Takeaways: Troy Takes Down Western Kentucky With Balanced Attack

Jon Sumrall and Troy have their first win over an FBS opponent in the 2023-2024 season. The Trojans hosted CUSA title favorite Western Kentucky on Saturday as a 3.5-point underdog. In the end, the home team earned a 27-24 victory.

With a start to the year that showed Troy's young core struggling to respond to pressure, things took a different turn in this contest. That being said, it was still far from a perfect game for either side. 

Here's what stood out in a showdown between two teams with a slew of talented offensive playmakers.

Gunnar Shooting From The Hip

Gunnar Watson looked far more comfortable in this contest than he has in the last few weeks. By Jon Sumrall's own admission, Troy's offensive line has not played at the level he's wanted in their last several contests. Once again, their pass blocking left something to be desired, allowing five sacks.

However, to Watson's credit, his pocket presence in the face of pressure was admirable. He did a much better job of adapting to the types of blitzes the Tops brought, his footwork and awareness enabling him to step up and deliver the ball where it needed to be. He finished with 22 completions on 35 attempts for 349 yards and a touchdown.

Not a Perfect Game, But a Complete Game

In their last two games, WKU have failed to post at least 300 yards of total offense. This is not something that they failed to do in a game in 2022 or 2023. 

This can be attributed to several good things that Troy did throughout the day. For one, Troy largely dominated the time of possession with 39 minutes of possession, minimizing Austin Reed's opportunities to get his offense going. The Trojans also forced and recovered two fumbles in the win. 

Forcing WKU to play from behind, the Trojans held the Tops to a net total of 20 rushing yards, their lowest total since losing to UTSA in the 2021 CUSA Championship Game.

Allowing Nine Catches Is Keeping Corley in Check

In Saturday's matchup, WKU receiver Malachi Corley was targeted 15 times - more than any other receiver in the game. He finished with nine catches for 112 yards, a touchdown, and 82 yards after catch. That's far from a bad stat line. However, the Troy defense kept the ball out of Corley's hands at several critical junctures on the Tops' last several drives. In a game where the final margin was only three points, the impact of this shouldn't be understated.

"They're a really good defense, schematically," Corley told Jeff Nations of the Bowling Green Daily News. "I think we were trying to overcomplicate the game for ourselves. When we got back to what we base do...the game started to ease up for us. But they're a really good team...best team in the Sun Belt, undeniably."