Troy Hosts No. 24 Louisiana on Homecoming at The Vet

TROY, Ala. – Winners in three of its last four games, Troy has a shot for the second time in three games to knock off a ranked opponent as No. 24 Louisiana pays a visit to The Vet on Saturday. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Louisiana's visit to The Vet marks the fourth straight season that Troy will have hosted a ranked team – Boise State, App State, Coastal Carolina. The Trojans are the lone Group of Five school that has hosted a ranked opponent each of the last four years.

Troy (5-4, 3-2 Sun Belt) is just a game back in the Sun Belt East Division with three league games to play. Last week, the Trojans picked up their fourth straight win over rival South Alabama with a 31-24 victory over the Jags in the annual "Battle for the Belt."

The Trojans were running on fumes by the end of the game with their starting quarterback, running back, Will linebacker, right guard and All-American middle linebacker all on the bench due to injury.

However, Troy built a 24-point lead in the first half thanks to the legs of Jamontez Woods and a timely pick-six from the versatile KJ Robertson, which was large enough to sustain the second half comeback by South Alabama.

Troy comes into the weekend with one of the nation's best defenses in tow as the Trojans lead the country in sacks and tackles for loss and lead the Sun Belt in rushing yards allowed, total defense and turnovers forced.

Carlton Martial has been all that he's been advertised to be and more. The 5-foot-9 linebacker is averaging more than 15 tackles per game over the last three contests and is the only player in the country with 90 tackles and nine tackles for loss.

Louisiana (8-1, 6-0) brings the nation's fifth-longest winning streak with it to The Vet as the Cajuns have not lost since Week One at Texas. The Cajuns have had the knack for the close games this year with one-score victories over Nicholls State (3), South Alabama (2), Georgia Southern (8), Arkansas State (1) and Georgia State (4).

Know Your Foe
Louisiana clinched its fourth straight Sun Belt West Division title with its comeback victory over Georgia State last Thursday. Louisiana is 29-5 (.853) since the start of the 2019 season. Only five programs, Alabama, Ohio State, Oklahoma, Cincinnati and Georgia, feature a higher win percentage during that time. The Cajuns are led by the program's all-time leader in touchdown passes in quarterback Levi Lewis who threw his 65th touchdown pass last week to set the school record. Defensively, Louisiana is 19th nationally, holding opponents to 19.0 points per game.

Notable
• With Louisiana's visit, Troy becomes the only Group of Five team to have hosted a nationally-ranked opponent in each of the last four seasons -- No. 22 Boise State (2018), No. 22 App State (2019), No. 11 Coastal Carolina (2020), No. 24 Louisiana (2021)

• Gunnar Watson has completed 74-of-109 passes for 798 yards with six touchdowns and no interceptions since taking over the starting duties

• Troy has targeted its tight ends 21 times through seven games with 20 receptions; in the previous seven seasons COMBINED, Troy's tight ends had been targeted 18 times with 12 receptions

• Troy is 13-19 during Chip Lindsey's tenure on coin tosses and 5-4 this season. Troy has received the opening kickoff in 22-of-32 games under Lindsey and has scored on 13 of those possessions. The Trojans have elected to kick just three times when winning the coin toss

• Troy's win over South Alabama was its first in the Chip Lindsey era when the Trojans were outgained by its opponent ... the Jags outgained Troy 335-308; Troy is now 1-14 in such games

• Troy is 10-2 when winning the time of possession battle under Chip Lindsey ... the Trojans have won twice this season (Ga. Southern, USA) when losing the TOP battle

• Troy held the ball for just 23:25 in the victory over South Alabama; it was its lowest TOP output in a victory since 2018 -- 19:51 vs. Coastal Carolina

• Tez Johnson's 53 receptions are the fifth most by a Trojan since at least 2000 through the first nine games of a season -- he would need 15 catches to tie Kaylon Geiger for the most through 10 games

• Troy is one of just two teams (Iowa) to have three or more interceptions in three or more games this season

• In Al Pogue's last four seasons coaching Troy's cornerbacks (2016-18, 21), Troy has ranked 2nd, 15th, 5th and 2nd nationally in interceptions.

• Troy's 31 points in the opening half against South Alabama was the most against an FBS opponent since the Trojans also scored 31 points against Arkansas State in 2019

• Reddy Steward ranks eighth nationally, holding opponents to a 35.0 reception percentage ... he has defended 13-of-20 pass attempts against him

Troy Hosts No. 24 Louisiana on Homecoming at The Vet

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Players Mentioned

Kaylon Geiger

Tez Johnson

Carlton Martial

KJ Robertson

Reddy Steward

Gunnar Watson

Jamontez Woods

Troy University Athletics