Troy Opens Jon Sumrall Era at No. 21 Ole Miss

TROY, Ala. – Armed with one of the nation's top defenses and a revamped offense, Troy opens the Jon Sumrall era Saturday afternoon at No. 21 Ole Miss. The game will be broadcast on SEC Network at 3 p.m. from Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.

"Really excited about the opportunity we have in week one playing a really talented team in Ole Miss," Sumrall said. "There is no easing into the 2022 season. We get a top 25 opponent, which is exciting, and a team that finished 10-3 last year and ranked 11^th in the country. It's a great opportunity and a big challenge; it's not going to be easy for us to go in there and get a win. We've got our work cut out for us, and we don't shy away from it. It's why we play the game."

Troy has won two of its last four matchups with teams from Power Five conferences, with its wins at LSU in 2017 and Nebraska in 2018. Additionally, the Trojans had South Carolina on upset watch last season, driving into Gamecock territory down six midway through the fourth quarter.

Troy's defense, which Sumrall helped build as an assistant for the Trojans from 2015-17, ranked in the top 25 nationally last season in tackles for loss (10^th), sacks (11^th), third downs (14^th) and yards allowed (24^th). Nine players who started five or more games and eight who started eight or more contests are back, led by senior linebacker Carlton Martial and sophomore bandit Javon Solomon.

Martial enters the season just 104 tackles away from becoming the top tackler in NCAA FBS history. He currently ranks four tackles behind Travis Lewis from Oklahoma for 25^th all-time, with his sights set on the 545 tackles by Northwestern's Tim McGarigle. Martial is one of just two players at the FBS level since 2000 to record more than 425 tackles, 47 tackles for loss and five interceptions in their career – he has 442 tackles, 47 tackles for loss and five interceptions.

Solomon was a problem for defenses all season long. He recorded 2.5 tackles for loss in a game three different times, the third-most nationally, and finished eighth with 0.92 sacks per game and 12^th nationally with 1.42 tackles for loss per contest.

Offensively the Trojans will turn to junior Gunnar Watson to lead the offense after he beat out a pair of P5 transfers for the job this summer. Watson has 16 career starts on his ledger and ranks among the top 15 all-time in Troy history in completion percentage (3^rd), completions (8^th), yards (10^th) and touchdowns (13^th).

First-year coordinator Joe Craddock, who has previous stops as the OC at SMU and Arkansas, has brought with him a more pro-style offensive system designed to highlight Troy's stable of running backs and strong offensive line.
Sophomore Kimani Vidal leads the running backs with four career 100-yard games, while Austin Stidham brings 48 career starts at left tackle with him to the 2022 season. Troy returns four starters on the offensive line, and its 105 combined starts rank as the 27^th most nationally.

Notable
• Jon Sumrall is the third straight Troy head coach who was previously an assistant coach at Troy -- Neal Brown, Chip Lindsey. In fact, including Sumrall, six of Troy's last seven head coaches (Robert Maddox, Rick Rhoades, Chan Gailey, Brown, Lindsey, Sumrall) previously served as an assistant for the Trojans; only Larry Blakeney had not.

• Troy's bandit position has produced an All-Sun Belt First Team selection in five of the past seven seasons - Javon Solomon - 2021, Hunter Reese - 2017 & 2018, Rashad Dillard - 2016, Tyler Roberts – 2015.

• Troy is 11-10 in season openers at the DI level; the Trojans have won three straight openers but have dropped four of their last five against FBS opponents.

• Gunnar Watson became the first quarterback since Brandon Silvers (2014-17) to lead the Trojans in passing yards in consecutive seasons.

• Reddy Steward ranked second nationally, holding opponents to a 28.6 reception percentage ... he defended 20-of-28 pass attempts against him last season.

• Troy has forced the second-most turnovers per game since the start of the 2016 season; the Trojans are averaging 1.91 turnovers forced per game, only UCF (1.98) averages more.

• Richard Jibunor (35) and Javon Solomon (37) combined for 72 total pressures from the bandit position last season.

Troy University Athletics

Troy Opens Jon Sumrall Era at No. 21 Ole Miss

Players Mentioned

Richard Jibunor

Carlton Martial

Javon Solomon

Reddy Steward

Austin Stidham

Kimani Vidal

Gunnar Watson

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