Troy Closes Home Slate with Georgia Southern on Saturday

TROY, Alabama – Three games, 144 points and 18 touchdowns. Those are the numbers for the Troy football team heading into Saturday's home finale against Georgia Southern at 2:30 p.m. in Veterans Memorial Stadium; the game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

The Trojans have scored 52, 41 and 51 points, respectively, in their last three games for an average of 48 points per game, while holding their opposition to a combined 21 points in two of the three games.

The Troy Sports Radio Network will have full coverage of the game beginning with the pregame show at 12:30 p.m. on the full 16-station network. The pregame show will originate live from the Alumni House and fans can engage on social media using the hashtag #RebuildTheWall.

Troy (3-6, 2-3 Sun Belt) scored points in all three phases in its 51-14 victory over ULM last weekend. The Trojans found the end zone four times on offense, twice on defense and Jed Solomon added three field goals in the win.

The Trojans averaged 9.8 yards per play and racked up 334 yards in the opening half against the Warhawks before turning on the cruise control for the remainder of the game. Three weeks ago at New Mexico State, the Trojans tallied 415 yards in the opening half and averaged 10.1 yards per play.

"Our guys are playing with a lot more confidence. We got off to a quick start against ULM, which I thought was crucial," Troy head coach Neal Brown said. "We've got a big challenge this week, and we're getting better. I think right now that Appalachian State, Arkansas State and Georgia Southern are playing at the top of our league. I'm interested and excited to see how close we are."

Troy had its chances to knock off Appalachian State two weeks ago in Boone, but ultimately fell by three points in triple-overtime. This weekend, the Trojans have a chance to do something that only one other Sun Belt team has done in the past two years – win against Georgia Southern. The Eagles (6-2, 4-1) dropped a 31-13 decision at App State back on Oct. 22 and are 12-1 in league games since joining the Sun Belt.

"They've only lost one Sun Belt game in two years, so they've been dominant in league games," Brown said. "They'll be well rested, they haven't played since Oct. 29, and this is going to be third game in conference we've played that the opponent will have extra days rest. Coming into our game, it will be the fourth overall opponent we've played this year that will have extra rest. The schedule makers didn't do us any favors on that deal."

The Trojans are 2-1 in the previous three games against opponents that had more than seven days to prepare for the game with wins over ULM and Charleston Southern and a loss to Idaho.

A lot of Troy's success offensively the past three weeks can be traced to the play of quarterback Brandon Silvers. The sophomore signal caller has 10 touchdown passes while averaging 293.0 yards per game. Silvers had missed the previous seven quarters of action due to injury heading into that three-game stretch.

Brandon Burks has carried the load on the ground with a pair of rushing touchdowns and an average of 98.3 yards over the last three games, while Teddy Ruben is averaging 82.3 receiving yards with three touchdowns. An emerging star among the receiving corps is sophomore Emanuel Thompson, who has a pair of touchdowns and is averaging 51.3 yards over the past three games.

The Troy defense will be tested by Georgia Southern's spread option this weekend. The Trojans are one of the most improved units in the country and the most improved when it comes to third-down, which could be critical against the Eagles' rushing attack. Troy is holding opponents to just 32.12 percent on third down after surrendering conversions 50.6 percent of the time last year.

Linebacker William Lloyd leads the Trojans with 59 tackles, while bandit Tyler Roberts paces the unit with 9.5 tackles for loss and defensive end Rashad Dillard has a team-high 5.0 sacks. In league games, the Trojans lead the Sun Belt in scoring defense (21.6), sacks (16) and third-down defense (31.3).

The Eagles enter with the nation's top rushing attack at 385.6 yards per game and the nation's lowest-ranked passing offense at 61.5 yards per game. Running back Matt Breida leads the way on the ground averaging 144.8 yards per game and 9.5 yards per carry, while quarterback Kevin Ellison is picking up 73.0 yards per game and 7.2 yards per carry.

Defensively, the Eagles are led by Antwione Williams' 67 tackles and 7.0 tackles for loss, while Antonio Glover ranks third nationally with six interceptions. Georgia Southern is second in the league yielding just 357.1 yards and 24.4 points per game.

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Players Mentioned

Brandon Burks

Rashad Dillard

William Lloyd

Tyler Roberts

Teddy Ruben

Brandon Silvers

Jed Solomon

Emanuel Thompson