Troy Looks to Shake Up SBC West on Saturday at Louisiana

TROY, Ala. – One week after shaking up the Sun Belt East Division, Troy travels to Louisiana on Saturday, looking to do the same to the West Division when the Trojans take on the Ragin' Cajuns at 4 p.m. at Cajun Field. The game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

Troy (3-7, 2-4 SBC) went into Paulson Stadium and handed Georgia Southern a 28-20 loss last weekend, knocking the Eagles from the top of the East Division ledger. The task for the resurgent Trojans this week is similar, as they have a date with Louisiana (8-2, 5-1), which sits in first place on the other side of the league.

A third straight Troy victory this season and in the series with the Cajuns would send chaos through the Sun Belt West, as four teams could exit the weekend with 5-2 league records with just one game remaining. A Louisiana win sends the Cajuns back to the SBC Championship Game for the first time since 2021.

Troy and Louisiana are the only Sun Belt West Division programs to play in the SBC Championship Game since its inception in 2018.

The light switch flipped at halftime of Troy's narrow loss at Arkansas State on Oct. 26 – one of three losses this season by four or fewer points (combined nine points). Since then, the Trojans have scored 94 points in 10 quarters of action after scoring 136 points in the previous 30 quarters of action.

Troy ranks 14^th nationally in November, averaging 476.0 yards of total offense, while the Trojan defense is 16^thnationally this month, allowing just 279.5 yards of offense.

Defensively, the Trojans yielded four scoring drives against the Eagles, all of which were aided by pass interference penalties (three on third down), while in the previous game, Coastal Carolina scored 14 of its 24 points on drives of 11 and 21 yards following a blocked punt and turnover on a kickoff return.

Troy held Georgia Southern to just 75 rushing yards, 171 passing yards and 246 yards of total offense; it was the Eagles' second-fewest passing yards and total yards (Ole Miss) and third-fewest rushing yards (Ole Miss, Nevada) this season.

Walk-on quarterback Matthew Caldwell has settled into his role as Troy's starter and is coming off the best performance of his career after completing 26-of-32 passes for 288 yards at Georgia Southern. He accounted for all four of Troy's touchdowns as he threw a pair of touchdown strikes and rushed for two scores, both in the fourth quarter.

Devonte Ross caught his 10^th touchdown pass of the season in the win at Georgia Southern; an 11^th would be the most by a Trojan since Eric Thomas' 12 in 2013. He ranks third nationally and is 122 yards shy of becoming just Troy's sixth 1,000-yard receiver.

Louisiana is coming off its first loss since Sept. 21 as South Alabama jumped out to a 24-3 lead and held off a second half rally to defeat the Cajuns, 24-22. Louisiana lost starting quarterback Ben Wooldridge in the loss; he had thrown for 2,392 yards and 17 touchdowns before the season-ending injury.

Notable
• Troy has started six different offensive line units in eight games this season, tied for the third most in the country

• Troy's games in 2024 have averaged just 124.6 combined plays, the 12th fewest in the country (Army, 119.8); Texas Tech leads the country with 148.2 combined plays. Troy and A-State combined to run 153 plays, a season high for the Trojans

• Troy ran a season-high 73 plays at Georgia Southern and the Trojans have topped the 70-play in three straight games; the Trojans had run 58 or fewer plays in four of the previous six games

• Troy had 372 yards of offense in the first half (222 yards on the ground) against Coastal; that total would have been more than five of Troy's full games this season

• Combined with the second half at Arkansas State and the first half against Coastal, Troy's offense scored 56 points over a four-quarter stretch ... the Trojans had scored 136 points in the previous 30 quarters

• Troy has more than doubled its per-quarter point average the last 10 quarters of play. Troy has scored 94 points over its last 10 quarters of play for an average of 9.4 per quarter. The Trojans averaged 4.5 points per quarter the first 30 quarters of the season

• A Troy player has earned Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Week honors in two straight games -- Damien Taylor won for his efforts against Coastal Carolina and Matthew Caldwell against Georgia Southern

• Troy ranks 14^th nationally in total offense in the month of November; the Trojans are averaging 476.0 yards per game ... Troy ranked 112th in October (323.0) and 104th in August/September (332.4)

• Troy ranks 19^th nationally in total defense in the month of November; the Trojans are averaging 279.5 yards per game allowed ... Troy ranked 111th in October (439.7) and 77th in August/September (363.4)

• Big plays have been key to Troy's success offensively; the Trojans have scored on just 9.09 percent of its drives (5-of-55) without a big play (any pass of 15+ yards or a rush of 12+ yards). Troy has scored on 66 percent of drives with a big play (33-of-50)

• Devonte Ross (15) and Damien Taylor (9) are responsible for 53.3 percent of Troy's plays of 20-plus yards this season

• Troy ranks third nationally, converting on 96.6 percent (27-of-28) of its red zone opportunities

Troy Looks to Shake Up SBC West on Saturday at Louisiana

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Players Mentioned

Matthew Caldwell

Devonte Ross

Damien Taylor

Troy University Athletics