Sorry I didn’t get this posted yesterday. The Tennis Classic of Troy and football press conference took up most of my day.

* CB T.J. Bryant and S Chris Pickett are finished with their 2-game suspension and will be in uniform vs. Western Kentucky.

** Offensive coordinator Kenny Edenfield said the team has had a very productive couple of days of practice. He said coaches didn’t mention turnovers to the players, but went through all the ball security drills as usual. Edenfield said last week that he thought maybe the coaches were harping on turnovers so much that the players were concentrating on it too much, so they are trying a different approach. Troy is -6 in turnover margin this season.

***Running Back/Wide Receiver Justin Albert mentioned the importance of the WKU game saying “This is our bowl game.”

****Head coach Larry Blakeney on WKU: “They’re straight at you. They’ll get you out of position with the shifts and motion. About the time you think you’ve got all that figured out, they’ll try to hit you with a deep one, or one of those tight ends. They have a lot of ways to get the ball down the field, off the play pass, pretty much. They will go to the gun some, if they’re in a long-yardage situation. (Kuwaun) Jakes has been running that offense now for a couple of years.”

Speaking of Jakes, the WKU quarterback has been practicing and will were a brace on his knee for Thursday’s game according to Chad Bishop of the Bowling Green Daily News.

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INJURY UPDATE

DT Shermane TeArt (shoulder) – Has been practicing and should play.

RG Jimmie Arnold (ankle) – Will be a game time decision, but looks likely that he’ll try and play.

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NOTES

The key matchup in this game will be Troy’s offensive line versus the Western Kentucky pass rush. The Hilltoppers run their base defense most of the time and will bring pressure at any given point. WKU is 14th in the country in sacks, pass defense and total defense. DE Quanterus Smith leads the nation n sack with 6.5. As a team WKU has sacked opposing quarterbacks 15 times.

After its win over Arkansas State, the Hilltoppers became just the third team in the history of the Sun Belt Conference to start a season with a 4-1 record or better. In 2011, Louisiana-Lafayette began the year by winning six of its fi rst seven games, and in 2001 Middle Tennessee began the year 5-0.