Troy Travels to Southern Miss with Third SBC Title Game Berth in Last Four Years on the Line

Saturday, November 29

Hattiesburg, Miss.

2:30 p.m.

Troy University

Southern Miss

Photo by: Joey Meredith

Troy Travels to Southern Miss with Third SBC Title Game Berth in Last Four Years on the Line

11/27/2025 10:15:00 AM | Football

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – Troy is just 60 minutes of football away from making its third appearance in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game in the last four seasons. The Trojans travel to Hattiesburg, Miss., Saturday afternoon for a winner-take-all showdown with Southern Miss at M.M. Roberts Stadium.

Kickoff between the Trojans and Golden Eagles is set for 2:30 p.m., and the game will be broadcast on ESPN+.

A Troy (7-4, 5-2 SBC) victory on Saturday completes a remarkable turnaround for head coach Gerad Parker in year two of his tenure, while a Southern Miss (7-4, 5-2) victory sends the Golden Eagles to the title game for the first time in program history. Either Troy or Louisiana has represented the Sun Belt West every year since the Sun Belt Championship Game was established in 2018.

The winner between the Trojans and Golden Eagles will travel to Harrisonburg, Va., to take on James Madison on Dec. 5 for the Sun Belt title.

The Trojans have won six of their last eight games after defeating Georgia State, 31-19, this past weekend, while the Golden Eagles have dropped their last two games to Texas State and South Alabama after opening league play with five consecutive victories.

Goose Crowder returned to the starting lineup for the Trojans for the first time since Sept. 13, and Troy deployed a new-look offense that featured a quick passing game and a reimagined offensive line. The result? Troy's second-best offensive output of the season, paced by Crowder's four touchdown passes and 361 yards through the air.

Ethan Conner and DJ Epps each caught a pair of touchdowns, becoming the first Troy duo since 2013 to have multiple touchdown receptions in the same game, while Crowder joined Tucker Kilcrease as the first Troy quarterback tandem to throw for more than 350 yards in a game in the same season in program history.

Troy's defense bent but didn't break against the Panthers, allowing 516 yards of total offense while limiting Georgia State to just 19 points, thanks to touchdowns on only two of five red zone opportunities.

The Trojans enter the weekend ranked 17^th in the country, holding opponents to touchdowns on just 48.7 percent of their red zone trips, including on just seven of the last 19 (36.8 percent) in the last four games.

Southern Miss' roster is loaded with players from the 2024 Marshall squad that won the league under then-head coach Charles Huff, who moved to Southern Miss before the 2025 season. Leading that charge is quarterback Braylon Braxton, the SBC Newcomer of the Year last season. Braxton leads the SBC passing for 258.7 yards per game, in addition to a league-best 22 touchdown passes.

The Golden Eagles are allowing more than 400 yards per game defensively, but have thrived by forcing 25 turnovers, the second most in the country, which includes a nation-leading 20 interceptions.

Notable
• Ethan Conner and DJ Epps became the first Troy duo since Bryan Holmes and Eric Thomas against South Alabama on Oct. 5, 2013, to have multiple touchdown receptions in the same game. Conner and Epps had two TD receptions each against Georgia State

• Troy has held opponents to a 48.72 percent success rate scoring touchdowns in the red zone, the 17th-best mark in the country

• Goose Crowder (361 yards vs. Georgia State) and Tucker Kilcrease (415 at Texas State) became the first Troy quarterbacks to throw for more than 350 yards in a game in the same season in program history ... they are the first pair to throw for more than 300 yards in a game in the same season since Gunnar Watson and Taylor Powell did so in 2021

• Troy leads the Sun Belt, averaging just 5.45 penalties per game

• Evan Crenshaw was named one of three finalists for the Ray Guy Award

• Troy is 5-0 this season and 8-1 in its last nine games when reaching 20 first downs in a game

• Troy has won eight of its last 11 Sun Belt Conference games and 10 of its last 15 games overall

• Troy can clinch a spot in the Sun Belt Championship Game with at Southern Miss this weekend ... it would be Troy's third SBC Championship Game appearance in the last four years

• Troy is bowl eligible for the third time in the last four years and for the 13th time in the program's 25-year FBS history; it's the sixth time over the 10 seasons that Troy has become bowl eligible (2016, 17, 18, 22, 23, 25)

• Donnie Smith leads the Sun Belt with seven sacks ... it would be the second time in the last three seasons a Trojan has led the league in sacks (Javon Solomon, 2023, 16)

• Against Georgia State, Troy started its fifth different offensive line configuration of the season after Tyler Cappi started at center, Paul Bowling slid out to left guard and Eli Russ to left tackle

• Troy has forced a three-and-out on 30.2 percent of its opponent's possessions (38-of-126)

• Troy has four players with at least three touchdown receptions -- Ethan Conner, DJ Epps, Tray Taylor, RaRa Thomas -- it's tied for the most players with 3-or-more since the 2019 squad had six different players