Official Troy Trojan 2017 Preview: Rebuilding the Wall
Students at Troy University are in the middle of their first full week on campus and are patiently awaiting the arrival of a highly anticipated 2017 season. The Trojans roared to 10 wins last year after going 4-8 in 2016.
Head coach Neal Brown now has a new challenge, one that Troy has never faced before: lofty expectations. Troy has put together solid seasons in the past, being a mainstay in the Sun Belt’s top three in the 2000’s. However, the Trojans would always plateau at eight wins under then-coach Larry Blakeney and would only reach nine wins once.
Now, just two seasons gone in the Neal Brown era, the Wall is nearly rebuilt. Only a few bricks remain and one of them has the words Sun Belt Champion emblazoned on the side. Will the men of Troy march their way to a conference championship with a target pinned to their backs? It’s very much within their grasp, but a challenger it will not face this season has already been given a head start.
Scott Satterfield and the Appalachian State Mountaineers return a potent offensive machine and have the luxury of avoiding both Troy and Arkansas State this year. The Trojans will have to win each conference game and hope the Mountaineers slip up somewhere along their path.
Before we get too far ahead of ourselves, lets break down why Troy’s expectations are so lofty and what Trojan weapons will be used the most.
Offense
Troy returns nearly every single yard of production from last year’s squad. Such a feat is rare and must be taken advantage of. Andre Flakes and his 10 receptions have moved to the other side of the ball. He represents the only loss of production for the entire offense.
Up front, the Trojans will have to replace three offensive lineman. This normally isn’t an extremely daunting task but one of those lineman was third round pick Antonio Garcia. Garcia did not allow a single sack and anchored a line that gave up only eight sacks all year. Right tackle Tyler Lassiter and right guard Xavier Fields also graduate and allowed just three sacks together in 2016.
Senior tackle/guard Jonathon Boring returns to the O-line after missing all of 2016 due to injury. Boring gives the line a huge boost in leadership and versatility. He started seven games in 2015 and allowed only one sack in 486 snaps.
Line play will be more imperative in the run-game in Brown’s snap-and-pass offense. With Boring’s return, the ground attack shouldn’t see a significant drop-off, if any.
Senior quarterback Brandon Silvers returns under center as arguably the best quarterback in the Sun Belt. Silvers had a career season last year and has caught the eyes of scouts with his velocity and pinpoint accuracy.
There’s no reason to expect a slide from Silvers this season with a plethora of returning weapons (and then some) surrounding him. Silvers also carries a level of leadership that acts as the glue to this offense.
However, his supporting cast is good enough so that the offense is not in a “goes however Silvers goes” situation. For example, Silvers completed just 37 percent of his passes on the road against Southern Mississippi last year and Troy still left with a 37-31 victory.
That was in large part due to the play of running back Jordan Chunn and his 176 yards in that game. Chunn returns after a 1,200+ yards campaign and will have a deeper stable of backs behind him. Chunn ran out of gas late in the year after averaging 22.8 carries per game through the first nine contests. He ran the ball 31 times the week before Troy’s fallout against Arkansas State in which Chunn had just 51 rushing yards.
His primary reliever last year was Josh Anderson, a bruiser back who tallied 280 yards on five yards per carry in 2016. Speed-type backs Jabir Frye and B.J. Smith also return. Frye is an electric tailback who is used in specific packages but is primarily used on kick returns.
The player to watch in this group, though, is Jamarius Henderson. Henderson transferred in from Memphis and is ready to play after sitting out the 2016 season. Henderson has the potential to be the perfect replacement once Chunn graduates.
He set the Alabama state record for rushing yards in a season with 3,483 in high school before earning 60 carries as a true freshman at Memphis. Henderson’s main obstacle may be staying out of the doghouse, as he recently missed roughly two weeks of training camp after being suspended by Brown.
At receiver, Troy is loaded with options. Emanuel Thompson and Deondre Douglas return as the Sun Belt’s best tandem of receivers after combining for 140 receptions 1,560 yards and 12 touchdowns a year ago. Tavaris McCormick and John Johnson both had over 20 catches last year and combined for seven touchdowns. Chunn is also active in the passing game, catching 30 passes last season for 228 yards.
The receiver group also gets a boost from a newcomer in Damion Willis. A junior college transfer, Willis is a long target at 6’4 and has raised quite a few eyebrows during fall camp. He figures to be a part of the rotation this season and give the Trojans a big option in 2018 when Thompson, McCormick and Johnson graduate.
Defense
The defense is not in as good of shape as the offense is but it still has high potential. Troy lost a total of 51 starts at linebacker, including last year’s Sun Belt defensive player of the year Rashard Dillard. On the plus side, the secondary remains intact after picking off a conference-high 22 passes last year.
The Trojan pass defense is certainly fickle, being one of just four Sun Belt teams to allow over 3,000 passing yards despite its propensity for forcing turnovers. Troy’s problem lies in consistency. Troy gave up around 240 passing yards per game yet only allowed 200-299 yards twice. It allowed under 200 yards seven times and over 300 yards four times.
Of those four games, Troy lost zero of them. In fact, Troy won those games by an average score of 40.8-20.3. This tells us that a chunk of the yardage allowed came as a combination of being well ahead and garbage time yards.
Troy returns three of its four primary defensive backs from last year, including junior Blace Brown who had six interceptions last season. Kris Weatherspoon and Cedarius Rookard give Troy one of the top safety duos in the conference. Weatherspoon is especially disruptive, recording eight pass breakups and 7.5 tackles for loss in his first season on campus.
The linebackers will be made up of a mostly new group of players. Tyquae Russell returns after starting every game last year as the spear. He will have the aforementioned Andre Flakes behind him as added depth.
On the other side, sophomore Zo Bridges will take over at bandit after impressing throughout spring and fall camp. He’ll have big shoes to fill after Dillard registered 13.5 tackles for loss last season.
In the middle, Sam Lebbie returns and will play the role of the senior leader for a young linebacker group. Lebbie can play multiple spots in the front seven and is effective no matter where he lines up.
Expect a healthy rotation of underclassmen linebackers, starting with A.J. Smiley and Tron Folsom. True freshmen Justin Whisenhunt and Kevin Nixon will also challenge for playing time.
The defensive line will be a strong and deep unit for the Trojans. Baron Poole and Jamal Stadom return at defensive tackle and anchor a line that helped Troy lead the Sun Belt in rushing yards allowed per game.
Seth Calloway moves back to defensive end and is a breakout candidate on this defense. Calloway will be mentoring an extremely talented, while raw, defensive end in Rasool Clemons. Clemons was a four star prospect on Rivals and a three star on 247sports composite coming out of junior college.
Kelvin Lucky, a physically gifted redshirt freshman, will also be vying for playing time at defensive end.
Schedule and Breakdown
| Sat, Sep 2 | @ | 2:45 PM | |
| Sat, Sep 9 | vs | 5:00 PM | |
| Sat, Sep 16 | @ | 7:00 PM | |
|
Sat, Sep 23
|
vs
|
 Akron |
TBD
|
|
Sat, Sep 30
|
@
|
 LSU |
TBD
|
|
Wed, Oct 11
|
vs
|
 South Alabama |
7:00 PM
|
|
Sat, Oct 21
|
@
|
 Georgia State |
TBD
|
|
Sat, Oct 28
|
vs
|
 GA Southern |
TBD
|
|
Thu, Nov 2
|
vs
|
 Idaho |
8:15 PM
|
|
Sat, Nov 11
|
@
|
 Coastal |
TBD
|
|
Fri, Nov 24
|
vs
|
 Texas State |
TBD
|
|
Sat, Dec 2
|
@
|
 Arkansas State |
TBD
|
Once the Trojans return home from Baton Rouge, the remaining games are all game-of-the-week types. Troy will host its rival South Alabama on national TV before facing off with an up and coming Georgia State squad.
Georgia Southern is returning to the triple option and is one of two Sun Belt foes that Brown has yet to beat. Idaho is coming off a surprising nine win season while Coastal Carolina represents a possible trap game.
It’s extremely difficult to run the table in the Sun Belt and it’s only happened four times since 2005. Troy certainly has the talent to do so but will be a circled target on every team’s calendar.
A conference championship will give Brown and the Trojans a key brick in its wall but if you ask any of the players, they’ll tell you that it’s not the biggest goal for the season.