Troy Hosts App State in Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship Game

Saturday, December 2

Troy, Ala.

3 p.m.

Troy University

App State

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Troy Hosts App State in Hercules Tires Sun Belt Football Championship Game

11/30/2023 3:43:00 PM | Football

Purchase Tickets Gameday at The Vet Gameday Central

By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – The eyes of the Sun Belt and the nation will be on Troy's Veterans Memorial Stadium for a second straight season on Saturday as Troy hosts App State in the Hercules Tires Sun Belt Championship Game. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m., with the television broadcast on ESPN.

Troy (10-2, 7-1 SBC) enters the weekend winners of nine straight games and 21-of-23, including a 45-26 victory over Coastal Carolina in the 2022 version of the game, also at The Vet. The Trojans cruised to a Sun Belt West Division title, winning the league by three games as they pushed their division record to a crisp 12-0 the last two seasons (Troy's only two years in the West).

The match-up with App State (8-4, 6-2) is one many Troy fans have been dreaming of since a fateful Saturday last September in Boone, N.C. The Mountaineers, who enter the weekend on a five-game winning streak, needed a miracle to beat Troy, and they got one in the form of a 53-yard Hail Mary.

The Trojans parleyed that loss into one of the most successful runs in college football the last two seasons, including their league-leading seventh Sun Belt title last year, a final AP No. 19 ranking, and now its first back-to-back 10-win regular seasons since 1999 and 2000.

Led by 16 All-Sun Belt selections, including Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year, Kimani Vidal, a Troy victory on Saturday would be its eighth Sun Belt title since 2006, tying Alabama, Boise State and Clemson for the third-most in the country over that period. Additionally, it would mark just the second time in program history (1995-96) that the Trojans have won 11 games in consecutive seasons.

Vidal completed the rushing record trifecta in Troy's win at Southern Miss last week as he set the single-season rushing record with 1,349. The junior from Marietta, Ga., already holds Troy's career rushing record (3,698 yards) and single-game rushing record (248 yards).

Sixth-year quarterback and All-Sun Belt selection Gunnar Watson topped the 3,000-yard mark last weekend, while a pair of his favorite targets, Chris Lewis and Jabre Barber, joined him on the All-SBC list.

Troy's defense has been a wrecking ball the last three weeks, recording 20 sacks, led by eight from Javon Solomon. Troy's sack total is five more than the next closest school to close out the season, while Solomon catapulted into second in the country with 14.0 sacks on the year.

The Trojans have held eight of their 12 opponents to fewer than 300 yards, the third most in the country, and have allowed just 88 points in their last eight games, the third-fewest points in the country in that span.

The Mountaineers are paced by Sun Belt Newcomer of the Year Joey Aguilar at quarterback, where he led the Sun Belt with 33 touchdown passes behind 272.6 yards per game through the air.

Following back-to-back losses to Coastal Carolina and Old Dominion that dropped them to 3-4 on the year, the Mountaineers have been playing some of the country's best football, with five straight wins, including an overtime win at James Madison two weeks ago.

Notable
• Troy is 21-2 since losing on a Hail Mary at App State on Sept. 17, 2022.

• Troy has won the Sun Belt West in both seasons in the division and is hosting the SBC Championship Game for a second straight year.

• Troy has won 10 games during the regular season in consecutive years for the first time since 1999 and 2000 when the Trojans were FCS members.

• A win Saturday would mark just the second time in program history that Troy has won 11 games in consecutive seasons (1995, 1996).

• Gunnar Watson and Kimani Vidal are just the third Troy duo to pass for 3,000 yards and rush for 1,000 yards in a season in program history.

• Troy is 12-1 when Kimani Vidal rushes for 100-plus yards and 25-3 when he rushes for 50-plus yards. The Trojans are 7-11 when Vidal rushes for fewer than 50 yards.

• Senior safety Dell Pettus has started 59 straight games, the longest active streak in the country.

• Gunnar Watson is one of 43 sixth-year quarterbacks at the FBS level; he is the only one who hasn't transferred.

• In Troy's last eight games, the Trojans have allowed a combined 88 points and just 10 touchdowns. It is the third-fewest points allowed nationally this season, starting with a team's fifth game and fourth-fewest touchdowns.

• Troy has the nation's top two active leaders in career sacks -- Richard Jibunor (1st, 31.5.) and Javon Solomon (2nd, 31.0).

• O'shai Fletcher has played 64 career games, the sixth most among active FBS players and ninth most across all divisions ... Grant Betts' 63 games are the third-most among all FBS offensive linemen.

• This is just the second season in Troy's DI history, with two players totaling nine or more sacks (2010).

• Javon Solomon has six multi-sack games in his career; the most in Troy's DI history, second-most in SBC history and 38th most at the FBS level since 2000.

• Gunnar Watson enters the weekend with 11 three-plus touchdown games in his career, tied with Corey Robinson for the most in Troy's DI era ... his five this season are one shy of Kaleb Barker's single-season record.

• Troy is averaging 9.83 points per game in the fourth quarter, the 12^th most in the country.

• Troy has held 18-of-26 opponents to 19 points or fewer since the start of the 2022 season, the third most in the country.