Troy Set for Marquee Matchup at Boise State; Watch Party at Santa Fe

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TROY, Alabama – Neal Brown hoisted the Dollar General Bowl Trophy over his head following Troy's 28-23 victory over Ohio in the Trojans' first bowl appearance since 2010 and proclaimed "Troy is back."

Fast forward 251 days and Brown's Trojans are presented with another opportunity to assert that the program that won five straight Sun Belt titles (2006-10) and became the first conference school to crack the national rankings is indeed back among the premier teams in the Group of Five.

That opportunity is scattered, smothered and covered in blue and has only lost six times in 108 home games since 2000.

Troy travels to Boise, Idaho, for a matchup that USA Today rated as the seventh best of the opening weekend – "This pits two of the best Group of Five teams. Boise State we know; the Broncos rank among the most consistent teams in the country. But Troy is set to make national noise out of the Sun Belt Conference …"

"This game has a lot of national attention and rightfully so," Brown said. "Both of these teams won 10 games last year, and Boise has been at the top of the Group of Five. That's where we'd like to take this program. I look at it as a two-game series that's going to tell us where we're at."

Kickoff is slated for 2:47 p.m. (CT) and the game will be televised live on ESPNU. The Troy Sports Radio Network will have full coverage on its 16-station network beginning with the pregame show at 12:30 p.m. (CT). Fans can watch the game online at WatchESPN.com and listen online for free at TroyTrojans.com.
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Troy Athletics is hosting a watch party at Santa Fe Cattle Company where fans can watch the game with fellow Trojans while enjoying half-priced appetizers and drink specials.

"We have a proud tradition here – Troy has won a lot of football games regardless of who the coach was," Brown said. "We're trying to build a program here, we don't want to be a one-hit wonder. We don't want to have one good 10-win season then fall back in the pack. We have to have a motto of consistency to do that. That's what is so impressive about Boise, because that's what they've done."

Troy returns a wealth of talent from the 2016 squad that became the first in the school's FBS history to crack the 10-win threshold. In fact, the Trojans return an FBS-best 98.7 percent of their offensive production from last season and adds a pair of potential game-changing transfers.

Not only does Troy return the vast majority of its offense, it returns the vast majority of its offense from a unit that led the Sun Belt Conference in scoring with 33.7 points per game.

Leading the charge is senior quarterback Brandon Silvers, who will be one of just four signal callers in the country to be starting his fourth consecutive season opener. Named to a plethora of preseason watch lists, Silvers threw for 3,180 yards and 23 touchdowns last season, while completing 64 percent of his passes and rushing for four touchdowns.

The supporting cast is just as decorated with Troy's career leader in rushing touchdowns Jordan Chunn back after rushing for 16 touchdowns and 1,288 yards last season. Additionally, Emanuel Thompson and Deondre Douglas are back after they combined to catch 140 passes for 1,560 yards and 12 touchdowns last season.

Defensively, the Trojans lost five of their top seven tacklers from a season ago and will roll out a depth chart that features five true freshmen and seven sophomores. However, the foundation is strong as Troy is coming off back-to-back seasons holding opponents under 400 yards of offense per game.

Defensive coordinator Vic Koenning's teams are known for their ability to force turnovers and Troy did just that last season finishing fourth nationally with 30 turnovers gained, including 22 interceptions.

Troy's defense will more than likely have to do just that against a skilled Boise State offense led by junior quarterback Brett Rypien. The Broncos' signal caller already ranks sixth all-time in school history with 6,999 career passing yards and is seventh with 44 touchdown passes.

Troy Set for Marquee Matchup at Boise State; Watch Party at Santa Fe

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jordan Chunn

Deondre Douglas

Brandon Silvers

Emanuel Thompson

Troy University Athletics

Troy Set for Marquee Matchup at Boise State; Watch Party at Santa Fe

Next Event

Players Mentioned

Jordan Chunn

Deondre Douglas

Brandon Silvers

Emanuel Thompson

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