Preview 2019: Previewing and looking ahead to the Troy Trojans season with what you need to know.
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– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– What Will Happen, Win Total Prediction
– Schedule Analysis
– Troy Previews 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | 2015
2018 Record: 10-3 overall, 7-1 in Sun Belt
Head Coach: Chip Lindsey, 1st year
– CFN Preview 2019: All The Team Previews
5. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE TROY OFFENSE
– New head coach Chip Lindsey comes in to add even more to the passing game for an attack that was okay, relieved on the defense, and came up with just 389 yards and 31 points per game. It helps to get back eight starters, depth, and …
– The starting quarterback returns. Sawyer Smith hit 63% of his passes with 14 scores and six picks, but he took off for Kentucky now that Kaleb Barker is back. The senior started out red hot completing 73% of his passes for 1,013 yards and ten scores with two picks before suffering a knee injury. He’s back, and 6-5, 220-pound Vanderbilt-then-JUCO transfer Jacob Free steps in as the No. 2 man. But …
– The top three receivers are gone. 6-1, 198-pound junior Tray Eafford has to rise up into the No. 1 job on the outside after making 24 catches for 292 yards and three scores, and then it’s all about the JUCO transfers. 6-4, 227-pound former Tulane Green Wave target Khalil McClain and 6-5, 200-pound former Mississippi State Bulldog Reggie Todd have to shine right away.
The tight ends will be a bigger part of the attack with Sam Letton and Richard Hallman good enough to do more after combining for 12 catches.
– After a mediocre year, the line is at least full of veterans. Four starters return including three all-stars. 6-4, 320-pound Kirk Kelley and 6-4, 336-pound Tristan Crowder are the main men at guard, and JL Gaston is a veteran tackle who’ll likely work on the left side. The size, experience and depth need to be enough to improve and blast away, because …
– The great group of running backs have to take over. BJ Smith ran for 1,186 yards and 13 scores, DK Billingsley is a great-looking young option, and 5-7 speedster Jabir Daughtrey-Frye is back after averaging seven yards per pop and finishing second on the team with 371 yards and two scores.
NEXT: What You Need To Know About the Defense, Top Players, Keys to the Season, What Will Happen
4. WHAT YOU NEED TO KNOW ABOUT THE TROY DEFENSE
– Five starters are back from the Sun Belt’s second-best defense that allowed 348 yards and 22 points per game. However, it got hurt by the transfer of leading tackler Tron Folsom along with a slew of key parts. New defensive coordinator Brian Blackmon needs to try to keep the league’s best pass rush going and find ways to keep taking the ball away.
– Losing Folsom to Colorado State is a problem. He came up with 82 stops and was a regular in the backfield from his spot on the weakside. Junior Justin Whisenhunt spent most of last year as a reserve on the inside, but he’ll likely combine with AJ Smiley outside.
Second-leading tackler Carlton Martial is a smallish-quick hitter in the middle, and after these three it’s about playing around with the parts. Troy can get away with having a light group because …
– There’s beef up front. 327-pound Trevon Sanders is done on the nose, and top pass rusher Hunter Reese is gone from the outside. The line will be fine, starting with 6-3, 279-pound senior Marcus Webb at one tackle and promising sophomore Will Choloh taking over on the nose. Jarvis Hayes is a good-looking option on the outside again in a rotation with 265-pound veteran Antoine Barker.
– The secondary takes a hit with Blace Brown done at one corner, 48-tackle Tyler Murray transferring, and pickoff artist Cedarius Rookard gone at safety, but Melvin Tyus is an all-star safety coming off a 60-stop season. Oklahoma transfer Will Sunderland is a 6-4 corner with a world of upside – he needs to shine with Marcus Jones leaving for Houston.
NEXT: Top Players, Keys To the Season, What Will Happen
3. TOP TROY PLAYERS
Best Troy Offensive Player
RB BJ Smith, Sr.
With so many changes on both sides of the ball and in the coaching staff, having a steady star to work around should be enough to to carry the team. The 5-9, 203-pound back was an afterthought over the first part of his career, but it all kicked in last season with an All-Sun Belt campaign rushing for 1,186 yards and 13 scores averaging over five yards per pop. He can catch a little bit, but his worth is as a 20+ carry back with a great burst.
2. QB Kaleb Barker, Sr.
3. OG Kirk Kelley, Sr.
4. OG Tristan Crowder, Sr.
5. OT JL Gaston, Sr.
Best Troy Defensive Player
LB Carlton Martial, Soph.
The defense loses a ton of stars to transfer and graduation, but the 5-10, 216-pound Martial is a good one to build around. The athletic hitting machine was a redshirt freshman all-star coming up with 76 tackles with three sacks and 8.5 tackles for loss. Steady, explosive, and now experienced, he’s a 100-tackle talent if he can stay in one piece.
2. S Melvin Tyus, Sr.
3. CB Terence Dunlap, Jr.
4. DE Jarvis Hayes, Sr.
5. DT Marcus Webb, Sr.
NEXT: Keys to the Season, Prediction & What Will Happen
2. KEYS TO THE SEASON
Biggest Key To The Troy Offense
Quit fumbling. Getting more out of the veteran offensive line is a must, finding a downfield passing game would be nice, and hoping for QB Kaleb Barker to regain his form before his knee injury would be huge, but for a team that will once again rely on the defense and winning tight games, there can’t be big mistakes.
It’s not that Troy had a big fumbling problem throughout the season, but when it gave it away in bunches, there was a problem.
How did the Trojans lose to Liberty? Three turnovers and two fumbles. They lost three fumbles in the loss to Boise State, and two in the key defeat to Appalachian State.
Troy went 1-3 when it finished with a negative turnover margin and was 0-3 when losing two or more fumbles – the only three losses of the season. The team is 1-6 in its last seven games going back to 2016 when it loses multiple fumbles.
Biggest Key To The Troy Defense
Find more ballers who can take the ball away. The massive losses and defections on defense could be crushing considering most of them spent last year screwing up opposing offenses.
Cedarius Rookard is done after leading the team with five picks. Tyler Murray, Marcus Jones, Tron Folsom, Hunter Reece and Blace Brown are done, meaning just four of the 18 picks from last year are back.
Years of solid recruiting under Neal Brown loaded up the Trojans with plenty of good prospects, but it’s asking a whole lot to replace all-star playmakers for a defense that lived off of takeaways over the last few seasons.
But that’s the deal – the Troy D needs disruptive forces to emerge. Which is why …
Key Player To A Successful Season
DE Jarvis Hayes, Sr.
Yeah, the key takeaways and the big plays from the defense partially stemmed from having a host of good defensive playmakers across the board, but the nation’s tenth-best pass rush helped the cause.
Hunter Reese led the team with 7.5 sacks from his linebacker spot, but Hayes was second with 4.5, to go along with his 44 tackles and 10.5 tackles for loss. The former JUCO transfer stepped in and became an instant factor on the way to an All-Sun Belt season.
The pressure will come from a variety of spots and positions, but the transition to the new coaching staff and the new tweaks will be a whole lot smoother if Hayes is more of a killer pass rusher.
Key Game To The Troy Season
Appalachian State, Nov. 30
There are plenty of fun games along the way that will define the Sun Belt season, but this is it. This should be for the conference championship even before the conference championship game.
Interdivisional games against Louisiana and Arkansas State matter, but this is it. The regular season finale is everything considering the Trojans are 1-4 in the series and blew its shot at the Sun Belt title with a 21-10 loss last year.
– Troy Schedule Breakdown & Analysis
2018 Troy Fun Stats
– Penalties: Troy 92 for 736 yards – Opponents 75 for 684 yards
– Field Goals: Troy 18-of-24 – Opponents 7-of-15
– Interceptions Thrown: Opponents 18 – Troy 8
NEXT: What Will Happen
1. TROY WIN TOTAL PREDICTION: WHAT’S GOING TO HAPPEN
What kind of machine did Neal Brown create? Is the talent there and is everything good enough for new head man Chip Lindsey to immediately be able to step in and produce a Sun Belt champion?
It might have been.
Between the loss of several key seniors on defense, and with a massive defection of transfers, the team is missing way too many parts of the puzzle. Considering the program won 31 games and three bowl games in the last three seasons, there is no rebuilding at Troy.
Lindsey is an offensive head coach who needs to generate more of a downfield passing game for a team that relied on a defense that forced a ton of takeaways, and an offense that didn’t screw up all that often.
If everyone stays healthy, the O should be better. The receiving corps needs a few key transfers to step up and rock right out of the gate, and QB Kaleb Barker’s knee has to be okay, but there’s too much experience not to be more explosive.
The defense should be fine in time, but it could’ve and would’ve been a killer if the transfer fairy didn’t play such a massive role. Even so …
Set The Regular Season Win Total At … 9
Even with the new coaching staff, give Troy the benefit of the doubt.
Considering the win over Nebraska last season and at LSU the year before, going to Missouri isn’t going to faze this program, but it’s still asking a ton to pull off the win.
The Southern Miss, Arkansas State, Georgia Southern and Appalachian State games are at home, but going to Louisiana is going to be a concern. Out of those five, Troy will drop two of them – at least – but as long as health isn’t a factor, pushing for nine regular season wins would be a terrific transitional season.
– What You Need To Know: Offense | Defense
– Top Players | Key Players, Games, Stats
– Schedule Analysis
