Troy Closes Homestand Saturday with Georgia State on Homecoming

TROY, Ala. – Troy wraps a rare three-game homestand with a visit from Georgia State to The Vet for Homecoming on Saturday. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU.

Troy's three straight home games are a first since the 2006 season and the Trojans (3-1, 1-0 Sun Belt) will be looking for the clean sweep just as they did during the second of their five straight Sun Belt title runs in 2006.

Gates to The Vet will open at 1 p.m. and fans are encouraged to enter the stadium early to help alleviate congestion as kickoff draws nearer. Face coverings for fans are required inside The Vet and while tailgating. Additionally, fans are reminded to use their GAME 3 ticket for the game.

"This game is important because we need to keep ourselves in a great position to win our division," head coach Chip Lindsey said at his weekly press conference. "We're looking forward to playing at The Vet. The environment the last two weeks has been really strong, so we just need to continue to make it a great environment. Hopefully, our players will have a great week of practice and we'll be ready to go on Saturday."

The Trojans easily dispatched of Texas State, 37-17, in the first home game in the current run but needed a 47-yard field goal off the leg of Evan Legassey as time expired to escape the upset bid from Eastern Kentucky last week.

"Anytime you win in college football it's a blessing," Lindsey said. "There was a lot of adversity during that game and some of it was self-inflicted, but we kept believing throughout the game. Coming into the EKU game, we talked about needing to not turn the ball over, limiting explosive plays on defense and playing disciplined. After watching the film, we were pretty disappointed in all three of those areas. Hopefully this game will serve as a learning experience for us."

There were bright spots for the Trojans in the game with freshman running back Kimani Vidal topping the 100-yard mark for the second straight game with 143 yards on just 13 carries while Kaylon Geiger finished with 100 receiving yards and Gunnar Watson threw a trio of touchdown strikes while completing 26-of-38 passes.

Troy outgained Eastern Kentucky by almost 100 yards in the game and averaged 1.6 yards per play more than its opponent. However, three turnovers, eight penalties and six explosive plays by the Colonels resulted in the closer than expected final score.

Outside of the big plays, the Trojan defense was solid with three sacks and seven tackles for loss in the game. K.J. Robertson paced the effort with a career-best 11 tackles while Javon Solomon added a sack and a pair of quarterback hurries.

The Trojans have been strong all year against the run ranking 23^rd nationally allowing just 123.75 yards per game but will received their stiffest test of the season with Georgia State (1-2, 0-2) coming in ninth nationally rushing for 264.33 yards per contest.

Know Your Foe
Georgia State ranks fourth nationally averaging 44.0 points per game through its first three games of the season, but on the flip side the Panthers are 73^rd (of 77) allowing 40.7 points per game. The Panthers are coming off one of the highest scoring games in Sun Belt Conference history, falling 59-52 at Arkansas State. Georgia State piled up 583 yards of total offense, the fourth-highest figure in school history, with 269 yards rushing and 314 yards passing, but the Red Wolves scored the go-ahead touchdown with four minutes left.

Georgia State's two losses are by a combined 10 points, with both coming down to the final possession, including a 34-31 overtime loss to Louisiana.

Notable
• True freshman running back Kimani Vidal ranks third nationally averaging 5.63 yards after contact this season among backs with at least 30 carries.

• Troy's two losses in the series to Georgia State have both come in the first year of a new head coach for the Trojans – Neal Brown (2015) & Chip Lindsey (2019).

• Terence Dunlap is tied for the national lead with three interceptions this season.

• Troy's offense is committing an average of just 1.5 penalties per game which is the fourth-lowest total in the country.

• Troy's defense has allowed opponents to score on just two of 17 drives immediately following a score by the Troy offense.

Troy Closes Homestand Saturday with Georgia State on Homecoming

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Players Mentioned

Terence Dunlap

Kaylon Geiger

Evan Legassey

Javon Solomon

Kimani Vidal

Gunnar Watson

Troy University Athletics