Troy Heads West Looking for Redemption

TROY, Alabama – Troy has walked a razor-thin line between victory and defeat in its first two Sun Belt games of the year, and the Trojans have come up on the wrong side of the final score both times. The Trojans head west this weekend looking to reverse that trend when they play at New Mexico State on Saturday.

Kickoff is scheduled for 7:07 p.m. (CDT) from Aggie Memorial Stadium and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN3. The Troy Sports Radio Network will have full coverage of the game beginning with the pregame show at 5 p.m. on the full 16-station network.

Troy's two Sun Belt losses have come by a combined nine points and the Trojans had opportunities at the end of each game to come away with a victory. The key number in both contests was seven combined turnovers by Troy compared to two by the opposition.

"I think the story of the (Idaho) game, if you look at the statistics, is we had four turnovers and they had zero," Troy head coach Neal Brown said. "We're going to have a hard time winning in our league with that type of turnover margin differential."

There is no question that both teams will be hungry for a victory on Saturday as the Trojans (1-5, 0-2) look for redemption from their first two league games, while New Mexico State (0-6, 0-2) is looking to snap a 16-game losing streak.

"I have a lot of respect for coach (Doug) Martin. He is doing it the right way there," Brown said. "They played a ton of young kids last year and those kids are a year older. They have added a few high school pieces to that. He is doing it the right way and they are getting better. They are solid and not beating themselves, which I think is important. That is something that I think we may have done a little bit with these turnovers."

Uncertainty at quarterback is a theme for both teams as neither starter played last weekend. Troy's Brandon Silvers suffered an injury at Mississippi State and will be a game-time decision on Saturday, while New Mexico State's Tyler Rogers broke his non-throwing thumb a couple weeks ago; the Aggies have already announced sophomore Andrew Allen as Saturday's starter.

If Silvers can't go for the Trojans, senior Dallas Tidwell will get the call after completing 12-of-24 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown last week against Idaho. Tidwell took over with Troy trailing 16-3 with 1:33 to play in the third quarter and helped orchestrate 13-straight points to tie the game before Idaho got a late field goal to win.

Senior running back Brandon Burks broke off another big run last week as he took the opening snap of the second half for 51 yards – his third run of 50 or more yards this season. Brown will be looking for more positive yards out of the running game this week as the Trojans had 18 negative rushing yards (not including sacks) against Idaho.

"Our philosophy of running the football is that it should be a zero gain at the worst," Brown said. "Our running backs have to buy in to that and have to stick their foot in the ground rather than trying to make a big play."

Defensively, the Trojans are one of the most improved units in the country. Troy is allowing 78 fewer yards per game this year than it did in 2014, which is the 14^th best turnaround in the country.

A big reason for Troy's improvement has been its ability to get to the quarterback and make plays behind the line of scrimmage. The Trojans are second in the Sun Belt with 2.17 sacks per game and third with 6.17 tackles for loss per game; additionally, the Trojans have 23 quarterback hurries on the year after recording just eight last season.

Defensive end Tyler Roberts leads the Trojans with 3.5 sacks and 7.0 tackles for loss, while linebacker William Lloyd leads the unit with 47 tackles and is right behind Roberts with 5.0 tackles for loss.

With the loss of Rogers and the uncertainty of top wide receiver Teldrick Morgan for the Aggies, running back Larry Rose III might carry the load for the offense. The sophomore is second in the Sun Belt with 114.5 yards per game on the ground and has found the end zone six times.

The Aggies have struggled on defense as they are allowing an average of 48.5 points and 572.2 yards per game, albeit against a schedule that features Florida and Ole Miss.

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Players Mentioned

Brandon Burks

William Lloyd

Tyler Roberts

Brandon Silvers

Dallas Tidwell

Troy University Athletics