Troy football announced quarterback Goose Crowder would miss the remainder of the 2024 season in a press release on Tuesday morning.
“Goose is one of the toughest football players that I’ve had the privilege of coaching,” said head coach Gerad Parker in Troy’s post to X, formerly known as Twitter. “This is never the outcome that you want, but at the end of the day, what is best for the long-term health of our student-athletes will always outweigh any other alternative.”
The release, posted to social media, said Troy’s medical team advised Crowder to sit out for the rest of the year. Crowder suffered upper body injuries against Memphis and ULM in his first season starting for the Trojans, missing significant time.
In four appearances, Crowder threw for 543 yards, five touchdowns and no interceptions, connecting on 43-of-62 pass attempts. The junior played backup for Gunnar Watson last season after transferring from West Virginia following the 2022 season.
Crowder played two full games this season against Nevada and Florida A&M. In Troy’s only win of the season against the Rattlers, Crowder threw for nearly 300 yards on a 70.8 completion percentage. He added four touchdowns through the air.
With Crowder out for the season, there will be a battle for the starting quarterback job. Both Matthew Caldwell and Tucker Kilcrease have seen significant playing time at the position in Crowder’s absence.
After transferring from Gardener-Webb, Caldwell has thrown for two touchdowns and three interceptions in 75 pass attempts. When Crowder went down against Memphis, Caldwell entered the game and went 11-of-19 passing for 113 yards.
The junior started Troy’s game at Iowa, throwing for 156 yards with a touchdown and an interception. However, Kilcrease took over in the second half of the contest against the Hawkeyes, finding Devonte Ross for a 62-yard touchdown on his first snap.
Kilcrease replaced Crowder after the starter was hurt against ULM, going 6-for-10 passing. The redshirt sophomore started the next two games against Texas State and South Alabama.
Against the Bobcats, Kilcrease threw for 249 yards, completing 60.7 percent of his passes and throwing for two touchdowns. While he started against the Jaguars, Kilcrease was benched after throwing an interception, and Caldwell replaced him.
The two will duke it out for the starting quarterback job. True freshman Caleb McCreary is also on the roster but hasn’t seen any game time for the Trojans.
Troy looks to get its first FBS win of the season on Saturday as it travels to Arkansas State to take on the Red Wolves.
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