Troy Trojans 2019 College Football Preview

College Football Predictions – Troy Trojans 2019 College Football Preview

2018 Recap

Record – 10-3

ATS – 8-4-1

Oh, so close.

The Trojans started the season with a THUD getting clobbered by Boise St. They rebounded nicely and rattled off nine wins in their next ten games. It all came down to a road contest at Appalachian St to win the division but they couldn’t get it done. They came to play in the Dollar General Bowl and beat a very good Buffalo team by a score of 42-32.

Troy is firing on ALL CYLINDERS as a football program right now having posted three consecutive 10+ win campaigns. Can new HC Chip Lindsey (OC Auburn LY) get them to challenge Appalachian St in 2019?


2019 MEGALOCKS Opening Power Rating

East Division – #2

Sun Belt – #2


Troy Trojans 2019 Outlook

OFFENSE

QB Sawyer Smith transferred out of the program but the Trojans are in good shape with Kaleb Barker leading the show. Barker put up fine numbers last year in limited action (ACL) (73%, 10-2 TD to INT) and should do a good job. The RB crew is loaded with 1st Team Sun Belt honoree BJ Smith returning to the mix (1,186, 13 TD LY) and Jabir Daughtry-Frye is a solid back-up (7.0 YPC LY). The primary concern on offense is a WR group that loses its top three players from a season ago. The plan is to have JUCO transfers jump in and provide adequate production. The OL returns 4/5 starters and is clearly one of the best units in the Sun Belt.

Troy has posted 30+ PPG for three consecutive seasons and our SUN BELT OFFENSIVE PROJECTION INSIDERS believe they will do it once again.

DEFENSE

The Trojans’ defense deserves a yuuuuge amount of credit for the success that the football program has enjoyed over the past three seasons (31 wins). This year they return six starters to the stop unit and appear poised for success once again. The DL should be really good as per usual but they will certainly miss DE Hunter Reese who led the team in sacks (7.5) and TFL (14.5) a season ago. The Trojans bring back a pair of starters in the LB and DB groups and there is no reason to think that they can’t do an admirable job in 2019.

Troy has bagged an average of 35 (!) sacks over the past four campaigns AND just 23 PPG over that same time horizon. If they can achieve a similar level of PENETRATION this year we feel this defense is good enough to backstop them to another conference title run.

SPECIAL TEAMS

The Trojans displayed phenomenal special teams work last season. The good news is that they return their first-rate P,PK combo. The bad news is that the Trojans lose a PR and KR that had TDs last year. We have a positive outlook for the unit given our love of a solid kicking game.

Schedule Analysis

Overall – It’s not too scary. The most important thing to note is that they get the BIG game with Appalachian St at HOME on November 29th. That will most likely be a showdown for all the Sun Belt East division marbles.

Potential ATS Trouble Spot – at Louisiana (November 23)

This will be the Trojans 4th road game in five weeks and they have the aforementioned big game with the Mountaineers on deck.

Season Win Total

Over 7.5 +100

Under 7.5 -120

MEGALOCKS says:

Lean to the ‘over’. They should be able to find their way to eight wins.

MEGAmazing Tidbits

Chip Lindsey will be just Troy’s 3rd (!!) HC since 1990.

Neal Brown brought the Trojans’ football program back to prominence and finished his career at Troy with a record of 35-16.


MEGALOCKS ATS Outlook: Neutral

The Trojans are a legitimate threat for the Sun Belt crown yet again. They break in a new head coach, similar to their biggest rival in Boone, but we still think this squad has the MINERALS to enter their final game of the regular season with a shot to win the division. 

These guys had a fantastic record vs the Vegas number under the tutelage of former HC Neal Brown. It’s hard to call for point-spread glory whenever a team changes hands at the top. We recommend picking your spots this season with Troy, but please understand, these guys could be a JUGGERNAUT once again.


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