College Football Predictions – Troy Trojans 2017 NCAA Football Preview
2016 Recap
2016 Record – 10-3
2016 ATS – 8-5
Yes, guy.
The Trojans had one heck of a year finishing off at 10-3 while enjoying their first winning season since 2010. If you recall, Troy started out at 8-1, and their only loss was to YOUR Clemson Tigers (30-24). It was fun to see Troy get back to winning a lot of football games after a number of years of stagnant performance.
2017 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating
Sun Belt – TBD
OFFENSE
In 2016, the Trojans enjoyed a fine campaign from QB Brandon Silvers who threw for over 3,100 yards and 23 TDs while garnering 1st Team Sun Belt accolades. Silvers is back for his senior season and has a loaded and experienced WR corps to rely upon. Essentially the entire group is back including two players (Emanuel Thompson, Deondre Douglas) who bagged a combined 140 receptions. The pass protection last season was out of this GALAXY as they allowed an FBS-low eight (!) sacks all season even though they threw the ball almost 500 times. They lost their fantastic LT to the NFL and only have a pair of starters returning on the offensive line. We can probably expect Troy to allow more sacks, but do not forget, this team has not given up 25+ sacks in any of the past seven seasons.
Let’s get to some more good news. The RB group returns all the key members and features 1st Team Sun Belt performer Jordan Chunn (1,288, 16 TD, 30 receptions). This offense has the potential to be fantastic if the revamped offensive line can develop quickly.
DEFENSE
Troy has made a dramatic improvement on defense over the past couple of seasons under DC Vic Koenning and they held their opponents to just 22.1 points per game last year (28.3, 36.2, 35.9 previous three years). The Trojans return six starters to the unit and look particularly strong on the DL and in the secondary. The weakness may be at LB where only they only have one returning starter. We like the look of the defense and feel that they are definitely good enough to support a run at a Sun Belt title.
SPECIAL TEAMS
There is a bit of uncertainty here as the Trojans need to break in a new P and PK with the departure of Ryan Kay. The return units look to be in good shape.
Potential ATS Trouble Spot
November 25 – TEXAS ST. The Trojans should be in the thick of the Sun Belt chase at this point and just need to sleepwalk though this game before meeting Arkansas St on December 2nd. Of course, things could change by then, but this would not be an ideal spot to lay a gazillion points with Troy.
MEGAmazing Tidbits
A low point in Troy Trojans’ history had to be the 1948 PAPER BOWL in which they were shutout by Jacksonville St by a score of 19-0. Oh, those wacky “Division II” bowl games.
MEGALOCKS ATS Value Rating (10) 8.0
MEGALOCKS says:
Overall, we give the TROJANS a 8.0 ATS Value Rating (Excellent) this season.
The Trojans have a chance to do special things this year. They are a legitimate threat to win the conference title and to bank another 10+ win season. HC Neal Brown is on the MEGALOCKS favorite list and has compiled a 15-10 (60%) mark vs Vegas in his short time at Troy. There still may be opportunity to bank some HARD CURRENCY with these guys if they continue to stay under the DEGENERATE RADAR.
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