Troy is 1-0 after winning their season opener against Southern University (FCS) 55-3 on Saturday night. Last season, Troy finished last in the Eastern Division of the Sunbelt with an overall record of 5-6 and a conference record of 3-4. The Trojans had an up and down season in 2020 with blowout losses to BYU (48-7) and Appalachian State (47-10), but barely lost to 12th ranked Coastal Carolina 42-38. They played Middle Tennessee twice last year and won 47-14 on September 19th, but later lost to Middle Tennessee in the second matchup 20-17.
The Trojans are led by third year head coach Chip Lindsey, who has a long history of successful offenses at the high school and college level. He was an offensive analyst for Auburn during their 2011 national championship campaign and served as Auburn’s offensive coordinator in 2017, when QB Jarrett Stidham set passing records at Auburn as the school’s first 3,000 yard passer. He was an offensive coordinator at Southern Mississippi where his offense set records in 2015 and he coached current San Francisco QB Nick Mullens. Lindsey has an overall record of 10-13 as he enters his third season at Troy. Last year, Troy ranked 21st in the nation in passing offense under Lindsey.
Key Players and transfers:
University of Missouri transfer Taylor Powell is starting at quarterback for Troy this year. He threw for 234 yards and two touchdowns in his debut start against Southern last week and seems to already be a key addition for the Trojans. Powell is a player to watch in this week’s matchup with the Flames as he makes the second start of his career.
Running back BJ Smith is back to full health after rushing for 1,186 in 2018 before battling injuries over the past two seasons. Troy also has Kimani Vidal who is the fastest player on the Trojans team.
Defensively Troy brings back All-American LB Carlton Martial who has a career 315 tackles, 8 sacks, four interceptions, and six forced fumbles.
Game Details:
Liberty and Troy kickoff at 7:00 pm this Saturday on ESPN+ at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, Alabama. The Flames are currently a 5.5 point favorite heading into the game.
Coach said it best, “this one could go either way”. They demolished an FCS team that almost went undefeated in the Spring. Powell is underrated QB. He will be a problem for us. He also started against Georgia a couple years ago and has faced many SEC defenses not just in clean-up time. They can run too. We had several penalties this past weekend. We are getting love in the polls, they aren’t. I could see them motivated enough to take us out.
This is a much improved Troy team from last year and we have our work cut out this Saturday. Hope we can grind it out,
Go Flames!