Living up to expectations

By nature, Shawn Southward isn't a person to say, "Told ya so."

His play at Troy recently is doing that for him.

Passed by in the recruitnig process by the mighty SEC because he didn't measure up to the specs most coaches are looking for from their running backs, Southward has settled in at Troy quite nicely this freshman season.

In his first start this past Saturday, Southward rushed for 139 yards and tied a school record with four touchdowns to help the Trojans pull away from Western Kentucky in a 40-20 win.

Even this week when Troy plays Arkansas, Southward isn't looking to make any kind of a statement that he was good enough to play in the SEC. For the 5-foot-9, 184-pound Southward, contributing to the Trojans success is enough of a reward.

Southward said he's not surprised by his success or that he didn't have to take a redshirt season, either.

"I didn't know that was a rule that I would have to redshirt," he said, laughing in response to a question about getting early playing time. "I just came down here and tried to work hard. It was a great situation for me because we run the same offense here that we did at Florence."

Southward was an all-state performer for the Falcons, finishing his career with more than 1,700 yards. Known for his toughness, work ethic and versatility, Southward hasn't slowed a bit for the Sun Belt Conference team.

"In (fall) camp, I started to figure things out and adjusting to everything," Southward said. "It's still tough, and the speed of the game is the biggest difference from high school. We have a great program at Florence, and it's not a lot different from what I was doing there."

Obviously, Southward caught the attention of head coach Larry Blakeney to get his first start. Blakeney was not disappoiinted after watching the freshman against Western Kentucky.

"Southward will really take the ball, stick his foot in the ground and get rough with it," Blakeney said after the game. "He found a few creases when we started running him a little bit. I'm really happy for him. I like what I see."

Southward said he thinks he began to get noticed because of his improvement in pass blocking. Asked to help protect quarterback Levi Brown, Southward hasn't been afraid to take on players 100 pounds heavier than him.

"That's the area I've improved the most," he said. "I think i showed coach Blakeney that I can do everything. I showed that I wasn't scared."

When the Trojans (7-2) travel to Arkansas on Saturday, Southward will face an SEC defense for the second time. His first experience against an SEC team game in the Swamp, Florida's home field. He rushed three times for 27 yards before sustaining an ankle injury.

"It was an amazing feeling," he said of walking onto the field that day. "Unreal."

Now that he's got a spot in the starting lineup, Southward doesn't plan on giving it up any time soon. And, maybe at the end of his career, he'll look back at those teams that passed him by and say, "Told ya so."

Gregg Dewalt can be reached at 740-5748 or gregg.dewalt@TimesDaily.com.