Troy Football Opens Home Slate Saturday vs. Charleston Southern

TROY, Alabama – While Troy didn't leave its season opener at NC State with a win in its back pocket, the Trojans and their fans learned a lot about what this team is made of heading into Saturday's home opener against Charleston Southern. Kickoff against the Buccaneers is scheduled for 6 p.m. in Veterans Memorial Stadium and the game will be broadcast live on ESPN3.

"I didn't think they backed down," Troy head coach Neal Brown said. "Sometimes, you get in those atmospheres – it was a good atmosphere, a good crowd, right around 60,000. It got loud, especially when we made it a game in the third quarter, and the end of the second quarter. It got loud and I thought our kids really stepped up."

It will be Troy's turn on Saturday to make a tough atmosphere for an opponent. With an expanded student section in Veterans Memorial Stadium and a high-energy team, it is Brown's hope that the Trojans defend their home turf like they did when he was an assistant coach. In four years with Brown on staff from 2006-09, the Trojans posted an 18-2 mark at home and a perfect 4-0 record against non-conference opponents.

The Troy Sports Radio Network will have full coverage of the game beginning with the pregame show at 4 p.m. on the full 16-station network. The pregame show will originate live from the Alumni House and fans are also encouraged to engage on social media using the hashtag #RebuildTheWall.

Troy's traditional trek to the stadium, Trojan Walk, will begin at 3:45 p.m. when the players make their way from the team buses at the entrance of Tailgate Terrace into Veterans Memorial Stadium. Fans will want to be sure to be in the stadium early as The Sound of the South and Troy Athletics will honor the life of Dr. Doug Hawkins with a special pregame tribute.

There were positives on both sides of the ball for the Trojans against the Wolfpack, as the offense picked up several big plays, including runs of 30 and 57 yards – the Trojans didn't get their second rush of over 20 yards last season until the sixth game of the year. On defense, Troy (0-1) recorded three sacks and seven tackles for loss, which was the most by a Troy team against a Power 5 opponent since they posted the same numbers against Arkansas in 2011.

"Defensively I thought we gave a good effort," Brown said. "I thought we competed, competed hard. They had to play too many snaps. That's a combination of offensively not converting third downs and then us not stopping them, especially in the first half; they had three successful fourth down attempts. We didn't fit the run extremely well. We have to do a better job up front, fitting runs, but we gave up very few big plays. I think if we continue to do that as the season progresses, we're going to have, we will be pleased.

"We had zero offensive penalties. That's another one of our goals, to have few penalties. We had a number of explosive plays. The guys that we are counting on to make plays, Bryan Holmes, Brandon Burks, Brandon Silvers, those types of guys had big games. We will continue to need that as we move forward."

Charleston Southern (1-0) won its opener, 41-14, against NCAA Division II member North Greenville last Thursday night. Austin Brown completed 8-of-14 passes for 59 yards and a touchdown in the game, while Ben Robinson (127 yards) and Darius Hammond (114 yards) had big nights on the ground for the triple-option offense.

"They're a solid football team," Brown said. "They're an option-oriented team, something that we haven't seen in a live situation. They have two really good running backs. Number two, Ben Robinson, he is a fast guy, very quick. He's going to be an issue for us to tackle. Then they have a strong guy, Darius Hammond, who is also their punt and kick off return guy. He had a couple of returns for touchdowns; he's a strong guy. I think the strength of that offensive unit is their offensive line. They are all returning starters and they do a good job within their scheme, their run-based scheme."

The Buccaneers held North Greenville to 268 yards of total offense with 203 coming through the air. North Greenville managed just 65 rushing yards on 37 attempts.

"They have eight defensive starters returning on a team that led the Big South Conference in almost every single defensive category," Brown said. "They created a lot of turnovers. They are going to come and play with a lot of emotion, and I think that's what I see on film and I expect nothing less than that."

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Players Mentioned

Brandon Burks

Bryan Holmes

Brandon Silvers