Troy Trojans football

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Troy Trojans football
2015 Troy Trojans football team
130px
First season 1909
Athletic director Jeremy McClain
Head coach Neal Brown
1st year, 4–8 (.333)
Other staff Kenny Edenfield (Co-OC)
Matt Moore (Co-OC)
Vic Koenning (DC)
Stadium Veterans Memorial Stadium
Seating capacity 30,000
Field surface Turf
Location Troy, Alabama
NCAA division NCAA Division I (FBS)
Conference SBC
All-time record 504–378–27 (.569)
Bowl record 2–3 (.400)
Claimed nat'l titles 3 (1 NAIA, 2 Division II)
Conference titles Alabama Intercollegiate: 3
Alabama Collegiate: 3
Mid-South: 1
Gulf South: 5
Southland: 3
Sun Belt: 5
Heisman winners 0
Consensus All-Americans 6 NAIA
10 Div-II
13 FCS
1 FBS
Colors Cardinal, Black, and Silver                
Fight song "Trojans One & All"
Mascot Trojan
Marching band The Sound of the South
Rivals Middle Tennessee State
Jacksonville State
South Alabama
Website TroyTrojans.com

The Troy Trojans football program represents Troy University in Troy, Alabama, in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly known as Division I-A, of which it has been a member since 2001. The current head coach of the team is Neal Brown. The football program joined the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, while the other Troy athletic programs didn't join the SBC until 2005.

History

Troy University has fielded a football team continuously since 1946. Prior to that year, the team was fielded with a lot of interruptions from 1909 to 1942. Eight years were skipped due to lack of participation and later World War I from 1913–1920, while the Wall Street Crash of 1929 kept the team from playing that year. Having moved up from Division I-AA (now known as Division I FCS), the team has competed in the NCAA's Division I-A/FBS since 2001.

File:Troy Football Player.jpg
Troy Trojans football player Gary Banks during a game in October 2007.

Troy University football began playing in the NCAA's Division I-A in 2001, became a football only member of the Sun Belt Conference in 2004, and joined that conference for all other sports in 2005. In 2001, Troy defeated Mississippi State University at Scott Field in Starkville, Mississippi, by a count of 21-9 to notch the Trojans' first victory over a BCS level program. The Trojans began their 2004 campaign with a win over Marshall, and then garnered the program's largest win one game later as the Trojans defeated then #17 ranked Missouri, 24–14, in front of a Movie Gallery Stadium record crowd. The Trojan football team made its first bowl game appearance in the Silicon Valley Football Classic on December 30, 2004 that same season, but lost to Northern Illinois, 34–21. In 2006, Troy won the Sun Belt Conference for the first time after defeating Middle Tennessee in dramatic fashion in the last game of the 2006 season in a game that is now referred to as "The Miracle in Murfreesboro". As the 2006 Sun Belt Conference champions, Troy played in the New Orleans Bowl on December 22, 2006 against Rice University, routing the Owls of Conference USA by a score of 41–17. The New Orleans Bowl victory was Troy's first bowl victory in history.

Troy football former head coach Larry Blakeney officially retired at the end of the 2014 season. He led the program to three Southland Football League titles and five straight Sun Belt Conference titles, as well as guided the Trojans to seven FCS playoff appearances and four FBS bowl games. Blakeney finished with an overall record of 178-113-1 as head coach at Troy. Blakeney is the winningest coach in the Troy University history and he is the 4th winningest collegiate coach all-time in the state of Alabama, only behind greats Paul "Bear" Bryant, Cleveland L. Abbott, and Ralph "Shug" Jordan. Blakeney is just one of two coaches to ever take a football program from Division II to I-A (the other is UCF’s Gene McDowell).

File:TroyTrojans10.jpg
Troy football team preparing to enter the field.

Troy's only perfect regular season record in football came at the conclusion of the 1995 season as the Trojans finished 11–0 and were crowned champions of the Southland Football League heading into the NCAA Division I-AA playoffs.

Troy won the NAIA national football championship in 1968 and the NCAA Division II national football championship in 1984 and 1987.

Troy has accomplished winning five straight Sun Belt Conference championships since 2006, breaking North Texas' record of four straight Sun Belt titles from 2001 to 2004. The Trojans have also compiled a 32-5 record against Sun Belt competition during the last five seasons.

Head coaches

Name From To Record Postseason
W L T
Virgil P. McKinley 1909 1909 1 0 2
Dan Harren 1910 1910 1 1 2
George Penton 1911 1912 7 1 1
Professor J. W. Campbell 1921 1923 12 14 1
Flivver Ford 1924 1924 2 1 4
Otis Bynum 1925 1926 12 4 1
Gladwin Gaumer 1927 1928 6 7 0
No Coach 1930 1930 1 2 0
Albert Elmore 1931 1937 33 25 3
Albert Choate 1938 1942 28 25 1
Buddy McCollum 1947 1950 20 18 3 1948 Paper Bowl
Jim Grantham 1951 1954 11 23 1
William Clipson 1955 1965 26 68 0
Billy Atkins 1966 1971 44 16 2 1968 NAIA National Champions
Tom Jones 1972 1973 11 7 2
Byrd Whigham 1974 1975 12 8 0
Charlie Bradshaw 1976 1982 41 27 2
Chan Gailey 1983 1984 19 5 0 1984 NCAA Division II National Champions
Rick Rhoades 1985 1987 28 7 1 1987 NCAA Division II National Champions
Robert Maddox 1988 1990 13 17 0
Larry Blakeney 1990 2014 178 113 1 2004, 2006, 2008, 2009, 2010 Bowl Appearances; 2006, 2010 Bowl Wins
Neal Brown 2015 Present 3 7 0
Composite Record 1909 2015 496 377 27

Championships

Troy has won 20 total conference championships to go along with 3 national championships. The program won the 1968 NAIA National Championship against Texas A&I (now Texas A&M-Kingsville). Troy beat North Dakota State in 1984 to win their first Division II national title. They won their second Division II national title in 1987 after defeating Portland State.

Conference Year Overall Record Coach
Alabama Intercollegiate Conference 1939 7–4–0 Albert Choate
1941 5–4–0
1942 4–3–0
1967 8–2–0 Billy Atkins
1968† 11–1–0
1969 8–1–1
Mid-South Athletic Conference 1971 6–3–0
Gulf South Conference 1973 7–2–1 Tom Jones
1976 8–1–1 Charlie Bradshaw
1984^ 12–1–0 Chan Gailey
1986 10–2–0 Rick Rhoades
1987^ 12–1–1
Southland Conference 1996 12–2 Larry Blakeney
1999 11–2
2000 10–2
Sun Belt Conference 2006 8–5
2007 8–4
2008 8–5
2009 9–4
2010 8–5

Bold indicates national championship.
† Denotes NAIA National Championship.
^ Denotes NCAA Division II National Championship.

FBS Records (2001-Present)

Troy Trojans football seasons

Year Record Conference Finish Coach Bowl Poll
Troy State Trojans (I-A transition) (Independent) (2001)
2001 7-4 -- -- Larry Blakeney -- --
Troy State Trojans (Independent) (2002–2003)
2002 4-8 -- -- Larry Blakeney -- --
2003 6-6 -- -- Larry Blakeney -- --
Troy Trojans (Sun Belt Conference) (2004–Present)
2004 7-5 5-2 2nd Larry Blakeney Silicon Valley Bowl --
2005 4-7 3-4 T-4th Larry Blakeney -- --
2006 8-5 6-1 T-1st Larry Blakeney New Orleans Bowl --
2007 8-4 6-1 T-1st Larry Blakeney --
2008 8-5 7-1 1st Larry Blakeney New Orleans Bowl --
2009 9-4 8-0 1st Larry Blakeney GMAC Bowl --
2010 8-5 6-2 T-1st Larry Blakeney New Orleans Bowl --
2011 3-9 2-6 7th Larry Blakeney -- --
2012 5-7 3-5 6th Larry Blakeney -- --
2013 6-6 3-1 3rd Larry Blakeney -- --
2014 3-9 3-5 T-7th Larry Blakeney -- --
All-time 81-81 52-29 All-time 1 coach 5 Bowl Games AP
"Poll" indicates team ranking at end of season from the Associated Press Poll.
*Ranked by the AP Poll for Division I-AA Football.

All-time record vs. Sun Belt teams

Official record (including any NCAA imposed vacates and forfeits) against all current Sun Belt opponents:

Opponent Won Lost Tied Percentage Streak First Last
Appalachian State 2 3 0 .400 Lost 3 1940 2015
Arkansas State 5 9 0 .357 Lost 3 1950 2013
Georgia Southern 10 5 0 .667 Lost 3 1934 2015
Georgia State 2 1 0 .667 Lost 1 2013 2015
Idaho 2 1 0 .667 Lost 1 2004 2015
Louisiana–Lafayette 8 11 0 .421 Won 1 1946 2015
Louisiana–Monroe 9 7 1 .559 Won 1 1970 2015
New Mexico State 2 1 0 .667 Won 2 2004 2015
South Alabama 2 2 0 .500 Lost 2 2012 2015
Texas State 5 1 0 .833 Won 4 1996 2013
Totals 47 41 1 .534

Traditions

Trojan Walk

Before each Troy home football game, hundreds of Troy fans and students line University Avenue on campus to cheer on the team as they march with the Sound of the South band and cheerleaders from the Quad to Tailgate Terrace, surrounded by fans who pat them on the back and shake their hands as they walk toward Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Band Show on University

Before each home game, the Sound of the South marching band performs a pre-game show on University Avenue in between all of the tailgating areas before the Trojan Walk begins.

Trojan Fanfare

During the pre-game show at Veterans Memorial Stadium, the Sound of the South will perform what is known as the "Trojan Fanfare." It is a favorite among most fans and energizes the fanbase leading up to kickoff.

Post-game Band Show

After every home football game, the Sound of the South marching bands performs a final show for fans in attendance.

Players/Band Celebration

After Troy wins a home game, the players will go to the corner of the stadium where the Sound of the South is and will sing the fight song, alma mater, and sometimes do chants with them.

Trojan Warrior

Before every game and after every touchdown, the Trojan Warrior or Trojan Princess would blaze down the football field on a horse named "Big Red." This tradition is no longer used because the football field turf was changed from grass to artificial grass. There has been recent talk of bringing the tradition back.

Bowl history

Non-FBS Post-season History

W/L Date PF Opponent PA Game
L 12-18-1948 0 Jacksonville State 19 Paper Bowl
W 12-14-1968 43 Texas A&M-Kingsville 35 Championship Bowl
W 12-08-1984 18 North Dakota State 17 Palm Bowl
W 12-12-1987 31 Portland State 17 Palm Bowl
  • Palm Bowl is NCAA Division II National Championship. Championship Bowl is the NAIA National Championship.

FBS Bowl History

W/L Date PF Opponent PA Bowl
L 12-30-2004 21 NIU 34 Silicon Valley Classic
W 12-22-2006 41 Rice 17 New Orleans Bowl
L 12-21-2008 27 Southern Mississippi 30 New Orleans Bowl
L 01-06-2010 41 Central Michigan 44 GMAC Bowl
W 12-18-2010 48 Ohio 21 New Orleans Bowl

NFL Players

Trojans in the NFL
NFL Draft selections
Total selected: 34
First picks in draft: 0
1st Round: 2
DeMarcus Ware.
Osi Umenyiora.

Current Players

Former Players

Rivalries

Troy's newest rivalry is with South Alabama. The series is tied 2-2 and South Alabam won the inaugural Battle For The Belt in 2015.

Troy's rivalry with UAB first played in 1993. UAB was in Conference USA and the two teams had scheduled each other due to their close proximity as non-conference opponents for several years. The two schools have played annually since 2009 until 2014. Troy holds the lead of the inactive rivalry 7-5 due to UAB cutting their football program in 2014 (though UAB football is set to be reinstated in 2017).

Troy's rivalry with Middle Tennessee, now dormant following Middle Tennessee's 2013 move to Conference USA, is known as the Battle for the Palladium. Troy and Middle Tennessee first played each other in 1936, but it wasn't until 2003 that schools started playing annually for the Palladium Trophy.

Troy used to play Jacksonville State in the annual Battle for the Ol' School Bell. The schools first played in 1924 and was one of the fiercest rivalries for both schools. The game hasn't been played since 2001 after Troy joined FBS.

Future non-conference opponents

2016 2017 2018 2019
vs. Austin Peay at Boise State vs. Boise State vs. Southern Miss
at Clemson vs. Alabama State vs. Presbyterian
at Southern Miss vs. NC State at Nebraska
vs. Massachusetts at LSU at Massachusetts

[1]

References

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