Teachers Throwdown: Troy’s history against Georgia Southern
Georgia Southern hold the distinction of being Troy’s oldest opponent out of the Sun Belt Conference. The two teams first met in 1934, 80 years before the Eagles joined the conference.
Troy is 13-6 against Southern, but since the Eagles rebuilt their team in the 80s the Trojans are just 5-6. The death of the original Georgia Southern team means the series has a clear separation of acts, and the Eagles’ recent addition to the Sun Belt makes the series even more divisible.
I. The Red Wave and the Blue Tide
Troy State Normal School and First District Agricultural & Mechanical School both organized their first football teams in 1909. Following the Great Depression, both programs found their footing. Albert Elmore and “Crook” Smith led their respective aquatically-themed teams to new heights.
In 1934, the Red Wave met the Blue Tide for the first time, a 19-13 win for Troy State. Georgia Southern hosted Troy the next year, a 28-26 Red Wave win.
Over the next six years, South Georgia Teachers College would not score more than six in a single game against Troy. The Red Wave won six straight by a combined score of 79-12.
In 1941 the World entered its Second Great War, and both the Red Wave and the Blue Tide called it quits. Troy came back in the fall of 1946.
Georgia Southern did not.
II. The Rebirth and Renaissance
In 1982, Coach Erk Russell’s new Georgia Southern program took to the field for the first time. The next year, Chan Gailey’s Trojans returned to Statesboro for the first time in 43 years.
The streak returned. Troy State won a 28-27 nailbiter, taking a 9-0 lead in the series. That’s when the programs and the series alike changed.
From 1984-1990 either team at least made an appearance in the Division I-AA or Division II National Championship. That’s a credit to Southern for becoming an instant dynasty, but the Trojans’ two titles in four years aren’t a simple task either.
The 1985 matchup was effectively the passing of the torch. The Eagles beat the defending champions en route to back-to-back titles.
The season of success eventually came to an end. Troy sputtered to four-win seasons in the 1989 and 1990, before hiring Larry Blakeney and jumping to Division I-AA. The Eagles welcomed the Trojans, splitting a home-and-home in 1991 and 1992.
In 1995, the teams met in the postseason for the first time. An undefeated Trojan team began its postseason run hoping to take home a fourth national title.
The Trojans found themselves down 24-21 with a third-and-goal late in the fourth quarter. An interception in the end zone sealed the game.
Southern won, ending Troy State’s playoff dreams, and the two teams went separate ways.
III. The Reunion
Troy State moved to Division I-A in 2001, a year after Georgia Southern took home another set of back-to-back national titles.
The Eagles and the Trojans both shared down seasons and returns to glory over the next decade. Then Georgia Southern chose to join the FBS and the Sun Belt in 2014.
Southern smothered Troy in 2014 (a conference title year) and 2015, two down seasons for the Trojans, cutting deeply into their series lead. The following year, Southern beat Troy on the last play of the game, killing its conference title hopes and setting the series at 10-6.
Troy has been the Eagles’ heel the past three years, climbing into a commanding 13-6 lead and taking a conference title along the way. Troy has scored no fewer than 35 points and allowed an average of 22 points.
This brings us to Saturday. Both teams are 4-2, playing rivals at the end of the year, and praying that none of their opponents have to cancel.
Southern struggled with lowlier teams in the conference, but stood tall against Louisiana and Coastal (at least compared to other conference opponents). Troy has taken care of business in conference as well, with the exception of a loss to Georgia State.
Both teams won last week, so both teams are looking to keep the rebound momentum going.
This series may be 86 years old, but it’s still making things interesting.