Saturday, November 23, 2024
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Sun Belt ConferenceTroy

Rebuilding the Wall One 10 Win Season At a Time

Scott Watkins

Year two of the Neal Brown era at Troy ended with more Trojan victories than the secluded town had seen since 1999.
The Trojans were picked to finish fifth in the conference at Sun Belt media days with most media members projecting Troy’s ceiling for the 2016 season being at six wins.
At the time, it was easy to understand why the Trojans were overlooked. Troy was coming off a 4-8 season and had just graduated 70% of its total offense. Quarterback Brandon Silvers was the only returning starter who wasn’t an offensive linemen.
On defense, the front seven was loaded but there wasn’t a single defensive back that had recorded an interception.
Troy’s season can be broken down into three segments: the sharp, eye-opening rise to Sun Belt favorites, the regression in between bye weeks, and the abrupt collapse in the season’s final weeks.
Troy flexed its young muscles on opening weekend against Austin Peay and showcased an array of new offensive weapons. Most notable amongst the fresh starters, while not entirely new to Troy, was junior running back Jordan Chunn.
After missing the 2015 season, the former freshman All-American ran for 168 yards against the Governors in Brown’s hyper speed offense.
The Trojans quickly made noise when they travelled to Death Valley to take on the Clemson Tigers.
2015 Heisman runner-up Deshaun Watson was picked off twice and held to a career low 35 QBR against an unintimidated Troy defense.
Watson and Clemson did escape with a 30-24 victory, but not after receiving a little help from the men in stripes.

A 14 point swing in the fourth quarter may not have been the deciding factor, but going up 17-13 sure beats going down 20-10.
Although the national perspective was more “what’s wrong with Clemson?” Than “How about those Trojans,” Troy was determined to prove it was not a one trick team when it travelled to Mississippi to take on the preseason Conference USA west division favorite Southern Mississippi Golden Eagles.
Led by Chunn and an opportunistic defense, the double digit underdog Trojans took down the Golden Eagles 37-31.
Chunn had 176 rushing yards, including this 39 yard Marshawn Lynch-esque jaunt.


After wins against New Mexico State and eventual Potato Bowl champion Idaho, Troy was 4-1 heading into its first bye week and had its first coach’s poll votes since 2009.
Silvers was leading an offense that could run at light speed and then slow down to an efficient crawl in clock chewing situations.
The defense was leading the conference in takeaways and was top three in the country in interceptions. The front seven had plenty to do with the turnovers. Led by defensive lineman and Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year Rasdad Dillard, the front seven was constantly in the backfield and forcing quarterbacks into hurried and off-balanced pass attempts.
The first signs of regression came in the homecoming game against Georgia State. After averaging 23 first half points per game, the Trojans could only muster two field goals before halftime. Troy then put up a flurry of points in the second half to pull out the win but failed to cover the spread for the first time.
The offensive struggles continued into the Battle for the Belt at South Alabama. Brown’s quick-hitting west coast offense was gaining yards but stalling at midfield. At the same time, the defense had allowed a season high 21 first half points.
Just like the week before, Troy dominated late and pulled out another win.
After outgunning the Minutemen of Massachusetts, Troy reached the peak of its season when it played host to the Appalachian State Mountaineers. The Mountaineers were also undefeated in conference play and had won their last four games by an average of 22.8 points.
The game certainly didn’t lack any drama, as Troy used a 42 yard pass on fourth down to set up the go ahead touchdown run.


Following the 28-24 win, the Trojans garnered the Sun Belt’s first national ranking when they checked in at number 25 in the AP poll.
The hype was short lived, however, as Troy met the Sun Belt victory train that is Arkansas State. After a slow first half, the Red Wolves turned the jets on and ran their way to a 35-3 whipping.
After putting away lowly Texas State, Troy had a shot at a share of the Sun Belt title for the first time since 2010 against a massively underperforming Georgia Southern squad.
Troy struggled to contain the option and fell to the Eagles 28-24. The loss might have saved the job of the Eagle’s first year head coach Tyson Summers.
The final challenge of the season came against the MAC runner up Ohio Bobcats in the Dollar General Bowl.
Troy defensive coordinator Vic Koenning capped off an excellent year by watching his defense register five takeaways in the game to run the Trojan defense up to 30 forced turnovers for the season.
Troy rode its defense to a 28-23 victory and its first bowl win since 2010, when it defeated Ohio in New Orleans.
With a contract extension for coach Brown expected soon, the future is bright in Troy, Alabama.
Pending an upcoming decision from Chunn, the team will return the entirety of its offensive production next season.
On defensive, Troy will return 14 sacks and 13 interceptions. While losing Dillard, Koenning will look to get some of that production back from JUCO signee Rasool Clemons from East Mississippi Community College.
At just 36 years old, Neal Brown could be a hot commodity if he can replicate this season’s success in 2017. Koenning could be looking for an upgrade himself, having had successful stints as defensive coordinator at Clemson, Illinois, and North Carolina before arriving in Troy.