2018 College Football Previews: Troy Trojans

Troy Trojans
Location: Troy, AL
Coach: Neal Brown (25-13) 3rd Season
Stadium: Veterans Memorial Stadium (Capacity: 30,402)

CSJ Projections:
2nd: Sun Belt (2nd East Division)
3rd: Alabama
63rd: FBS
66th: Division I

2017 In A Sentence: The Trojans  won a share of the Sun Belt title after defeating Arkansas State in a thriller in the regular season finale and defeated  North Texas in the New Orleans Bowl to finish with a 11-2 overall record– the programs best season finish since joining FBS in 2001.

Biggest Shoes to Fill: RB Jordan Chunn set the school record for rushing touchdowns in his career, and showed some aptitude as a receiver, catching 58 passes in his final two seasons.  In total, he recorded 3,682 yards from scrimmage (3,124 rushing, 558 receiving), and 47 touchdowns in his career. He signed a college free agent contract with the NFL’s Dallas Cowboys this past spring.

Key Player: CB/KR Marcus Jones seemed to shine in the Trojans’ biggest games in his true freshman season last year.   He set the Troy single-season record and tied the Troy career record with three kickoff returns for touchdowns. The now-sophomore has been named to a number of All-American teams as a kick returner but also was a force on defense.  In the Trojans’ upset victory at LSU, Jones intercepted a pass and led the team with eight tackles.  Jones returned a kickoff 99 yards for a touchdown and an interception 100 yards for a score in Troy’s 32-25 Sun Belt title securing victory over Arkansas State.

Fearless Prediction: Troy has two early non-conference showdowns  in the first month with Boise State and Nebraska, and ends with a trip to fellow SBC East favorite Appalachian State. That last regular season game will likely determine the SBC title. Another 10-win season seems in reach and is certain to get back to a bowl.

Kent Schmidt

Originally from LaMoure, North Dakota, Kent is a 1996 graduate of North Dakota State University.  His prior writing experience is over 15 years having previously worked with D2football.com, I-AA.org, and College Sporting News before coming to College Sports Journal in 2016.  His main focus is college football in the western half of the United States– the Big Sky Conference and Missouri Valley Football Conference within the Division I FCS.  And in 2017, he began also to look at the FBS Group of Five conferences of the American Athletic, Conference USA, Mid-American, Mountain West, and Sun Belt.

Reach him at this email or click below: