Troy Takes High-Powered Offense on the Road to Mississippi State

Saturday, September 21

Starkville, Miss.

6:30 p.m.

Troy University

Mississippi State

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

Troy Takes High-Powered Offense on the Road to Mississippi State

9/20/2013 9:56:00 AM | Football

By: Adam Prendergast

Listen Live l Live Stats l Watch Live (ESPN3 - Blacked out in 11 SEC-state territory) l Parking & Gameday Information l Twitter: TroyTrojansFB

TROY, Ala. – Armed with one of the top offensive threats in the country, Troy hits the road for the second straight week, this time into SEC country to take on Mississippi State in Davis Wade Stadium Saturday night.

Kickoff between the Trojans and Bulldogs is set for 6:38 p.m. in a game that will be televised live by Fox Sports South. Fans can listen to the Troy IMG Radio Network broadcast of the game for free on TroyTrojans.com or on one of Troy's 18 radio affiliates.

The Trojans (2-1) travel to Starkville averaging 44.7 points per game thanks to 367.7 yards per game through the air and 547.3 yards of total offense, all three rank among the top 17 in the country.

Leading the offensive charge for the Trojans is the triple-headed attack of quarterbacks Corey Robinson and Deon Anthony and wide receiver Eric Thomas.

Robinson has thrown seven touchdown passes – five to Thomas – and has completed 75.5 percent of his passes this season. Anthony leads the Trojans with 69.0 rushing yards per game, but has also completed 76.9 percent of his passes on the year. Thomas is second nationally with his five touchdown grabs and is just two shy of tying the all-time Sun Belt mark held by FIU's T.Y. Hilton.

The Troy running game will feature a pair of young ball carriers in sophomore Brandon Burks and true freshman Jordan Chunn. The pair has combined for four rushing touchdowns and is averaging over 75 yards per game between them.

Sophomore defensive end Tyler Roberts has been the leader for the Troy defense early on with 2.5 sacks, 3.5 tackles for loss and 14 tackles. Safety Camren Hudson leads the Trojans with 16 tackles while defensive end Jadarius Garner has a team-high 4.0 tackles for loss to go with 2.0 sacks and a pair of forced fumbles.

The Bulldogs (1-2) return home following a last-second loss at Auburn last weekend in their SEC opener. Mississippi State defeated Alcorn State two weeks ago in its home opener after falling to Oklahoma State to open the season.

It is still unclear who will start under center for the Bulldogs after returning starter Tyler Russell suffered a concussion against Oklahoma State and backup QB Dak Prescott has taken the snaps in the last two games.

The meeting between the Trojans and Bulldogs will be the fourth in the series and all three previous meetings have been close games. Troy defeated Mississippi State 21-9 in the first meeting between the schools in 2001 and the Bulldogs won the following year 11-8. Last season Mississippi State visited Troy and escaped with a 30-24 victory.