Trojan Football Outlook

2004 Trojan Football Outlook

The mighty Trojans of Virginia State University finished the 2003 season with a 5-5 overall record and a 2-3 CIAA record. Even with a full recruiting season, Coach Faison is faced with some additional challenges for the 2004 season. During the 2003 season the Trojans had a fairly new coaching staff. This season, Coach Faison is faced with that same challenge of having to replace key personnel on the Trojans’ staff. Despite the changes in the coaching staff, Coach Faison will not change the Trojans’ approach, which is to be physically aggressive from start to finish.

On the offensive side of the line, Coach Michael Winbush is the Trojans’ new offensive coordinator. Coach Winbush loves to drive the ball up the field using a power running attack. He believes in wearing an opponent‘s defense down, so by the end of fourth quarter only the Trojans are standing. With the departure of CIAA MVP Kevin Jones, All-CIAA Coy Brown, Hugh Hopson and Eric Plant, the Trojans have some huge holes to fill.

If the Trojans are to employ a powerful running attack, the offensive line will be the center of focus. Larry Goode, Jermaine Lafatte and Questoveous King should anchor the offensive line. Last season, the Trojans totaled 1,007 yards on the ground with 9 rushing touchdowns. Michael Watkins, Dennis Jones and Cleaves Jordan accounted for 937 rushing yards and 8 rushing touchdowns. Dennis Jones and George Boykins will be the featured rushers due to the graduation of Michael Watkins.

Having a desire to create a comfortable medium between an aggressive running attack and a productive passing game, Coach Faison will depend on an experienced receiving unit. Jerome Jeter, P.J. Berry, Antwun Williams and Joshua Lewis are a solid group of receivers. Pulling the trigger for the Trojans’ air attack could be second player, Lamar Blizzard. Blizzard has the size and strength, but lacks true game experience. The Trojans’ passing game produced 2, 405 yards and 20 touchdowns. Trying to achieve those same numbers could be very tough for a young quarterback.

As a former defensive all-star and defensive coordinator, Coach Faison believes in smash mouth football. In short, be the aggressor and set the tone from kickoff to the final tick tock on the clock. Neil Purvis, Rashad Pitts, Darius Robinson and Charles Zollicoffer are in charge of the defensive line of scrimmage. Purvis and Pitts combined for 70 tackles and 21 tackles for loss yardage during the 2003 season. The Trojans’ defense gave up 3,029 yards of total offense and 171 first downs. These are two areas that Coach Faison knows they need to improve upon.

The secondary is blessed with a wealth of experienced performers such as Omar Philmore, Sean Wade, Kenny Painter and Pierre Lee. The linebackers are Dewayne Taylor, Otis Grandson, Ashley Chandler and Yuri Norrell. The secondary accounted for 13 interceptions while the linebackers stole 3 passes from opponents. The Trojans secondary and linebackers are as solid as a rock.

The kicking game and special teams should perform at a higher level this season, because of the quality playing experience that Museh Conteh and Dean Taylor were afforded. Conteh and Taylor have a solid year confidence going into the 2004 season.