Troy, App State face off for Sun Belt Conference title
by Braden Chalker
Two of the hottest teams in college football square off on Saturday, Dec. 2 at Veterans Memorial Stadium for the 2023 Sun Belt Conference Championship, which will be nationally televised on ESPN with kick-off set for 3 p.m.
The Troy Trojans (10-2) play host to the App State Mountaineers (8-4), pitting one of the Sun Belt’s best offenses up against the conference’s best defense.
“The battle rhythm does not change for a game of this magnitude,” Troy head coach Jon Sumrall said. “Yes, it is a big game. Yes, it’s a conference championship game and there’s a trophy at stake, but it doesn’t change your preparation.”
The Mountaineer’s offense is second in the Sun Belt in scoring, averaging 35.8 points-per-game while scoring 55 touchdowns over 12 regular season games played to score 429 total points.
On the other hand, Troy’s defense is first in the Sun Belt in total points allowed (200), touchdowns allowed (23), and points-per-game (16.7).
After starting off 3-4, the Mountaineers rode a five-game win streak to clinch the East Division of the Sun Belt, ending James Madison’s then perfect season in the process to finish with a 6-2 conference record.
App State is led by junior quarterback Joey Aguilar, who recently transferred to the Mountaineers after spending two years at Diablo Valley in California.
Aguilar finished the regular season with 3,271 passing yards (fourth-most in the Sun Belt), 33 touchdowns (most in the Sun Belt) and just nine interceptions in his first season with the team and was named the 2023 Newcomer of the Year.
“I’ve seen a well-coached team,” said junior defensive end Javon Solomon of the App State offense. Solomon has enjoyed an excellent 2023 season as he’s tallied 14 sacks, good enough for second most in the country.
“I’ve seen a great quarterback that has a good arm that knows how to get the ball to his playmakers out on the edge,” he said. “[They’re] just a well-coached team. This week, we’ve had to take our time to prepare the right way and to communicate the right way because they do a lot of different things.”
On the other side of the ball, the App State defense has come alive near the end of the regular season. The Mountaineers allowed a total of just 23 points in wins over Marshall and Georgia State, while limiting James Madison’s offense to 23 points in their overtime win in November.
“We did make the change of how we call our defense,” App State head coach Shawn Clark said. “Really, we’ve brought more speed onto the field. That was the whole premise of things, to get our best players on the field at all times.
“Our players are playing with confidence right now. On defense, it’s react, and that’s what we’re doing. We’re not thinking about things, we’re playing loose and we’re having fun playing football.”
The Mountaineer defense improved as the season wore on, limiting opponents to 26.7 points-per-game and 320 total points allowed.
The Trojans won nine consecutive games to reach the conference championship and did so in dominant fashion. Since their narrow 27-24 victory over Western Kentucky on Sept. 23, the Trojans have allowed more than 20 points in a game just once – a 31-24 win over Louisiana on November 18.
When the matchup was set between the Mountaineers and the Trojans, many immediately thought back to their most recent clash on Sept. 17, 2022. Troy was seconds away from clinching a tough road win in Boone, North Carolina, before a Hail Mary bailed out the Mountaineers as a tipped pass from a Troy defensive back fell into the path of an App State receiver who scurried into the endzone.
App State wound up winning on the last play of the game, 32-28, as Troy dropped to 1-2 on the season before going on an unbeaten run to clinch the West Division and play host in the Sun Belt title game. This all may sound very familiar to the current season for Sumrall’s team.
The 2023 season for Troy has been almost an exact replica of 2022: the team started slow, lost their first game and proceeded to split their next to start 1-2 before going on a dominant run to clinch back-to-back 10-win seasons to play host in winner-takes-all title game.
Sixth-year senior and quarterback Gunnar Watson has thrown the third-most touchdowns in the Sun Belt with 26. Watson has amassed 3,147 passing yards (fifth-most in the Sun Belt) while throwing just five interceptions.
The Butler, Georgia native took home the 2022 title game MVP award after passing for 318 yards and three touchdowns with zero interceptions. But this time around, one year later, he’s not worried about individual awards and is focused on winning a second consecutive conference title.
“As far as the [game’s MVP] award, I’m not really too concerned,” said Watson. “I’m just worried about winning the game tomorrow and celebrating with our team on the field like we did last year.”
It’s difficult to talk about the Troy offense without mentioning the program’s all-time leading rusher, Kimani Vidal.
Vidal rushed for 1,349 yards during the regular season, which is second in the Sun Belt by one yard behind Georgia State’s Marcus Carroll. Vidal is averaging 5.3 yards-per-carry and has found the endzone nine times and was named the 2023 Sun Belt Offensive Player of the Year.
The Trojans will look to add to their record-seven Sun Belt championships and go back-to-back, while App State hopes to bring back their fifth conference title to North Carolina.