Football Wraps Home Slate Friday on Senior Day

Purchase Tickets | Gameday Information | Gameday Central | Watch Live | Listen Live | Live Stats | Game Promotions | Gameday Need to Know

TROY, Alabama – Larry Blakeney Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium will take center stage one more time in 2017 as Troy hosts Texas State in the home finale for the Trojans on Friday afternoon. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. and Troy will honor 22 seniors prior to the game beginning at 2:35 p.m.

The game will be broadcast live on ESPN3 and the Troy Sports Radio Network will have full coverage beginning at 1 p.m.

Troy (8-2, 5-1 Sun Belt) enters the week with wins in 19 of its last 24 games dating back to the final contest of the 2015 season and is in a four-way tie for first place in the Sun Belt. A matchup with Arkansas State, also tied for the Sun Belt lead, awaits the Trojans next week in Jonesboro, Ark.

However, for the game against the Red Wolves to mean anything, Troy must first handle its business against a Texas State (2-9, 1-6) squad that is playing its best football down the stretch. The Bobcats fell by just three points, 33-30, at Georgia State two weeks ago and battled Arkansas State last week but fell victim to costly turnovers – both teams tied for the Sun Belt lead.

"When you are trying to turn around a program like Everett is trying to do down there, you can't get caught up in records," Troy head coach Neal Brown said. "Their record is what it is. The last two weeks they've played two other teams that are tied at the top of our conference. They lost to Georgia State in a game where they had the ball late in the game with an opportunity to win. Then last week they were very competitive against Arkansas State."

The Trojans enter the Black Friday contest fresh off their second bye week of the season following a 42-17 victory at Coastal Carolina back on Nov. 11. Troy is 11-5 at The Vet since Brown took over the coaching duties with the Trojans winning nine of their last 11 at home.

The old adage is defense wins championships and Troy certainly has a championship level defense. The Trojans lead the Sun Belt in scoring, rushing, passing, total and red zone defense while leading the country in red zone defense and ranking fifth in rushing defense.

Troy enters the weekend as one of just three teams – No. 1 Alabama & No. 5 Wisconsin – to have not allowed more than 24 points in a game this season. The Trojans are one of the best in the country in forcing negative plays as they rank sixth nationally forcing negative yardage on 14 percent of opponent plays.

Bandit Hunter Reese leads the Trojans with 8.5 tackles for loss on the season, while linebacker Tron Folsom is close behind with 7.5 stops behind the line along with a team-best 62 tackles. Troy's 8.1 tackles for loss per game rank ninth nationally, and the Trojans have recorded four or more sacks in four of their past five games.

Offensively, the Trojans have topped the 34-point mark in three of their last four games despite star running back Jordan Chunn missing two of those games. A big part of Troy's offensive success is staying in front of the sticks. Troy is 10th nationally with just seven percent of its offensive plays resulting in a stop behind the line of scrimmage.

Chunn enters the weekend three touchdowns shy of setting the Sun Belt Conference record for career rushing touchdowns with 49 after setting the Troy all-time touchdown mark of 46 against Coastal Carolina. He ranks second in the Sun Belt averaging 82.63 yards per game and is first among running backs with nine rushing touchdowns.

Know Your Foe
Texas State heads to The Vet in what will be the season finale for the Bobcats under second-year head coach Everett Withers. Texas State won its season-opener over Houston Baptist, 20-11, and defeated Coastal Carolina, 27-7, a month ago. Three of the Bobcats' six Sun Belt losses have come by 10 or fewer points, with a pair of one-score setbacks to Sun Belt co-leaders App State (20-13) and Georgia State (33-30).

Quotable – Troy Head Coach Neal Brown
"On Friday, it's our last home game. We're looking forward to it. It's a chance to close out our home slate with five wins, going 5-1 at home again. We're also closing out the home career of 22 seniors.

"It's a group that has been instrumental in turning our program around. They've gone from three wins in their freshman season, to winning 19 of our last 24 games. Offensively and defensively, they are our leaders, statistically and in the locker room. It's important that we honor them.

"I really urge our fans, and even the casual fans in our area, to come watch two really good football teams play Friday afternoon. We're going to put on a show. We'll do a lot of things in-game for families. The Iron Bowl is Saturday. We play Friday. I think you can make both. Make plans to come out and support us, because I really hope that you do."

Notable
• Troy has held seven of its 10 opponents under 100 yards rushing this season which is tied for the most in the school's FBS history.

• Blace Brown intercepted a pair of passes at Coastal Carolina to became the nation's active leader with 0.40 interceptions per game in his career. Additionally, Brown leads all non-seniors with 10 career interceptions.

• Head coach Neal Brown has never been shutout as an offensive play caller … a span of 123 games between the OC at Troy, Texas Tech and Kentucky and the head coach at Troy.

Troy University Athletics

Football Wraps Home Slate Friday on Senior Day

Players Mentioned

Blace Brown

Jordan Chunn

Tron Folsom

Hunter Reese

Related Videos