the field, where the game ultimately will be decided.
“But if you get caught up in all the stuff that’s on the periphery that has no effect on how you play the game, you can get distracted, too,” Sumrall said. “If you’re not emotionally excited about playing this game, you probably need to check your pulse or figure out why you’re doing what you’re doing. For us, it’s about really focusing on making sure you’re prepared and you’re ready to execute at a high level and play with tremendous effort. People are also reading… “I’m not going to talk all week about the prize that may be at the end. It’s about how you run the race. If we get so focused on the prize, you lose focus on running the race the right way.” South Alabama enters the game 5-1 overall – the lone loss being by one point at No. 9-ranked UCLA – and perfect in the Sun Belt at 2-0. Troy is 5-2 overall – winners of four straight – and 3-1 in the conference."I told the players ‘In this building there are a number of things to point to that are potential distractions for us, and they are distractions if we allow them to be, particularly if we allow them to distract us from the detail and relentless effort it takes to be consistent in the things that we are doing in this building day in and day out to get us to a outcome on Thursday,’” Wommack said at his weekly press conference. “You look at a packed Hancock Whitney Stadium, and all those things are really great, but ultimately this team is in the position that we are because we've been so relentless in the detail of our process, so those are the things that we are going to talk about this week.” Who Troy will start at quarterback is a bit of a mystery. Gunnar Watson started last Saturday against Texas State, but had to come out of the game after his helmet was knocked off late in the third quarter and never returned. Back-up quarterback Jarret Doege entered, got the hot hand passing and led the team to the game-winning touchdown. Three games ago at Western Kentucky, Watson suffered an upper body injury on a hard hit in the third quarter and Doege took his place and threw two fourth-quarter touchdowns in leading the Trojans to victory. Doege started and went the distance during a win over Southern Miss the next week, but Watson was back in the starting lineup last week. “When you use a two-quarterback system, you have scenarios where you have a running quarterback and a throwing one, but this situation is not the case,” Wommack said. “There may be subtle differences in some of the things they do based off what they do in their passing game that one quarterback maybe a little more comfortable doing than the other one, but is ultimately running the same system with both of these guys. “We may do a couple of things based off whether we see this guy or the other, just because of things they've put on film or a weakness that we feel like we might be able to expose on an individual quarterback, but ultimately, we will be prepared for both and I don't think it will change their plan dramatically one way or another.” There is no wondering who will line up under center when South Alabama trots out on offense for the first time Thursday. Carter Bradley, a transfer from Toledo, has been a difference-maker for the Jaguars. In last Saturday’s win over ULM, Bradley passed for a school-record 420 yards and has thrown 13 touchdown passes this season. “He is the real deal,” Sumrall said. “He’s got real big arm talent, quick release, really good anticipation, good with his feet, good pocket awareness and presence. He’s a huge difference with their team.” There are some questions concerning South Alabama’s running game. The top running back, La’Damian Webb, was injured in the first quarter of the ULM game and his backup, Braylon McReynolds, has been out with a leg injury. Their status to play Thursday is unclear, but Omni Wells and Macro Lee did fine in their absence against ULM, combining for 178 yards and two scores.”Anybody that loves the game of football, particularly us defensive coaches, the way he plays the game as a linebacker, you can't not enjoy watching him,” Wommack said."That being said, when you play great players like that, it only raises the level of expectation that I would like to see someone operate when we go against someone like him. It's good on both ends, but I'm certainly proud of Carlton and what he represents for the city of Mobile.” The two teams have met 10 times prior to this week's contest with Troy holding a 7-3 advantage, which includes wins in the last four meetings.
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