2026 Missouri Football Opponent DEEP DIVE: Troy Trojans
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Welcome back to Rock M Nation’s annual opponent preview series of the upcoming season. Each week we will break down one opponent from the schedule in chronological order. Given that rosters are ever fluid – and this is done by a hobbyist rather than a pro – there could be some errors in history and current roster makeup. All mistakes are done on purpose and with ill intent because Nate Edwards doesn’t like you or your team.
Catch up on previous 2026 opponent previews!
I really don’t see any reason why Missouri should ever play the Troy Trojans in football.
Sure, Missouri has blown out Troy in two separate occasions. A 44-7 trouncing in 2002 when Troy went by “Troy State” and was an D-1 independent means absolutely nothing, and the 52-21 victory in 2005 overlooks the fact that Missouri only put up 20 points in the first half against them. A 25-point 3rd quarter helped, but still.
However, Missouri played Troy in 2004. If you’re older than 30 you know what happened then. A Tiger squad with conference contender stamped on it and a potential Heisman contender at quarterback implemented an unwise scheme change on offense and went up against a Troy defense featuring NFL Hall of Famer Demarcus Ware and lost on the road 24-14, stamping out any happy dreams with impunity.
Oh, and Missouri also played Troy in 2019. “But Nate,” you say with confusion, “Missouri won that game 42-10, why are you grumpy about that?”. Mmm. Yes. Missouri did win.
But what did it cost?
A Cale Garrett All-American-potential season, for one. The last-minute Navy-to-Missouri commit was playing defensive football at a level rarely seen in Columbia, logging 43 tackles (29 solo), 5 tackles for loss, 2 sacks, 2 passes defensed, 3 interceptions, a fumble return for a touchdown AND an interception returned for a touchdown. And that was over 5 games! But he tore his pectoral muscle against Troy, finished out the game anyway, and was promptly told his season was done.
AND. DON’T FORGET. Those dirty Troy Trojans also hit quarterback Kelly Bryant super late on a touchdown pass, injuring his knee and forcing him to miss the rest of the game. There are several factors as to why that 2019 team fell apart but having Bryant be injured for the rest of the year was certainly one of them. The loss of Cale Garrett was another.
So. Yeah. Forgive me if I believe playing Troy is a bad thing for Missouri to do because…
/waves hands franticly at the paragraphs above
…I FEEL A LITTLE JUSTIFIED IN THAT SENTIMENT.
But let’s go through this exercise anyway.
Larry Blakeney was the head coach from 1991 all the way through 2014. That means that Blakeney took over a D-II program, guided it through the transition to Division I-AA (or FCS), then to Independent status in Division-I (or FBS), and all the way to the regular membership of the Sun Belt Conference. To this day Blakeney is one of two coaches to ever helm a program for the entirety of that promotion track.
And, hey, Blakeney was good! He managed to win 8 conference championships and 178 wins with a 61% win rate over his 24-year career. But, as you can see, the returns were diminishing as his Trojans scraped through 2013 and 2014.
Neal Brown came in and immediately improved the product, getting them above “average college football program” territory. Brown’s Trojans became the first Sun Belt team to be ranked in the AP Top 25 , won at least 10 games in three straight seasons, beat LSU in Baton Rouge and Nebraska in Lincoln, and won the Sun Belt championship before Brown left for West Virginia
Oh. And look at the downturn in 2019-2021. Surely that can’t be current Missouri OC Chip Lindsey, the only Troy head coach to never play for a conference championship over the past 40 years. Nah. Can’t be him.
Of course, current Florida head coach Jon Sumrall inherited Chip’s messy Troy program and immediately had them winning at least 11 games per year and the Sun Belt Championship. Because he’s a good coach!
And now Gerad Parker is playing for Sun Belt Championships amid a rebuilding-inspired down turn.
Troy is a good program, that’s the point here. They’ve (usually) made smart hires and benefited from coaches that can work within the restrictions. Again…last year’s Troy team was a big rebuilding project and they played for the conference championship!
Here’s a more specific take of what Troy did last year:
Despite the assumptions one could make about a team that played for its conference championship game, Troy was not a very good team. Post-game win expectancy identifies them as a team that went “6.5 – 5.5”, which would translate to a team that went 6-6. But a 3-0 record in one-score games during the regular season meant that they entered the Sun Belt Championship against Playoff team James Madison at a healthy 8-4, despite an embarrassing home loss to Arkansas State and being shut out by the more deserving Old Dominion. Losing to the Dukes and then losing a close bowl game against Jacksonville State is more representative of what the Trojans actually were, but an 8-6 season isn’t terrible.
It does lead to a potential “prove it” year for this coaching staff, however.
Coaching Staff
Gerad Parker – 3rd Year – 12-14 (9-7)
I’ve been following college football at a problematic heightened interest level for over 20 years and have a habit of remember coaching staffs and players in the dark corners of the sport, which I can then celebrate once they prove how good they are and are brought out into the light of big programs.
I’ve felt that way for Willie Fritz and Jon Sumrall and Kalen DeBoer and Kane Wommack and D’Anton Lynn and Timmy Chang and countless others.
And even with all of that…I don’t have a single opinion about Gerad Parker.
He had middling-to-bad offenses in his two years at West Virginia. He lined up his only other OC gig at Notre Dame with the arrival of Sam Hartman. I guess that year was pretty good? 14th in SP+ but not outstanding! And…yeah, I don’t think about him at all.
I know Jon Sumrall likes him, to the point where he recommended Gerad to the Troy administration when he left for Tulane. But I haven’t seen anything from Coach Parker that hints at hidden upside or a fun character or some cool schematic brain or some program builder tendencies.
To me he’s just a guy. And, so far, his Troy tenure has been a physical representation of “ok cool”.
Most Troy head coaches “figured it out” in Year Three, which is exactly the year that Parker’s tenure is entering. I hope he does well! And maybe he does this year. I just haven’t seen anything that would make me want him to be my team’s football coach and his two years at the helm haven’t changed my mind.
Assistant Staff
This staff has stayed mostly intact over the past three cycles, with only cornerbacks coach Brandon Cooper and OC Adam Austin being the new additions.
Let’s talk about Austin real quick, though.
If you’ve heard of him, you probably did so via his rip-roaring offenses at FCS Tarleton State. The Texans have been breaking offensive records under his tutelage the past two years, culminating in a Playoff appearance last year.
Two years ago, Tarleton State was a Division II program. Last year they were the first program in more than 30 years to reach the FCS quarterfinals within their first two years of eligibility, and it’s thanks in large part to Austin’s offensive efforts.
Do you remember the slow-mesh that Dave Clawson implemented at Wake Forest? It’s where an offense runs a zone read play like normal but the quarterback and running back BOTH hold on to the ball at the point where the QB would either keep it or hand it off (known as the “mesh point”, hence the name) and take an extra second to see what the defense is doing, then make the appropriate choice. It’s killer when done right and Tarleton State was doing it right! Austin also uses really creative passing concepts built around the slow mesh and it took the Texans all the way to the quaterfinals!
He’s an excellent OC and the exact type of guy you want running an underdog offense. I’m super excited to see what he can do against everyone except Missouri.
Roster Movement
Is it bad if you have 25 players enter the portal and 13 go unclaimed? That feels bad to me. Seven did end up on power conference rosters, which shows that Troy did lose some quality talent. But, also, look at the discrepancy between high school recruiting rankings (HSR) and transfer portal rankings (TPR). Most were 3-stars coming out of high school and no-stars while in the portal. I’m not sure what to attribute that fact to but, whether they were forced out or chose to leave, that’s tough for the players that can’t find a team.
25 players left the Troy roster to go into the portal, and 14 players came out of the portal and onto Troy’s roster.
No, that’s not a misprint. Troy is sitting at a net -11 dudes from portal transactions.
That’s not to sit and trash what they did get, they added some really interesting pieces, including two big time FCS defenders that could tear it up at this level.
But still, they had 11 more slots to fill with experience players and didn’t.
So if Troy lost 25 players – and we’re ignoring the fact that no one wants those transfers – and only brought in 14 guys to replace those losses, then where the heck are they going to find guys to get out of the negative of the portal equation and fill out a competent FBS two-deep?
The answer: JUCO, babaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay!!!!!!!
When it comes to recruiting junior college players, Gerad Parker and his staff were busier than a one-legged man in an ass kicking contest.
Of the 34-man incoming “high school” recruiting class, 18 were playing junior college football last year. That’s damn-near Bill Snyder at K-State levels of JUCO-ry.
Here’s the breakdown of JUCO commits:
- Copiah-Lincoln CC (3)
- East Central CC (3)
- East Mississippi CC (3)
- Northwest Mississippi CC (2)
- Southwest Mississippi CC (2)
- Holmes CC (1)
- Iowa Central CC (1)
- Jones College (1)
- Pearl River CC (1)
- Tyler CC (1)
1 quarterback, 1 running back, 4 wide receivers, 1 tight end, 1 offensive lineman, 5 defensive linemen, 4 defensive backs, 1 kicker…all of whom were playing JUCO ball last year. And – I’m assuming – will be looked to fill the gaps immediately. This strategy can work! Bill Snyder did so in two different eras of college football! Not sure if it can/will work here, though. Fascinated to find out.
Offense
What was Troy’s offense good at last year?
No. Wait. Not a good question to ask. Troy’s offense wasn’t really good at anything.
Let’s pivot then. A much easier question would be “what was Troy somewhat relatively good at last year?”
That’s a quicker answer, at least. Here is what the 95th ranked offense was somewhat relatively good at last year:
- Average starting field position – 33rd
- Points per scoring opportunity – 57th
- Go-rate on 4th downs – 47th
- 4th-down opportunities – 1st
Hey! 1st in something! But everything else was rough.
Despite their admirable quality of going for it on 4th-down more than any other team in the country, Troy could not run the ball effectively (119th), was equally terrible at passing the ball (111th), was neither efficient (117th) nor explosive (97th), and had a terrible turnover margin (110th).
Can you blame part of that on having your starting quarterback injured for a part of the year? Maybe? Neither quarterback performed well, and part of that might have been an offensive line that was 14th in penalties per game but 127th in pressures allowed and 116th in blown block rate. And now Troy is in the “existential question” territory of “if last year’s offense sucked, and most of those guys are now gone, is it good or bad that we have to replace nearly everyone?”.
Quarterback
It feels like “Goose Crowder” is the most southern Alabama coded quarterback name you could potentially generate. Unless you subscribe to “Tucker Kilcrease”, last year’s backup. Hell, you could probably whip up a fun buddy cop movie of “Crowder and Kilcrease” and get at least a trilogy out of Goose and Tucker apprehending bad guys.
Regardless…both Goose and Tucker are back after splitting responsibility for the position in 2025. That was mostly due to Goose being injured at the beginning of the year, Tucker winning games despite his play, and then Goose coming back in to close out the season. I’m not sure how the boys will do in summer and fall camp but I’m assuming Goose, the sixth-year graduate, will be getting the nod for 2026.
Running Backs
To be clear, not a single running back was very good last year, but Tae Meadows was probably the best one and he now plays for Auburn. That leaves Jordan Lovett as the go-to experienced guy for this group, with JUCO-import Bryce Burgess the most likely 2nd back for this squad. Former Purdue Boilermaker Jaheim Merriweather might get a few looks but has combined for 17 carries over two years, far from a sure thing.
Receivers
Let’s just take a moment to appreciate the majesty of the name of Troy’s returning leading wide receiver: Mojo Dortch.
Let’s also realize that Troy returning leading wide receiver had 7 catches on 12 targets last year for 63 yards. Yikes.
The returning receiver with the most targets last year is running back Jordan Lovett, and even he didn’t have more than 100 yards through the air, or a receiving touchdown!
Hell, the receiver added from the portal – T.J. Lott – ALSO had fewer than 100 yards receiving.
So that’s five guys who have caught passes at the FBS level, and combined their stat line is 60 targets, 35 catches, 290 yards, 2 touchdowns.
As a comparison, that would be the equivalent of one Brett Norfleet. In 2025. And Norfleet had 3 more touchdowns than this group.
But here come the JUCOs! All four have receiving stats that outpace the current FBS receivers on Troy’s roster, and will most likely be thrown out as the go-to receivers for this year. Noreel White, in particular, was prolific at Eastern Mississippi, finishing with 632 yards and 5 touchdown in only 10 games.
Let’s hope their JUCO productivity can translate to the Sun Belt.
Offensive Line
As mentioned above, the 2025 Troy offensive line was a very polite group of gentlemen who rarely did anything against the law and were gracious hosts to the guys who lined up against them, letting them through at some of the highest clips in the country.
Troy responded by grabbing Ohio’s starting right tackle and a starting guard from FCS Furman to add instant experience, since their main starting five are no longer intact. There are few holdovers from last year’s patchwork effort but, again, JUCO’s and transfers will most likely be sliding in to replace last’s year top snap earners.
Defense
Troy’s defense was barely better than the offense of last year’s team but, unlike said offense, the Troy defense had some actual strengths that they could point to.
52nd against the run. 32nd against the pass. Are these elite rankings? No! But they were actually good! And consistent! The Trojan defense ranked 9th in Redzone Touchdown Rate and 33rd in points per scoring opportunity allowed. The pass rush, in particular, was ferocious: 52nd in pressure rate, 10th in sacks per drop back, 13th in sacks per pressure rate.
So why the heck did this defense rank 85th overall?
The answer: explosive plays.
As in, they gave up so many f***ing explosive plays.
Troy’s defense was 107th in explosive plays allowed, 104th in yards per successful play, 101st in yards allowed per drop back, 117th in percentage of completions going for 20+ yards…I could keep going but it feels redundant at this point.
Want to read something that made me so sad for Troy? Here you go:
- In 3rd-and-1-2 yards, Troy ranked 23rd in conversions.
- In 3rd-and-3-6 yards, Troy ranked 37th in conversions.
- In 3rd-and-7-10 yards, Troy ranked 102nd in conversions.
- In 3rd-and-11+ yards, Troy ranked 115th in covnersions.
How frustrating must that have been? To be able to stop the perceived easy 3rd-downs but give up big gains every time an offense was 3rd-and-forever? I’d probably stop watching at that point.
And, of course, like their offensive counterparts, Troy has to replace a ton of dudes.
They do bring back safety Justin Powe and end Donnie Smith, which were two big pieces. Especially Smith, whose 11 sacks last year would have been first on Missouri’s defense. Plus, the call ups of FCS all-stars Knai Cook and Keno Jones should be super interesting to throw into the mix. Otherwise, it’s going to be the laundry list of JUCO’s and last year’s backups stepping up to fill in the gaps.
It could work! They better hope it works!
So what does it all mean?
On paper there shouldn’t be a single issue that Missouri should be concerned about when they play Troy. But that’s been the case for essentially every year that they’ve played them and, well, you read what’s happened previously.
This will be the last non-conference game for Missouri before they jump head first in the 9-game SEC schedule with Mississippi State the following week. The blue print for this game should be exactly how the Louisiana game shook out last year:
- Show some offensive competence.
- Blow stuff up on defense.
- Build a 20-point lead.
- Run the ball 40 straight times in the second half with the backups and get the heck out of there.
Let’s just hope no one’s career or dreams get detonated this time.
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