Troy Hosts Georgia Southern on Homecoming; Bowl Eligibility at Stake for Troy

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TROY, Alabama – With two Homecoming wins already in tow, Troy will look to make it a prefect trifecta when it plays host to Georgia Southern on Saturday in The Vet. Kickoff for Troy's annual Homecoming contest is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.

Troy (5-2, 2-1 Sun Belt) has gone on the road twice this season and walked out of opponents' stadiums on Homecoming with wins. The first crashed party was Troy's stunning 24-21 victory at No. 22 LSU on Sept. 30. Troy's most recent victory this past Saturday at Georgia State not only snapped the Panthers' three-game winning streak, but also came on GSU's Homecoming.

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and the Troy Sports Radio Network will have full coverage beginning at 12:30 p.m.

If Troy wishes to keep its streak intact, it will have to do so under some unique circumstances. Georgia Southern (0-6, 0-2) parted ways with head coach Tyson Summers, a former Troy graduate assistant, this past Sunday after just 18 games as the Eagles' head coach.

"The first thing I want to talk about is that I really feel for Tyson Summers and his family," Troy head coach Neal Brown said at his Monday press conference. "He was a graduate assistant here. He's a guy that I have a lot respect for. I like him, personally. I think he's a really good person, great family man and a really good football coach. It's unfortunate that it didn't work out, and I really feel for him and his family at this time.

"It puts us in a really unique situation," Brown said. "We're going into our eighth game of the season and we have to prepare for a new head coach. It's unique, I don't think we've ever been in that situation before."

Troy clicked in all three phases for really the first time this season in its win at Georgia State. Quarterback Brandon Silvers threw for a pair of touchdowns and 335 yards, Josh Anderson and Jamarius Henderson picked up the load in the backfield with Jordan Chunn on the sidelines, while Damion Willis, Henderson, Deondre Douglas and Tray Eafford had big games on the outside.

Defensively, Troy did Troy things. The Trojans held a Panther offense that accumulated 670 yards the week prior at ULM to just 307 yards of offense – 82 of which came on the final drive of the game after the Trojans emptied the bench.

Troy enters this weekend's contest with the nation's top red zone defense (54.6%), the top rushing defense in the Group of Five and seventh best overall (92.0) and the top rushing defense against conference opponents (50.3). Additionally, Troy's defense has forced opponents into needing four or more yards on third down on 92-of-111 attempts (82.9%) thanks in part to a 1.77 yards per carry allowed average on second down.

In his first game handling the place kicking duties, redshirt-freshman Tyler Sumpter accounted for 10 of Troy's 34 points in the game with a pair of field goals and four extra points. He also did an outstanding job limited the electrifying playmaker from Georgia State, Penny Hart, to just one punt return for one yard.

Know Your Foe
Georgia Southern decided to make the move away from Summers after the Eagles dropped a 55-20 decision at UMass last Saturday. Georgia Southern's triple-option rushing attack ranks 35^th nationally with 199.8 yards per game, but the Eagles have allowed 23 sacks on 115 passing situations.

The Eagles played without starting quarterback Shai Werts at UMass, but the redshirt-freshman is expected back this weekend. Werts leads the Eagles with 63.8 rushing yards per game, followed by the talented combo of Wesley Fields (59.0) and L.A. Ramsby (50.5). Defensively, Georgia Southern is led by Logan Hunt's three sacks and 7.5 tackles for loss.

Quotable – Head Coach Neal Brown
"South Alabama was 1-4 before we played them and they kicked our tail. The mentality has to be who we got this week. We don't dictate the schedule. Some of those teams played ridiculous non-conference schedules. South Alabama played Oklahoma State and Ole Miss. I think that you just play who you got. We have Georgia Southern this week and we have to be 1-0."

Notable
• Troy has averaged 27,271 fans over its first three home games this season, which includes the largest, third-largest and eighth-largest crowds in stadium history. Troy needs to average just 17,797 over its final three home games to break the single-game and single-season attendance marks set last year.

• Troy has allowed just three rushing touchdowns this season, which is tied for the sixth fewest in the country.

• The Troy offense recorded three plays of 40 or more yards last week at Georgia State; it marked the first time this season with three or more 40+ yard plays in a game.

• Troy has won 12 straight games (13-1 overall under Neal Brown) when totaling 400 or more yards of total offense.

Troy University Athletics

Troy Hosts Georgia Southern on Homecoming; Bowl Eligibility at Stake for Troy

Players Mentioned

Josh Anderson

Jordan Chunn

Deondre Douglas

Tray Eafford

Jamarius Henderson

Brandon Silvers

Tyler Sumpter

Damion Willis

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