ODU Football 2025 Opponent Preview - Troy

By David Asbury

Hosting Thursday Night Football:  Part Two-  Electric Boogaloo   

The last time the Monarchs hosted Thursday Night Football they absolutely dominated the Georgia Southern Eagles and took first place in the SBC East standings.  The ratings must have been pretty good because ESPN wants the Monarchs to host a Thursday night game again.  This season, the opponent will be one of the two SBC West teams on the schedule, the Troy Trojans.  Both teams will have a bye week before the game as Ricky Rahne and other Sun Belt coaches petitioned the league offices to get byes before Thursday games.  It will give the Monarchs and Trojans time to rest and prepare before the big matchup.  The Monarchs will need it too against a team like Troy.

Very recently Troy was a top-tier Sun Belt team, winning conference championships in 2022 and 2023.  But that was under head coach Jon Sumrall.  Tulane poached Sumrall with a big pay raise.  In turn, the Trojans hired Gerad Parker, Notre Dame's offensive coordinator.  A fun fact about Parker is that he's from Huntington, WV but spurned Marshall to play for Kentucky in 2000-2004.  Now he coaches against Marshall in the SBC. 

Like most brand new G5 coaches, he faced significant roster turnover and many expected a rebuilding year for 2024...which turned out to be a very safe assumption.  Parker's Trojans started the season going a putrid 1-7.  They were quickly eliminated from bowl contention.  However, there was a late season rally as the beaten down Trojans finished strong by upsetting Georgia State and Georgia Southern and then ended the season by whooping up on the downtrodden Southern Miss Golden Eagles.  So, finishing with a 4-8 record after the horrible start was a silver lining and a sign that brighter days could be ahead.  Parker hopes to build on that momentum and take the Trojans bowling again.

Running back Kimani Vidal (28) was an all-conference player for those championship teams.  But he's in the NFL now.  Most of the players from that roster and coaching staff have moved on.  Photo courtesy of U.S. Army (Public Domain).

To get back in contention, Parker will need his quarterback healthy and on the field.  Starting quarterback Goose Crowder returns after missing most of the 2024 campaign with an injury.  Crowder played just 11 quarters against Memphis and ULM.  However, he played very well throwing five touchdowns and no interceptions.  In fact, his yards per attempt was the highest in the Sun Belt at 8.7, completing an impressive 69% of his passes.  If he can manage to keep that efficiency up for a whole season, he would be in line for Sun Belt Player of the Year.  But that type of production is unlikely with a larger sample size and coming off an injury.  Crowder is also slightly undersized and not a dangerous runner.  But he is experienced and will still be an above-average Sun Belt quarterback.

Despite not having their quarterback, the Trojans had an average offense overall (7th in points per conference game).  But the offense needs retooling after some major departures. The Trojans lose a 1000-yard running back in Damien Taylor (Ole Miss) and a 1000-yard wide receiver in Devonte Ross (Penn State).  In replacement comes Georgia Tech-transfer Trey Cooley to pound the rock and take care of the running game.  So there is a replacement at running back, but no clear replacement for the go-to receiver. 

This team will need one receiver to emerge as "the guy" from the group of transfers and the leading candidate is returnee Peyton Higgins (31 catches, 301 yards, 1 TD in 2024).  Higgins is a decent veteran on the inside but can he be WR1?  Or could it be Rara Thomas who transferred in from Georgia?  Someone has to step up to help Crowder or else the passing game will suffer.  But at least the offensive line looks solid with plenty of returners including star guard Matt Henry.  It should be one of the Sun Belt's better lines.  Overall, the offense will be good as long as they find playmakers at receiver and running back.

Turning to the defense, Troy hopes to repeat their impressive defensive numbers.  The Trojans had the best rushing defense in the Sun Belt, allowing only 123 rushing yards per conference game (1st) allowing only 3.6 yards per carry for conference opponents (1st).  That strong defense should continue with three of their top five tacklers returning.  Specifically, linebackers Jordan Stringer, Devin Lafayette, and safety Justin Powe will all come up and make the tackle against the runners.  With nose tackle Luis Medina also returning, the run defense should be back near the top of the Sun Belt. 

Now, having said all that, the pass defense has some room growth.  Last season, they allowed 232 yards per conference game (11th in SBC).  The strong run defense with the weak pass defense averaged out to an average 28.1 points per conference game (6th in SBC).  But the secondary added four transfers so the hope is the secondary will be better and therefore the Trojans will have one of the best defenses in the entire league.  But if the new secondary does not mesh well, then the defense could be very similar to last seasons. 

Troy has historically had very good defenses in the Sun Belt.  That tradition should continue.  Photo courtesy of US Army (Public Domain).

Expectations for the Trojans are kind of all over the place.  Phil Steele ranked them pretty high saying they are tied with USM and South Alabama for third place in the West.  But then CFBudge ranked them low at 12th in the conference and Athlon did the same ranking them sixth in the West.  Vegas sets the win total at 5.5 with the seventh best odds to win the conference (+1600).  Collegefootballnews.com is just slightly more optimistic predicting the win total at 6.5.  Essentially, there is just no real consensus on this team.  Outside of the trip to Clemson, there is not a game they cannot win on the schedule. But apart from Nicholls, none of them are wins you can or should immediately chalk with a W. They host Memphis and make a trip to Buffalo in the non-conference and they go to Old Dominion and host Georgia State in their cross-divisional matchups.  Moreover, the Sun Belt West looks better and more competitive than it has been in recent years.  Texas State and Louisiana appear to be the top two teams but Southern Miss just underwent a major overhaul and Arkansas State has a lot of offensive talent.  So it is difficult to see exactly where Troy fits in.  But six wins and bowl game is certainly on the table for this Troy team.

Regardless, the Sun Belt is a top G5 league and if Troy can just be an average Sun Belt team then they will be a good opponent on Thursday Night Football.  They actually remind me a lot of ODU.  They have an established quarterback and offensive line but are looking for playmakers to help them on offense.  They have a very stout front seven on defense but are looking to reload and improve the secondary.  Both teams are in very similar situations and that makes the Thursday night contest that much more appealing.  That late in the season with both teams eyeing bowl eligibility or even division championships, makes it to be a fun matchup.  It is way too early for locked-in predictions, but right now I would give the Monarchs the edge only because they are at home.