Saturday College football and we will see the Troy Trojans travel to Birmingham, Alabama to take on the UAB Blazers. The game has a start time of 12:00 pm (Eastern) and will be televised on FCS. Current Vegas odds have UAB listed as 2.5 point favorites, while the total is set at 63.
Analysis: The Troy Trojans went 6-6 last year but it wasn’t enough to land them a bowl bid. This year they have 56 lettermen back including 12 starters which should give them a solid shot at a bowl invite. QB Corey Robinson is gone after a big year in 2013 and while be replaced by Brandon Silvers, who is a redshirt freshman. The RB corps looks solid with Brandon Burks and Jordan Chunn both back after combining for 1189 yards and 16 TDs last year. Bryan Holmes lead a solid WR corps that is one of the best in the SBC. The defense struggled mightily last year, as they allowed 35.9 ppg, which is now the 4 th year in a row that they have allowed 30+ ppg. This year they look for improvements with 6 starters back including, DE Tyler Roberts and LB’s Mark Wilson and Wayland Coleman-Dancer, who all combined for 8.5 sacks and 11 TFL last year.
The UAB Blazers last had a winning season back in 2014, when they went 7-5 and faced Hawaii in the Hawaii Bowl. Since then they have gone 31-76 and from 2009 thru 2013, they won 5, 4, 3, 3, and 2 games. The offense last year put up 26.3 ppg, but they will be losing both QB’s and their top RB from that team. Juco QB Cody Clemens looks to lead the Blazers this year, and will have the top 3 targets back from last year, including big play threat Jamarcus Nelson, who averaged 20.1 yards per catch last year on 46 receptions. The running game loses a 900 yard back, but also returns a nearly 900 yard back in Jordan Howard, who had 881 yards last year. Defensively, this team had many problems last year, as they allowed 43.8 ppg. This year 8 starters are back to this side of the ball and while it will improve, it is still a weak defense. The front 7 will struggle for the Blazers, but then secondary looks to be in good shape, as all 4 starters are back.
Pick: Let’s look to take the Over in this one. This should be a fun up and down game with two offenses that will score plenty this year, while their defenses will give up plenty. Troy’s fast paced offense has plenty of play makers at the skill positions, especially with a very talented WR corps. Juco QB Cody Clemens will lead a solid UAB attack vs a Troy defense that hasn’t been good for a few years. We may see 70 points in this one.
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