Week 12 Preview: Troy
After their second bye week of the season, the Eagles will host Troy on Saturday, November 16, 2024. The game will be played in the friendly confines of Paulson Stadium and will serve as the annual Salute to Service Game honoring the heroes that serve and have served in the United States Armed Forces. Georgia Southern will enter the game with a record of 6-3 (4-1 SBC) and in sole possession of first-place in the Sun Belt East Division. Troy will come into the game with a record of 2-7 (1-4 SBC) with wins over Coastal Carolina and Florida A&M. Since Georgia Southern moved up to the Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) and joined the Sun Belt Conference, the Eagles are 4-4 against the the Trojans from Troy. The Eagles are 3-1 in games played against Troy in Statesboro and 1-3 in games played against Troy on the road in those eight matchups. Like Georgia Southern, Troy had an extra week to prepare for this game as they are also coming off of a bye week after a win over Coastal Carolina.
The Troy Trojans have three quarterbacks that have seen action this season including Matthew Caldwell, Goose Crowder, and Tucker Kilcrease. Last week against Coastal Carolina, the only quarterback that saw action was junior QB Matthew Caldwell who has completed 75 out of 124 passes for 903 yards and 6 touchdowns and 6 interceptions in seven games this season. He also has two rushing touchdowns so far this season. On the ground, the Georgia Southern defense will face a two-headed monster that includes a familiar face in former Eagle running back, Gerald Green, along with RB Damien Taylor. On the season, Taylor has 116 carries for 682 yards and 4 touchdowns while Green has carried the ball 92 times for 451 yards and 3 touchdowns. On top of the two stellar running backs, Troy also has one of the best receivers in the conference in WR Devonte Ross who is from Cartersville, Georgia. Through nine games this season, Ross has caught 53 passes for 784 yards and 9 touchdowns. Behind him, there are just two receivers with more than 200 yards: WR Peyton Higgins and WR Landon Parker who both have 235 receiving yards. The Georgia Southern defense will likely play quite a bit of zone coverage to keep defensive backs out of one-on-one situations with WR Devonte Ross. With QB Matthew Caldwell throwing six interceptions in seven games, it will be up to the front seven of the Eagles defense to get pressure on him to create some errant throws or bad decisions and up to the defensive backs to turn those into extra possessions for the Eagles offense.
Defensively, Troy is led by LB Jordan Stringer, an Augusta, Georgia native, who has 64 total tackles, 5.5 tackles for loss, one sack, one interception and two forced fumbles on the season. Along with him, Statesboro-native LB Brendan Jackson has 59 total tackles, 12 tackles for loss, and one sack so far. Nine different players on the Troy defense have registered at least one sack on the season, so the offensive line will have to be on top of things to prevent those guys from getting to QB JC French. The defensive backfield of the Trojans has registered just three interceptions through nine games this season. As a team, Troy gives up just over 383 yards of offense per game (211.78 through the air and 171.4 on the ground) while giving up 27.78 points per game. The defense plays quite a bit with just two down-linemen and two edge defenders up front. They disguise coverages well and drop those edge defenders into pass coverage while blitzing linebackers and defensive backs to confuse the offensive line. The linebackers and edge defenders for Troy are the strength of this unit and the offensive line for the Eagles will have their hands full creating space for the running backs and also giving JC French time to make throws. Look for the Trojans defense to send guys early and often to make the offensive line and French as uncomfortable as possible.
In the special teams phase of the game, K Scott Taylor Renfroe handles field goal duties for the Trojans and has made 10 of 11 field goals this season including a 49-yarder. P Robert Cole has punted 34 times this season for a 39.79 average including seven that ended up inside the opponent’s 20-yard line. The return man most often utilized is star receiver Devonte Ross, who has returned ten kickoffs for an average of 19.20 yards and seven punts this season for an average of 20.86 yards including a 77-yard touchdown return. K Gavin Stewart will likely kick away from Ross or boot it out of the end zone for touchbacks and P Alex Smith will need to ensure to place the ball well and with plenty of hangtime to ensure that Devonte Ross does not have any game changing returns. The coverage teams for the Eagles have done a great job so far this season limiting big returns and they will need to continue that on Saturday.
According to USAToday, the Eagles are 7.5-point favorites on Saturday, but Troy is coming off of a big win against Coastal Carolina and a bye week, so they will be ready to play.
The Eagles win if:
1) They win the turnover battle
Georgia Southern is 5-0 in games with a +1 or better turnover margin
Georgia Southern is 1-3 in games with an even or negative turnover margin
2) The offense can establish a run game and not shy away from it
The run game helps control the clock and sets up play-action shots for JC French in the passing game
3) Paulson Stadium is rocking
Georgia Southern is in first place in the Sun Belt East Division and looking to earn their first trip to the Sun Belt Championship Game, so the fans should be out in full force
The Power of Paulson is REAL and the Eagles feed off of crowd energy, so show up and be loud
