Troy Returns Home for Showdown with ULM

TROY, Alabama – As the calendar turns to November, the Troy football team is playing with a lot of confidence heading into Saturday's Sun Belt tilt against ULM in Veterans Memorial Stadium following back-to-back solid performances.

Kickoff between the Trojans and Warhawks is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. 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 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.

Fans are encouraged to come to Tailgate Terrace (plaza located at the South end of the stadium) for Trojan Walk, which will begin at 12:15 p.m.

"Overall, I'm disappointed in the outcome (at Appalachian State) but I felt like we had a great shot," Troy head coach Neal Brown said. "I felt that all week. I thought our guys; I could see us growing as a football team, and I thought we had a chance. I'm encouraged by our improvement over the last two weeks. We are showing signs of growth; I think that's clear. I think we are embracing the next-play attitude that we've really stressed since the Idaho game."

Troy (2-6, 1-3 Sun Belt) is coming off an emotional 44-41 loss at App State last weekend in triple-overtime. Troy's performance against the Sun Belt leaders should be admired as the Trojans scored 41 points against a defense that had allowed just 43 points combined against its six previous Group of Five opponents; the Mountaineers had outscored those opponents by a 43-7 average.

The Trojans recorded 450 yards of total offense against what was the nation's seventh best heading into the contest. Sophomore quarterback Brandon Silvers threw for 265 yards and a touchdown, while rushing for a pair of scores. Running backs Andre Flakes and Brandon Burks combined for 110 yards and two rushing touchdowns, while Teddy Ruben caught nine passes for 83 yards and a score. Ruben leads all Sun Belt receivers with six touchdown receptions and is averaging 100.3 receiving yards over the last three games.

Troy enters the game against ULM having scored 93 points in its last two games, which is the most by a Trojan team in consecutive games against FBS teams since 2009.

Despite playing without its top pass rusher in Tyler Roberts, the Trojans still sacked App State's Taylor Lamb three times and made nine total stops behind the line of scrimmage. Troy ranks 21^st nationally and second in the Sun Belt with 7.5 tackles for loss per game.

Troy's turnaround defensively this season has been impressive under coordinator Vic Koenning. Troy is allowing 1.1 fewer yards per play than a year ago, which ranks as the fifth-best improvement in the country.

ULM (1-7, 0-4) is also coming into the contest off a heartbreaker as the Warhawks let a 15-point lead slip away at UL Lafayette last weekend for their sixth-straight loss.

The offense is run by redshirt freshman quarterback Garrett Smith, who has completed 57.5 percent of his passes for an average of 219.5 yards per game – he has 15 touchdowns and nine interceptions. Louisiana's offense is expected to welcome back All-Sun Belt wide receiver Rashon Ceaser this weekend after he has missed the past five games with an ankle injury.

Defensively, linebacker Hunter Kissinger ranks fourth nationally with 11.3 tackles per game for a unit that is allowing 35.8 points and 433.5 yards per game. The Warhawks have 12 sacks as a team led by Ben Banogu's three.

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Players Mentioned

Brandon Burks

Andre Flakes

Tyler Roberts

Teddy Ruben

Brandon Silvers

Troy University Athletics