Judy Morgan: An Unsung Hero

Many times you hear players or coaches refer to a football team as a family, but it is not as often that you hear about the team mom.

Troy v. Louisiana Lafayette

Despite a record setting night on offense, the Troy football team lost its conference opener Saturday to Louisiana-Lafayette 37-24.

The downfall for the Trojans was three turnovers that the Ragin’ Cajuns turned into points.

“If we had played a little bit better and made a little bit fewer mistakes, we could’ve been in the hunt at the end to win it,” coach Larry Blakeney said.

The Trojans first fumble came late in the first quarter after a pass from quarterback Corey Robinson to wide receiver Chandler Worthy was stripped from Worthy’s grasp.

Jermarlo Moten returned the fumble 56 yards for the touchdown to put the Ragin’ Cajuns on top 14-7.

That score gave Louisiana-Lafayette momentum and put them on top for good.

Robinson had a record setting night for Troy breaking five school records in the loss.

He broke three career marks and two single-game records including completions and passing yards.

Robinson was 46-of-70 for 485 yards and two touchdowns but gave the credit for his accomplishments to his coaches and teammates.

“I haven’t done it alone,” Robinson said. “I want to thank all those guys and my coaches for sticking with me and believing in me.”

Troy had 588 total yards of offense, but only 60 yards came on the ground.

The rushing attack that was successful against UAB was almost non-existent against Louisiana-Lafayette.

“Everybody blocked well,” Shawn Southward, running back, said. “Lafayette was on it. They did a great job stopping the run.”

Troy had almost 200 more offensive yards than Louisiana-Lafayette, however Troy was out rushed 218 yards to just 60 for the Trojans.

“It looks like it boils down to me being able to rush the football,” Blakeney said. “They had no fumbles lost and out rushed us and I think that’s a big key.”

Along with the turnovers, Troy was unable to convert twice on fourth down resulting in a turnover on downs.

The Trojans were 4-of-5 in the red zone but only got in the end zone three times.

“We’ve just got to get better in the red zone and capitalizing,” Robinson said.

“We can put up the yards all day,” he said. “We’ve just got to get in the end zone and once we start doing that we’ll be tough to beat.”

Despite the loss, players said the morale of the team was still high and unlike last year, they were not going to be discouraged but rather move forward.

“I don’t see us falling out this year,” Southward said. “Everybody is going to come together and we’re going to keep practicing hard and get wins.”

Even with an SEC opponent next weekend in Mississippi State, coach Blakeney said he was confident his team would be ready.

“We’re a little bit behind the 8-ball right now but you never know when we’ll peek out from behind it,” Blakeney said.

I love being a journalist

Being a journalist has perks.

Viewing games from the sideline or the press box, knowing players and coaches behind the scenes, and being the first to hear breaking news.

There's another perk though that has nothing to do with any benefit I could receive.

It's the way my mind works.

When I'm watching SportsCenter and they do something creative, my mind runs wild.

I want to be able to work with the limitless resources they have.

They did a story on Peyton Manning this morning (I probably paid a little more attention since I am a Manning fan) and about his attention to detail.

The shot began with the anchor just standing there talking to the camera with the anchor well in the distance.

 The story was about the fact that he has a camera placed 10 yards behind him on the field on a ladder so that he can observe his footing and which direction his helmet is facing.

As the camera zoomed in, they rotated around the anchor to show that there was indeed a ladder behind him with a camera girl filming him and as he went to intro the story, he turned around and they put him on the shot that was from the ladder.

HOW CREATIVE CAN YOU GET?

It blew my mind.

It was so perfect for the story.

That's what I love.

Seeing things from a journalistic mindset.

Just something I wanted to share and if you haven't seen it, run to your tv, flip it to SportsCenter, and sit for a spell.

Does anyone even care?

The Miami Heat are the 2012 NBA Champions.

The playoffs have FINALLY ended.

Will you miss the NBA?

Or is college basketball more your taste?

Put me in Coach

On May 29, the world lost one of the few good men left.

Coach Kyle Dawkins.

The name alone means so much to so many people.

It's synonymous with loving, faithful, happy and helpful.

He was a coach, a father, a mentor and a friend to countless young men and women who will never forget the impact Coach left on them.

More importantly than any of those, he was a servant of his savior.

He didn't just coach students in sports, he coached them in life. 

His testimony of love leaves behind a legacy that will continue to impact lives.

So go out today and give someone a big ol' Coach Dawkins bear hug, and tell them you love them in his memory.

And make a difference in their life, because he did in so many.

Just a scan of his Facebook page shows the impact he had on countless individuals.

It's heartwarming to read the stories left about how he was a father figure to so many young students, and how he always greeted you with a smile and a hug.

But what impacts me most is seeing the posts that say, "This isn't goodbye, it's see ya later."

That is exactly what Coach would have wanted us to say.

It's not goodbye, it's see ya later.