Football Hosts Southern Miss to Close Out Season

TROY, Ala. – Troy closes out its 2024 season Saturday when it hosts Southern Miss at The Vet on Senior Day; kickoff between the Trojans and Golden Eagles is slated for 1 p.m., with the broadcast carried by ESPN+.

The Trojans have won two of their last three games and look to continue their momentum into the offseason with what would be a fourth straight victory over Southern Miss (1-10, 0-7 SBC). In fact, Troy (3-7, 2-5) has won four of the last five meetings against Southern Miss, after the Golden Eagles won seven of the initial eight contests.

Despite the loss at league-leading Louisiana last week, the Trojans continued to show their late-season resurgence on offense, putting up 30 points on the Cajuns' defense. Troy ranks 21^st nationally in November, averaging 448.7 yards of total offense, and the Trojans are averaging 8.86 points per quarter over their last 3.5 games after posting 4.5 points per quarter in the first 30 frames of the season.

Troy will honor 13 seniors prior to the game who will play for the final time at The Vet: Raymond Cutts, Gerald Green, Landon Parker, Brendan Jackson, Damaje Yancey, Cecil Powell, Anthony Butler, Robert Cole, Daniel King, Caleb Chappell, Tavon Matthews, Will Spain and Terry Thomas.

Additionally, Troy will celebrate retiring football secretary Judy Morgan for her 30 years of service to Troy University and 25 years to Troy Football.

The Trojans have produced one of the nation's most efficient offenses all season as Troy leads the country in red zone success (31-of-32) and ranks sixth nationally in third-down conversions (49.7 percent) … all this despite starting three different quarters in multiple games.

Defensively, Troy's uptick in success can be traced to getting off the field. The Trojans have forced four three-and-outs in four of their last five games and have held three straight opponents to 107 rushing yards or fewer (two in a row under 100 yards).

Southern Miss is in a period of transition after head coach Will Hall was dismissed a month ago, and offensive coordinator Chip Long followed two weeks later. The Golden Eagles have just five touchdown passes on the season and are averaging 14.8 points per game. On the other side of the football, Southern Miss is yielding 36.5 points and 229.6 rushing yards per game.

Notable

• For the first time in Troy's recorded history, three tight ends caught a TD pass in a game -- Brody Dalton, Trae Swartz and Jackson Worley at Louisiana.

• Troy ran a season-high 78 plays at Louisiana, one week after a then season-high 73 plays at Georgia Southern. The Trojans have topped the 70-play in four 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.

• Troy has almost doubled its per-quarter point average the last 14 quarters of play. Troy has scored 124 points over its last 14 quarters of play for an average of 8.86 per quarter. The Trojans averaged 4.5 points per quarter the first 30 quarters of the season.

• Paddy McAteer, who didn't kick an American football until April, ranks as the No. 13 KOS in the country by PFF.

• Big plays have been key to Troy's success offensively, the Trojans have scored on 9.38 percent of its drives (6-of-64) without a big play (any pass of 15+ yards/rush of 12+ yards) … have scored on 66 percent of drives with a big play (36-of-54).

• Troy has found success scoring points on sustained drives this season; the Trojans have scored on 30-of-32.

• Devonte Ross (17) and Damien Taylor (9) are responsible for 53.1 percent of Troy's plays of 20-plus yards this season.

• Troy leads the country in red zone efficiency; the Trojans have converted on 31-of-32 chances in the red zone ... the Trojans are 20th with a 78.88 touchdown rate in the red zone.

• Troy ranks six nationally in 3rd downs ... the Trojans have been successful on 49.7 percent of its third downs; Troy has been balanced on third down, running 50.34 percent of the time and passing 49.66 percent of the time.

• Troy ranks 21^st nationally in total offense in the month of November; the Trojans are averaging 448.7 yards per game ... Troy ranked 112th in October (323.0) and 104th in August/September (332.4).

• Devonte Ross needs 27 receiving yards to become the sixth player in program history to reach 1,000 yards in a season; he needs 197 yards and 14 catches to set the single-season records.

Football Hosts Southern Miss to Close Out Season

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Players Mentioned

Anthony Butler

Robert Cole

Raymond Cutts

Brody Dalton

Gerald Green

Brendan Jackson

Daniel King

Tavon Matthews

Paddy McAteer

Landon Parker

Cecil Powell

Devonte Ross

Will Spain

Trae Swartz

Damien Taylor

Terry Thomas

Jackson Worley

Damaje Yancey

Troy University Athletics