University of Southern Mississippi Athletics
Getting to Know...Troy
8/11/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
HATTIESBURG, Miss. -
The countdown continues towards the start of the 2016 Southern Miss football season.
In a rundown of the Golden Eagles’ opponents for the upcoming season, the latest installment highlights the Troy Trojans, as Southern Miss entertains the visitors from Troy, Ala., Saturday, Sept. 17. Game time from the Rock is 6 p.m. CT.
The meeting marks the first time Troy has played in Hattiesburg since the 1940 season. Here is a look at this year’s Trojan squad.
Getting to know... Troy
General Information
Location: Troy, Ala.
Founded: 1887
Enrollment: 29,689
President: Dr. Jack Hawkins Jr.
Athletics Director: Jeremy McClain
Conference: Sun Belt
Nickname: Trojans
Colors: Black, Cardinal, Silver
Stadium (Cap.): Veterans Memorial Stadium (30,000)
Playing Surface: ProGrass
Series Record: USM, 8-1
Last Meeting: W, 30-27
Dec. 21, 2008 - New Orleans Bowl
Head Coach: Neal Brown
Record at School: 4-8 (second season)
Overall Record: Same
2015 Record: 4-8
2015 Conference Record: 3-5
Letterwinners Returning/Lost: 46/24
Starters Returning/Lost: 20/10
Offense: 8/5
Defense: 8/4
Special Teams: 4/1
Head Coach:
Considered one of the top young minds in college football, Neal Brown begins his second season as the head coach at Troy.
The fourth-youngest head coach in the Football Bowl Subdivision, Brown’s first season was marked by steady development and growth that was capped by one of the strongest recruiting classes in program history.
Playing under the mantra of “Rebuild the Wall”, Troy finished the season as one of the most improved defensive teams in the country, while posting improved numbers across the board.
The Trojans finished the 2015 season with the second-best turnaround nationally in opponent 3rd-down percentage (14.62 percent), the fourth-best turnaround in yards per play allowed (-1.13), the fifth-best improvement in tackles for loss per game (2.59) and 16th-best improvement in total defense (-62.7). Troy scored five defensive touchdowns, the third most in the country and most by a Troy team since 2004, and finished fifth in the country with 13 fumble recoveries.
The Trojans forced 16 turnover over the final six games of the season after just three in the first six games.
Offensively, Troy improved per-game averages in scoring (6.1) and passing yards (42.0), in passing touchdowns (9), total offensive touchdowns (5), penalty yards per game (-2..2), sacks allowed (-5), red zone scoring (8 percent), first quarter scoring (57) and third quarter scoring (34).
The Trojans ranked 38th in the nation with just 18 sacks allowed after ranking 111th the previous season, while Brandon Burks became the school’s seventh player to rush for over 1,000 yards in a season.
Brown’s Trojans began to click offensively as the season progressed as they averaged 36.0 points over the final six games of the season with three 40-point games. Troy scored 144 points over a three-game stretch against New Mexico State, Appalachian State and ULM -- the most in a three-game period by a Troy squad since 1993.
Attendance also improved during Brown’s initial campaign with the Trojans as the per-game average increased by over 2,600 fans.
Brown led the Trojans to a 4-8 overall record and a 3-5 Sun Belt Conference mark during his first season. However, four of Troy’s five Sun Belt setbacks were by a combined 22 points, while the Trojans’ three league victories came by an average of 35.3 points.
Troy’s improvement wasn’t limited to just the playing field as the Trojans also drastically improved in the classroom as the cumulative grade point average for the team rose each semester compared to the prior year.
Brown parlayed the momentum of his first season into a recruiting class that was rated as the second best in the Sun Belt Conference by both 247Sports and Scout.
Brown, 36, was named Troy’s 21st head coach on December 1, 2014, and was the second-youngest head coach in the FBS during his inaugural season.
A native of Danville, Ky., Brown spent four seasons at Troy (2006-09), including the final two as the Trojans’ offensive coordinator. Troy won four Sun Belt Conference titles and appeared in three bowl games during Brown’s initial tenure.
Football Stadium:
The Troy University football program unveiled a newly renovated, $18 million Veterans Memorial Stadium as the final piece of its Division I-A move in Fall 2003.
The project, which took more than a year to complete, increased the facility’s seating capacity to 30,000, an increase of more than 12,000 seats.
Construction began on the project in July 2002 and was completed in time for the Trojans’ 2003 home opener against Southeastern Louisiana on September 20. The stadium has seen tremendous growth and change during its 64-year existence.
It was built for a mere $65,000 as Memorial Stadium in 1950 and seated just 5,000 spectators. Several renovations followed, including in 1998, when the facility moved from a 12,000-seat capacity to 17,500. Construction began in July 2002 to expand the capacity to 30,000, with the largest part of the project being a new six-story press box structure that houses 27 sky boxes, a state-of-the-art media hosting facility, a unique Trojan Stadium Club area that houses more than 1,000 guests and floors dedicated to sports medicine, academics, as well as strength and conditioning.
The strength and conditioning and the sports medicine area was completed and opened in Fall 2004, completing the makeover for the stadium.
In the spring of 2011, the playing surface at Veterans Memorial Stadium was named in honor of the Troy head coach Larry Blakeney for his dedication and success with the program; making the official name now - Larry Blakeney Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Veterans Memorial Stadium received a new playing surface prior to the 2012 season and a major audio and visual enhancement prior to the 2014 season.
A 1,250 square-foot high-definition video board was installed in the Southeast corner of Veterans Memorial Stadium in the summer of 2014. Additionally, ribbon boards that spanned goal line to goal line on each side of the stadium were installed.
The final piece of the upgraded included the addition of a state-of-the-art custom audio system.
About Troy:
* One of the best universities in the Southeast (Princeton Review)
* Top 30 public universities in the South / Best regional university (U.S. News and World Report)
* One of the best colleges for veterans (Military Times)
* One of the best colleges to work for (Chronicle of Higher Education)
* Best Criminal Justice Masters Programs (Masters Degree Online)
* 110 undergraduate majors and minors, 22 master’s degree programs and one doctoral program, as well as ROTC programs and research opportunities
* $15.6 million residence hall opened in Aug. 2015
* $12 million dining hall opened Fall 2011
Notable Alumni:
* Tom Foreman, a CNN political correspondent and host of This Week at War and This Week in Politics
* William G. Gregory, a former NASA astronaut and STS–67 pilot for the March 1995 mission of the Space Shuttle Endeavour
* Lynne Koplitz, a stand-up comedian and actress
* Vecepia Towery, a contestant and winner of Survivor: Marquesas on CBS
* Osi Umenyiora, an All-Pro NFL defensive end for the Super Bowl XLII champion New York Giants
* DeMarcus Ware, an All-Pro NFL linebacker for the Denver Broncos
