Tuesday Takeaways: Stuffing Southern Miss
That was refreshing. For once, Troy not only felt like the better team, it played like it too.
The Trojans took advantage of Southern Miss’s mistakes, got to the quarterback, and developed an effective (if not successful) run game.
They did all the things I said they would do, except for give up another touchdown:
That said, Troy has more talent on paper. Expect the Trojans to put it away at some point, probably late.
Final prediction: Troy 27, USM 17.
Nailed it.
The Good
| Offensive MVP | Kimani Vidal |
| Defensive MVP | Craig Slocum |
| Stat of the Game | 20 points off turnovers |
See what I did there? The three categories align with the three things I said Troy did well.
Kimani Vidal had a breakout game after DK exploded against WKU. Eagles fans were expecting Billingsley to blow up (or at least Sippi was) but the two-headed beast actually shared the load, with a score each.
Vidal just happened to get more carries, more yards and more targets too.
Clearly the passing game was on point too, with 237 yards among Deshon Stoudemire, Tez Johnson and everyone else.
Defensively, Craig Slocum stood out, leading the team with 8 tackles and a pick. Markeis Colvin pulled down a pick and returned it 44 yards, setting up the last touchdown of the first half.
The other two led to field goals, but for the second week in a row Buddha Jones recovered a fumble and it led to a Troy touchdown. The four turnovers gave Troy 20 of its 27 points.
Troy was also helped by penalties. Southern Miss committed eight, resulting in 85 yards and two first downs.
Overall, it was one of the more complete games Troy has played in the last few seasons.
The Bad
So here’s the catch. Troy made fewer mistakes, but not too many fewer.
- Jarret threw two picks, one in the end zone
- The offensive line gave up four sacks
- And Troy lost… oh wait. The Trojans didn’t drop the ball.
Huh. Well, other than giving up the same number of sacks as Southern Miss recorded in each of the previous three games (something I mentioned), the offense did a solid job.
Still need to clean up those interceptions though. Jarret may make Troy the first team with TWO quarterbacks on the DETMER scale.
The Ugly
I suppose this is the best place to list our current injury report. This is all courtesy of the Josh Boutwell at the Troy Messenger:
- Jabre Barber – out for the “foreseeable future,” or “a 2-6 week timetable”
- Deyunkrea Lewis – questionable
- Jayden McDonald – still no timetable
- Luis Medina – still no timetable
- Caleb Ransaw – doubtful
- Gunnar Watson – missed USM “for precautionary reasons,” available this week
Barber underwent a procedure Monday for what “looked like it could be a significant injury.” Per Boutwell, Coach Sumrall “emphasized that he didn’t believe it would be season-ending.”
McDonald, Medina and Ransaw will be out next week for sure, and there’s still no timetable for their return. Lewis isn’t likely this week either but he could be cleared for the South game.
Finally, Watson could have played Saturday, but like Martial against App State, he was sidelined just to be safe. We didn’t find out the USM starter until two minutes to kickoff, so I don’t expect to know who’s starting next week till kickoff.
All things considered, Troy could be in much worse shape.
Martial’s Magic Number: 52
There are six games left. He still needs to average 9 tackles a game to break the record.
Right now he’s averaging 10.2 tackles per game, sitting at No. 12 in the country, and aiming to break the record against Arkansas State at the end of the year.