Savannah State will be making its third venture into the world of the Football Bowl Subdivision tonight at 7, traveling to Troy, Ala., to meet the Troy Trojans of the Sun Belt Conference.
Troy may not sound as imposing as 2012 FBS opponents Oklahoma State and Florida State, but the Trojans’ high-powered passing attack will be a handful for a defense that allowed 651 yards and 77 points — albeit against a run-oriented offense — in the season-opening 77-9 loss to Georgia Southern.
“I just tell (the players) we’re building a foundation,” said Tigers coach Earnest Wilson. “Georgia Southern is the (10th-ranked) team in the country. We wanted to measure ourselves against them.”
SSU might have a different unit of measurement for FBS games. The Tigers will pocket $175,000 for their trip to Veteran Memorial Stadium, Troy’s director of media relations Adam Prendergast said.
Money games are important for Savannah State’s athletics budget. The school received $385,000 to play Oklahoma State and $475,000 to play Florida State.
Consider it blood money. The overmatched Tigers lost to Oklahoma State 84-0. Florida State scored on every possession while building a 55-0 advantage early in the third quarter when lightning in the Tallahassee, Fla., area mercifully ended the game.
Few would mention Troy’s football program in the same breath as Oklahoma State or Florida State, but the Trojans’ offense did a number on Tennessee last season.
That number was 721 — the number of offensive yards Troy amassed in a 55-48 loss to the Volunteers. It was the most yards ever allowed by Tennessee.
The Trojans (1-0) got off to a good start this season by defeating Alabama-Birmingham 34-31 in overtime. Senior quarterback Corey Robinson, the FBS returning leader in career passing yards with 10,258 and 61 touchdowns, is the key to the spread offense. Against UAB, Robinson set an FBS completion percentage record by completing 30 of 32 passes for 318 yards and a TD.
SSU runs a spread as well, but wasn’t nearly as efficient. Quarterbacks Leon Prunty and Zach Hutcheson combined to complete just 16 of 44 passes for 162 yards and three interceptions against Georgia Southern.
During the week of practice, Wilson said he might play both quarterbacks. Last year’s starter Antonio Bostick will be ineligible because of an undisclosed off-the-field issues.
Troy coach Larry Blakeney says he’ll make sure his players don’t overlook Savannah State. The Trojans will have a Sun Belt game against two-time defending conference champion Arkansas State on Thursday on ESPNU.
“Everybody at picking football in the world is picking Troy to win the game, and if you’re stupid then you’ll listen to everyone in the world and waltz out there and think you can win a game,” Blakeney said.
Wilson, who’s been on the job about three months, wants to see improvement from the 77-9 season-opening debacle.
“Even though the scoreboard said one thing, we know deep in our heart what we learned and what we already knew,” Wilson said. “If we just did what we’re suppose to do, and they saw their mistakes on film, we would have been a lot better off than what the scoreboard said. … I know we’re better. What people don’t realize is our potential’s great.’
SAVANNAH STATE
AT TROY
Records: SSU 0-1, 0-0 MEAC; Troy 1-0, 0-0 Sun Belt Conference
Where: Veterans Memorial Stadium, Troy, Ala.
When: 7 p.m. (Eastern) today
TV/radio/internet: No TV/WHCJ 90.3 FM/ESPN 3.