2001: The Third Weekend in September

Sitting at 0-2 in their Division I-A maiden voyage, Troy had soul-searching to do as they approached their week 3 matchup with Appalachian State. The Mountaineers were a familiar foe for the Trojans, as they had split a series the year before. Troy won the regular season matchup, but App found success in the playoff game.

Before the previous week’s loss to Wake Forest, App was ranked #3 in FCS. This would have made for a much more intriguing matchup if the Trojans were in a better place in the win-loss columns. 

The real problem for Troy, however, wasn’t that they lost, but more the way they lost. Beating the spread and looking competent against Nebraska was as near a win as they could have asked for. The hapless outing against MTSU though was beyond the pale.

This same team that won more than 90 games in the past decade already had the same number of losses as each of the past two seasons. Troy would have to regroup if they were going to find success moving forward. 

Larry Blakeney and his team were at least self-aware enough to realize their mistakes. Linebacker Jimmy McClain was very blunt.

“I don’t know what happened,” McClain said. “We were overconfident coming in because of what we did here two years ago [a 48-31 win in Murfreesboro] and just got beat.”

Coach Blakeney acknowledged his team’s grit and determination.

“We are not going to give up, I can promise you that,” he told fans. “We are going to get back to playing Trojan football.”

As of 7:46 am central time on September 11th, none of this mattered. As the events of the day unfolded, the events of any football season proved insignificant as tragedy unfolded 1,000 miles away. 

Major League Baseball cancelled games as soon as possible that Tuesday. As questions mounted and the extent of the attacks were still being assessed, other leagues and sports began determining whether to continue forward.

Initial reports on the 12th and 13th showed that Troy and Appalachian State would move forward, as would most football games in the Yellowhammer State.

Trojan Athletic Director Johnny Williams stated that Troy planned a pregame ceremony to remember the victims of the 9/11 attacks.

“We want to remember the victims of this terrible act,” he said. “But we also believe that it is important to carry on and allow the healing process to begin.

“We should not allow these terrorists to disrupt our lives any further. The safety of our athletes, support personnel, and fans was considered. In the end, we felt it was both safe and positive for the game to continue as planned.”

Almost as quickly as the decision to move forward was made, the plans changed once again. On the 14th of September, the App State-Troy game was officially postponed.

The game could be played if Troy and Jacksonville State moved up the November 17 game to their shared open date on September 29. App couldn’t play past November 17th, due to the likelihood of being in the I-AA playoffs.

Troy AD Johnny Williams said that after discussing it with App State officials and fans of the program, they lined up that plan.

“We felt that the decision to postpone the game would be appropriate and in line with the majority of the college football community,” he said.

Jacksonville State said no. Appalachian State and Troy didn’t meet again on the field until 2014, when the Mountaineers joined the Sun Belt.

Reports say Troy talked with numerous teams to fill the open Sept. 29 weekend, including Syracuse, Cincinnati, Murray State, Southwest Texas (now Texas State), Northwestern State, Navy, and South Carolina. None of them worked out.

Discussions were even fairly far along for a potential Thursday game that week with Tuskegee, but that fell through as well. There was even a very, VERY slim chance that if they couldn’t get things worked out with Southern Miss, that Alabama could be a potential opponent for the Trojans.

The Tide and the Eagles figured it out, resulting in a regular season game played AFTER the Iron Bowl. That only happened twice before (JFK’s assassination and a 1988 hurricane).

Ultimately, the shakeup of the schedule would be settled when Troy and North Texas came together and scheduled a game in Troy December 1. They also agreed to two follow-up games in Denton in 2003 and 2004.

As for Veterans Memorial Stadium, it sat empty for another week. Troy may not have won that weekend, but for the first time all season, the Trojans didn’t lose.

There is no way in this article to evoke the thoughts, feelings, and everything else that turned the world upside down. September 11th is a defining moment in many people’s lives, either through direct tragedy or by simply living through such a monumental moment in our nation’s history.

It was a trying and uncertain time in college football, too, as teams scrambled to figure out the next move. It was unlike anything that we would see in the college football world… for at least 19 years.