Troy University Athletics
Troy Hosts Southern Miss in Sun Belt Opener
10/4/2026 11:37:00 AM | Football
TROY, Ala. – Troy opens Sun Belt Conference play Tuesday night, hosting Southern Miss in a nationally televised game at The Vet. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m., and the game will be televised on ESPN2.
Fans can purchase $10 reserved tickets and $5 general admission tickets for the game. As part of the Take a Kid to the Game promotion, all youth 12 and under get in free with a paid adult ticket. Visit TroyTrojans.com/FBTickets or call 334-670-3681 to purchase tickets.
Troy (2-2) returns home following a pair of road games at No. 20 Missouri and Utah State. The Trojans opened the season with back-to-back victories over Sam Houston and Alabama State. Troy has won five straight games against the Golden Eagles (1-3) dating back to the 2021 season, including all four as Sun Belt foes.
This is the earliest meeting between Troy and Southern Miss as conference opponents; they met in the third SBC game in 2022 and have closed out the season each of the last three years.
The Trojans are looking to bounce back from a disappointing trip out West, where they dropped a 21-10 contest at Utah State. That came on the heels of a near-upset at Missouri the week before, as Troy held the Tigers to just 230 yards of total offense.
Despite winning the Sun Belt West Division in three of the last four years, the Trojans will be looking to win their league opener for just the third time in the past eight years. Troy was 5-1 against the Sun Belt West last season and is 18-6 against the division since moving from the East in 2022; the Trojans are 17-1 against the SBC West in the three years they won the division.
Southern Miss defeated Alcorn State (49-3) to open the season but have since dropped consecutive games to Auburn (43-8), UConn (48-20) and Tulane (24-21) in Blake Anderson's first season leading the program.
Former UAB quarterback Landry Lyddy was forced into action against Tulane, throwing three touchdown passes after starter Ethan Hampton was injured. Defensively, the Golden Eagles have struggled against the run, yielding 235.2 yards per game (136th out of 138 teams).
Notable
• Goose Crowder is averaging 5.9 yards after contact (112 total yards) and has forced 10 missed tackles. He is third nationally among QBs (min. 15 rushes) in YAC and tied for 25th in missed tackles forced
• Donnie Smith ranks third nationally (PFF) with 13 quarterback hurries through four games. Among players with 100 snaps, ranks ninth nationally (2nd in P6) with a 17.9 win percentage and fifth with a 15.1 pressure percentage (plays with pressure generated/pass rush snaps
• Donnie Smith has a sack in 13 games and a half tackle for loss in 16 games the last two seasons; both are the most in the country
• Jabari Strait has allowed receptions on just 31.3 percent of targets against him (5-of-16); that ranks second among FBS players with at least 15 targets
• Troy has won 10 of its last 12 games when rushing for more than 100 yards games
• Gavin Griffin is tied for 34th nationally with 18 missed tackles forced
• Justin Powe is one of nine players nationally (min. 100 coverage snaps) to not allow a first down in coverage
• Troy ranks seventh nationally with three plays of 60-plus yards and 12th with four plays of 50-plus yards this season
• Missouri's 230 yards of offense were the fewest by an SEC opponent against a Sun Belt team since Texas A&M had 180 yards against App State in 2022; it's the fourth-fewest yards ever by an SEC team against a Sun Belt team
• Donnie Smith led the Sun Belt with 11 sacks last season ... it was the second time in the last three seasons a Trojan has led the league in sacks (Javon Solomon, 2023, 16)
• Troy is the only school to appear in multiple SBC Championship Games and have a winning record (2-1)
• Troy has its own version of PAT, which you'll see at the end of the first and third quarters. Praise A Teammate takes place between the quarter breaks, no matter the score
• Troy sixth-year linebacker Bryce Steele was diagnosed with thymoma, a rare type of tumor that forms in the epithelial cells of the thymus gland, which sits in the upper chest behind the breastbone; visit TroyTrojans.com/Steele for full story
Players Mentioned
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