Troy Heads to Arkansas State with Sun Belt Title on the Line

Saturday, December 2

Jonesboro, Ark.

6:30 p.m.

Troy University

Arkansas State

Troy Heads to Arkansas State with Sun Belt Title on the Line

11/30/2017 1:28:00 PM | Football

By: Adam Prendergast

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TROY, Alabama – Nine yards. Nine yards and 22 seconds stood between Troy and a sixth Sun Belt Conference championship last season. A pass for no gain and an incompletion later, Troy left Georgia Southern's Paulson Stadium empty handed.

Almost one year later to the day, Troy (9-2, 6-1 Sun Belt) will get a second chance at its sixth Sun Belt title and first under head coach Neal Brown as the Trojans travel to Arkansas State (7-3, 6-1) for a winner-take-all showdown Saturday evening in primetime on the national stage.

On Championship Saturday around the country, the Trojans and Red Wolves will give Sun Belt fans a taste of next season's inaugural conference championship game. Kickoff is set for 6:35 p.m. and the game will be televised live on ESPN2. The Troy Sports Radio Network will have full coverage beginning at 4:30 p.m.

Troy and Arkansas State have combined to win 10 of the last 11 Sun Belt Conference championships – Troy won five straight from 2006 to 2010 and Arkansas State has claimed the title in five of the last six years.

"Arkansas State has been at the top, really since we relinquished that role there. Since the 2010 season, they have been in the discussion for conference championships since then," Brown said at his weekly press conference. "We have a lot of respect for that program and what Blake [Anderson] has done there.

"We know their roster really well, we probably go head-to-head with them recruiting more than anybody else in our league. They soundly beat us last year. It was really the only time in my time here that we've been soundly beaten and they did it last year."

The game pits one of the top offenses in the nation against one of the nation's top defenses as Troy boasts the nation's No. 10 scoring defense and Arkansas State the nation's No. 9 scoring offense.

However, it might be how the other side of the ball plays for both teams in deciding the outcome on Saturday. Troy's offense has played at a different level in its five-game winning streak as the Trojans are averaging 40.0 points and 7.28 yards per play during that stretch; those totals would rank ninth and sixth nationally, respectively, over the course of the season.

Troy scored 62 points – 41 in the first half – in its victory over Texas State last Friday. It was the most points scored in a game by a Troy team against an FBS opponent in school history and the Trojans did so with Brandon Silvers and Jordan Chunn on the sideline for all but three snaps in the second half.

Silvers threw four touchdown passes in that game and surpassed the 10,000 passing yard mark for his career in the process. Chunn found the end zone once in his limited action and now finds himself just two rushing touchdowns shy of setting the Sun Belt career mark.

A lot of the success can be tracked to the play of Troy's offensive line. The Trojans are fourth nationally having allowed just 44 tackles for loss this season, while the unit's 106.4 efficiency rating also ranks fourth nationally.

The Trojans enter the heavyweight showdown as one of just two teams in the country – Wisconsin the other – to have not allowed more than 24 points in a game this season. Just like the offensive side of the ball, Troy's success can be traced to its play behind the line of scrimmage. The Trojans are third nationally averaging 8.55 tackles for loss per game.

Bandit Hunter Reese leads Troy with 10.5 tackles for loss on the season, while Tron Folsom, Sam Lebbie and Marcus Webb all have 8.5 on the year. Troy has intercepted 11 passes over the past eight games with Blace Brown's four this season leading the way.

Quotable – Troy Head Coach Neal Brown
"All in all, it's what you'd expect going in. Our team has handled our business since the South game. I think the difference between this year and last year is that we're more rested, playing faster and getting better. We just played our most complete half of the year against Texas State.

"What more could you ask for in college football? A 6:30, ESPN2 kick and the winner gets a share of the conference championship."

Know Your Foe
Arkansas State has won six of its last seven games around a loss to South Alabama back on Nov. 11. The Red Wolves have scored 35 or more points in seven of their 10 games this season and are led by senior quarterback Justice Hansen's 32 touchdown passes and 319.3 passing yards per game. Defensive end Ja'Von Rolland-Jones enters the weekend needing 1.5 sacks to set the NCAA career record.

Notable
• Troy's offense ranks seventh nationally with negative yardage on just 6.8 percent (50/737) of its plays this season ... Troy's defense ranks second nationally with negative yardage on 14.8 percent (110/744) of opponent plays this season.

• Troy's 19 combined wins over the 2016 & 2017 seasons are the most by a Troy team over two seasons in Troy's FBS era ... Troy is one of just 19 schools in the country with 19 wins over the past two seasons & just one of six Group of Five schools.

• Troy has allowed just 15 points in the second quarter this season -- its 1.36 per game average leads the country, while its 6.27 first half points per game rank third best (Alabama & Clemson).