Troy Set for Senior Day in The Vet

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

TROY, Ala. – Troy takes the turf at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday afternoon in an unusual position. The Trojans will honor their 14 seniors prior to the Sun Belt contest against Texas State as it could be their final game in the stadium; kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. and the game will be broadcast by ESPN+.

Troy (8-2, 6-0) controls its own destiny for a berth in the inaugural Sun Belt Conference Championship Game, which would take place at The Vet on Dec. 1 if the Trojans were to host. Troy can assure its spot in the game with wins the next two weeks against Texas State and Appalachian State.

"We're in 'survive and advance' mode," Troy head coach Neal Brown said. "We've got to win this one to set up the final one; it's critical. We have to continue to play at a high level, our margin for error is not real big. We have to continue to prepare and play. And again, I've said this for two weeks in a row, we've got to prove whether we're a pretender or a contender. We're in the third round of this heavyweight fight we've been in here in the month of November."

Rounds one and two of the fight went to Cardinal corner as Troy scored victories over Louisiana and Georgia Southern each of the last two weeks and did so with contributions from all three phases of the game.

Troy's two November opponents came in with two of the top rushing attacks in the country averaging a combined 492.5 yards per game on the ground. The Trojans held the Cajuns and Eagles to just 201 total rushing yards, or 40.8 percent of their totals coming into the contest.

The Trojans have 25 sacks in conference play this season and their 4.17 sacks per game against league foes lead the country. Fourteen different players have dropped the opposing quarterback this season paced by Hunter Reese's 6.5 sacks and Jarvis Hayes' four sacks.

"Defensively, two weeks in a row we've played at a high level," Brown said. "Our defensive line really controlled the game (against Georgia Southern), it was the best we've played up front in a game all year."

Offensively, Troy features the top passer, running back, receiver and offensive line in the Sun Belt. Sophomore quarterback Sawyer Smith leads the league with a 158.4 passer rating this season and has completed 72.7 percent of his passes for 604 yards and five touchdowns the last three starts. Protecting him is an offensive line that has allowed the fewest sacks in league play with just six on the year.

Junior running back B.J. Smith leads the Sun Belt averaging 94.6 yards per game and with 12 touchdowns on the season. He is just 54 yards shy of becoming Troy's 10^th1,000-yard rusher and is averaging 111.3 yards in league games. Senior receiver Damion Willis also leads the league in touchdowns with eight and with his 775 receiving yards on the season.

On special teams, sophomore Tyler Sumpter has taken home consecutive Sun Belt weekly honors after booting six field goals over the past two games and controlling the field position battle with his leg. He averaged 45.0 yards on six punts in the two games with five fair catches and zero return yards allowed.

Quotable – Neal Brown
"Honestly, we're not at a point where we can take anybody for granted. We lost to a Liberty team that we probably shouldn't have; they just beat us. We have pretty recent history of when we don't play or prepare well then it shows. I think our margin for error is really small. Another thing that's real critical for us, through the month of November and December we continue to get better. We played our best game in New Orleans against North Texas last year. We played our best game this year in week 10 against Georgia Southern. I still think there's room for improvement, so we're going to continue to practice at a high level."

Notable
• Troy's 29 wins are the seventh most nationally over the last three seasons and are just two wins shy of the best three-year period in school history; Troy won 31 games from 1993 to 1995.

• Troy has won 12 straight Sun Belt Conference games dating back to last season; it is the second-longest active conference winning streak in the country.

• Troy is on pace to tie the school record of 44 sacks; the Trojans currently have 34 sacks on the season which is the sixth most in the country.

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jarvis Hayes

Hunter Reese

B.J. Smith

Sawyer Smith

Tyler Sumpter

Damion Willis

Troy University Athletics