Troy Hits the Road to Face No. 13 Georgia

TROY, Alabama- The Troy football team wraps up nonconference play this weekend as it travels to Athens, Ga., to take on No. 13 Georgia at Sanford Stadium.

The game will be televised by the SEC Network with kickoff slated for 11:01 a.m. (CT). The game can also be heard on the Troy Sports Radio Network with play-by-play coverage from Barry McKnight, color commentary from Jerry Miller and sideline reports from Chris Blackshear.

Troy (0-3) is coming off of a loss to Abilene Christian. Dontreal Pruitt led the Trojans on a last minute drive to score with 20 seconds left in the fourth quarter to give the Trojans a chance, only down 35-38. After an attempt at an onside kick did not work, the Trojans ran out of time.

Troy head coach Larry Blakeney is looking forward to another trip to Athens and a chance at a very good Georgia squad. "We have to try and find a way to sneak up on them and try to come out of there with some kind of victory," Blakeney said. "I have looked at both sides of the ball and they are very, very good: very athletic, very big and very fast. All of the things that Georgia should be, they are.

"We have been there before. I have been there myself as a player and assistant coach and it is a great place to play. In my opinion they have great fans. We look forward to the trip, the plan and try to execute and come out of there with some type of win."

With the status of starting quarterback unknown, both Pruitt and Brandon Silvers are qualified for the job, having thrown the ball 102 times without an interception. Silvers has a rushing touchdown in two straight games, becoming the first quarterback since Deon Anthony (2012), to do so. He also connected with Brandon Burks for a passing touchdown against Abilene Christian. Silvers ended the night 12-of-21 with 187 yards before having to leave the game with an injury mid-way through the third quarter. Pruitt finished the game and threw for 99 yards on 9-of-17 passing.

"I was impressed with Silvers' performance," Blakeney said. "He ran tough. He took care of the ball. Silvers is improving and hoping that he will recover in time to play, if not against Georgia, then the conference season."

"Pruitt is a dart in, dart out, scramble-type guy," Blakeney said. "If he can throw in rhythm, he really has a good throwing stroke and can hit what he's looking at. I hope he will play within himself and let the game come to him."

With Jordan Chunn, Brandon Burks and Khary Franklin in the backfield, Blakeney hopes the running game will step up this weekend. "We need to run the football effectively in our spread sets, maybe one or two backs, or maybe none."

Highlighting the defense against Abilene Christian was Femi Odaibo, who earned his first start and made it count. Odaibo grabbed two interceptions, the first of his career, and made three tackles.

The Bulldogs had an impressive win to start the season against then-No. 16 Clemson, in which they mauled the Tigers 45-21. Georgia (1-1) comes into the game this weekend after a hard fought loss at South Carolina, 38-35, last week.

Todd Gurley, a Heisman hopeful, is averaging 164.5 yards rushing per game, with four touchdowns in two games. Leading the offensive unit is quarterback Hutson Mason, who is 34-of- 48 on the year, with two touchdowns and no interceptions.

The Trojans and Bulldogs met for the first time in 2007, at Georgia. After a 44-34 loss at Sanford Stadium, Georgia leads the series 1-0.

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Players Mentioned

Deon Anthony

Brandon Burks

Jordan Chunn

Khary Franklin

Femi Odaibo

Dontreal Pruitt

Brandon Silvers

Troy University Athletics