Battle for the Belt: Troy vs. South Alabama

When: Thursday, October 20, 6:30 p.m. CT

Where: Ladd-Peebles Stadium, Mobile, Alabama

TV Broadcast: ESPNU

Radio: 94.7 FM (WTBF Troy) 99.5 FM (The Jag Mobile)

Spread: -9 Troy

Troy will be venturing off to Mobile, Alabama Thursday night to take on rival and conference foe South Alabama.

Troy just came off of a 31-21 win over Georgia State that improved the Trojans record to 5-1 and 3-0 in conference play.

USA on the other hand is coming off a heartbreaking loss to the Arkansas State Red Wolves 17-7. South is now 3-3 overall and 0-3 in the SunBelt.

Troy and South Alabama are putting more on the line than a game Thursday night, as they will be playing for a wrestling championship belt.

This is the second year that the two teams will be playing for this title. The Jaguars took the game from the Trojans last year winning 24-18.

South Alabama’s quarterback, Dallas Davis passed for 146 yards going 9-15 with one interception in the loss last week. The lone touchdown for the Jaguars came from running back Xavier Johnson who carried the ball 10 times for only 26 yards.

Troy’s defense held Georgia State to only 85 rushing yards last week. The Trojans also forced two more interceptions. Troy has an overall total of 14 interceptions that makes them first for most forced picks.

Ryan Kay helped the Trojans in the victory last week making 3-3 field goals and 2-2 in points after. Kay was Sunbelt special teams player of week due to his work.

Watch for Troy to move the ball effectively through the air and on the ground. Brandon Silvers passed for 235 yards going 20-35 with two touchdowns on one interception.

Jordan Chunn and Josh Anderson will be carrying the ball for the Trojans. Chunn carried the ball 32 times for 95 yards with one touchdown. Anderson carried the ball eight times for 26 yards and caught the ball twice for 24 yards with one touchdown.

Pregame: Troy vs. Idaho

The Troy Trojans are venturing to Moscow, Idaho this Saturday to seek revenge on conference foe the Idaho Vandals. The Vandal took the game from the Trojans last year winning 19-16. 

Troy enters the game 3-1 and 1-0 in conference play and looks to avenge Idaho, 2-2 and 0-0 in the conference, after coming off a huge win against the New Mexico State Aggies, 52-6.The Trojans forced five interceptions last week and hope to make big plays on the defensive side of the ball. 

Troy will play an exceptional passing offense that has only been picked off twice this year. Idaho quarterback, Matt Linehan went 17-35 passing for 249 passing yards and one touchdown against UNLV last week. Look for Linehan to connect with tightend Deon Watson, who leads the team in receiving yards with 212 and Callen Hightower, who led the team last week with 67 yards. 

 

The Trojans offense will have their work cut out against a solid Vandal defense. Kaden Elliss earned SunBelt defensive player of the week with two picks.

This week, Troy will need to play well on all three phases of the game. Look out for Jabir Frye on special teams to make guys miss. Frye last week ran a kickoff back 100 yards for a touchdown and received SunBelt special teams player of the week. 

Frye isn’t the only weapon Troy has. Brandon Silvers went 23-32 with 249 yards, two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. Alongside Silvers is tailback Jordan Chunn. Chunn carried the ball 15 times for 64 yards and one touchdown last week. Look for Troy to run Chunn a lot and early.

The team that makes the more big plays will win this game. The Trojans are a 14-point favorite against the Vandals. The game is set for Saturday 4:00 CT on ESPN 3.

Postgame: Troy vs. New Mexico State

Football is a game of numbers not just in yards that are gained, sacks on defense but it’s about the big plays a team can come away with. The Trojans did that last night against the New Mexico State Aggies.
 
The Trojans came away with five interceptions against the Aggie offense. The problem for New Mexico State was not being able to finish drives, going 1-6 in the red zone. This is where the Trojan defense pounced on the Aggies and hurt them where it matters, turnovers. Troy now has 10 interceptions over the past four games and all together has forced 14 turnovers. The Aggies did manage to gain to a total of 539 yards of offense.

I already mentioned the five turnovers. One big play came from the Trojan punt block team, where the Trojans would come away with a blocked punt for a touchdown. Another came from the kickoff return team. Jabir Frye ran the kickoff back in the beginning of the second half 100 yards to the endzone.

The Trojans only contributed to 492 yards of offense. There were many players that helped the Trojans to the massive win over the Aggies. One would be Brandon Silvers. Silvers contributed to 246 yards passing going 23-32 with two passing touchdowns and one rushing touchdown. Blace Brown was another Trojan that had a good game coming away with two of five takeaways for the Troy defense. 

Demetrius Cain contributed to a blocked punt for a touchdown. Another Trojan that helped the Trojans was Jabir Frye who ran the opening kickoff of the second half back 100 yards for a touchdown. Like I said it was all about the big plays.

The Aggies quarterback Tyler Rodgers passed the ball for 445 yards going 29-54 with one touchdown. What hurt the Aggies were Rodgers’ five "oskies." Those that can come away with those key plays win the game. That is what took place in the 52-6 victory for the Trojans.

The Troy Trojans look to keep forcing turnovers this coming week as they travel to Idaho to take on the Idaho Vandals. The Trojans are now 3-1 and 1-0 in conference play while their counterpart Idaho is 2-2 yet to play a conference game. The game is set for Saturday, October 1st at 4:00 CT on ESPN 3.

Troy Trojans vs. New Mexico State Aggies: Pregame

The Troy University Trojans return home this week after a huge win over the Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles. The Trojans will play the New Mexico State Aggies, who just came off of a shootout loss from the Kentucky Wildcats.

The Trojans are 2-1 this season before entering conference play as they take on the 1-2 Aggies.

Troy’s offense will feature Brandon Silvers at quarterback, who last week went 10-27 passing with 123 yards passing, three passing touchdowns, and one interception. The Trojan offense will also will Jordan Chunn at halfback. Last week Chunn carried the ball 36 times with 181 yards rushing and one rushing touchdown. Troy will look to lean on these two players to get the job done on offense.

The Aggies are led offensively by senior quarterback Tyler Rodgers, who completed 16 passes last week with 246 passing yards, two passing touchdowns and two interceptions. The Aggies might be overmatched against Troy’s defense.

Troy’s defense will look to go to task against the Aggies Saturday. Overall the Trojan defense has forced nine turnovers the past three games and look to build off those four turnovers last week against the Golden Eagles.

The Aggies played well against the Kentucky Wildcats last week but came up short in a shootout game 62-42. New Mexico State had the led majority of the game and couldn’t maintain the lead.

The Trojans beat Southern Miss last week of a score of 37-31, which came down to the wire. Troy was able to hold the Golden Eagles down the last couple of minutes in the game.

Troy is a 20-point favorite to win tomorrow’s matchup against the New Mexico State Aggies. The ability to finish strong is the big difference between the two teams; this will be how the Trojans will win the game come Saturday. I think Silvers will be calm in the comforts of the home crowd. This will help the Trojans avoid turnovers; ultimately the Trojans will win the game. I give the Trojans a 17-24 point margin of victory. Kickoff for the Trojans is set for 6:00 Saturday Night at Veterans Memorial Stadium, Troy Alabama.

Farewell KG

The Big Ticket, Kevin Garnett said farewell to the NBA today. 

The 6’11” big man announced that he was retiring after 21 seasons in the league. Garnett was selected fifth overall in 1995 by the Minnesota Timberwolves. 

The Big Ticket is a 15 time NBA All-star, 2004 MVP, and a 2008 world champion with the Boston Celtics. 

Garnett was apart of the original “Big Three” with Ray Allen and Paul Peirce. He average 17.8 points per game, 10 rebounds a game and a field goal percentage of 0.497. 

Garnett will be remembered for his work in the paint mostly on the defensive side. Garnett will be retiring with two other greats, Kobe Bryan and Tim Duncan. Thanks for the past 21 years.

The Big Fundamental retires

The long-term big man for the San Antonio Spurs, Tim Duncan announced Monday morning that he is retiring after a hall of fame 19-year career in the NBA. 

The Big Fundamental was nothing short than spectacular in his 19-year career with the Spurs. Duncan is 14^th on the all time NBA scoring list with 26,496 career points. Not only did Duncan score well but he also rebounded and blocked well. He is sixth on the all time NBA rebounding list with 15,091 rebounds and is also fifth on the all time NBA in blocks with 3,064 blocks throughout his career.

His personal accolades include two MVP awards one in the 2001-02 season and the other in the 2002-03 season. Not only did he win the MVP in the regular season but has also won the MVP for the NBA Finals in 1999, 2003 and 2005. 

Duncan has been apart of five championship teams with the Spurs, the first being in his second season along side David Robinson in 1999. The last one he won was in 2014 along side: Tony Parker, Manu Ginobilli and Kawi Leonard.

Tim “The Big Fundamental” Duncan was an extraordinary player to watch play the game of basketball. The 6’-11” Duncan will always have a place in the NBA with the many other superstars.