The Trojans of Troy head to the smurf turf to take on the Boise State Broncos in the opening game of the season for both teams. The game is scheduled for Saturday, September 2nd at 3:45 p.m. EST and can be seen on the ESPNU Network. As of this write-up, the Boise State Broncos are -11 point favorites and the over/under is at 62.
The Troy Trojans had a super season a year ago. They went 10-3 and beat Ohio in their bowl game. Even still, maybe their most impressive game of the year was a loss to Clemson. In that game, Troy was within six points for the whole contest but finally fell in defeat 30-24.
The Boise State Broncos also had a good year, finishing 10-3. Unfortunately, the season ended on a sour note with a loss to Baylor 31-12 in their bowl match-up. Now, there’s plenty of work to be done for the Broncos as crucial contributors to last years team are gone.
Troy Tojans
The Trojans will be looking to pick up where they left off last year, going 10-3 and winning a bowl game. Quarterback Brandon Silvers returns for his senior year, and he’s one of the few signal-callers in the country who has started games all three of his years. As a freshman, silvers took over the starting roll and has kept it ever since. Last year, he threw for 3,100 yards and 23 touchdowns with 12 picks. He will be very important to the program’s success in 2017.
Troy brings back plenty of experience in their receiving corps. Furthermore, Silvers has been tossing the ball around with them for everyone of his starts. Wide outs Emanuel Thompson and junior Deondre Douglas combined for 140 catches for almost 1,500 yards and 12 scores. It’s fair to say that Boise State’s secondary will have their work cut out for them.
Also returning to the fold is the Trojans leading rusher Jordan Chunn. He is a powerful runner who makes a habit of breaking tackles. In 2016, Chunn churned out almost 1,300 yards on 279 carries and had a team-high 16 trips to the end zone. With such a durable back, Troy should stay completely balanced all season long.
The strength of the Troy defense will be in the secondary. Safeties Cedarius Rookard and Kris Weatherspoon might be the best duo in the Group of Five. Also, Blace Brown returns at corner after posting six picks last fall and expectations are high for the junior. The Trojans do need to find some way to create more pressure on the opposing team’s quarterbacks.
Boise State Broncos
After spending one season as the head coach at Arkansas State, Bryan Harsin returned home to his alma-mater and has a 31-9 record to show for it. However, the Broncos have five combined conference losses in the last two years and the program has failed to win their division for two consecutive seasons.
The Broncos starting quarterback Brett Rypien is entering his junior season. With another year like lasts, he could break all of Kellen Moore’s passing records. In 2016, Rypien tossed the ball for 3,646 yards and 24 touchdowns. Impressively, he only was intercepted eight times.
Wide receiver Cedrick Wilson will be the primary benefactor of Brett Rypiens passes. Wilson averaged over 20 yards per catch last season and scored 11 touchdowns in his first season over from junior college. The senior also caught 56 balls for almost 1,200 yards. He could become a superstar in 2017.
After Brett Rypien and Cedric Wilson, here are a lot of question marks for the Broncos. Jeremy McNichols did it all at running back for the Broncos last season. This year coach Harsin will be relying on sophomore Alexander Mattison after averaging nearly five yards per carry in limited action in 2016.
On defense, the Broncos return only four starters from last year’s unit. Basically, Boise State will be starting from scratch in a lot of areas. The strength of this unit rests with the defensive front. Tackle David Moa and edge rusher Jaril Frazier combined for 15.5 tackles for loss and 12.5 sacks last season. They will be called upon once again to pressure Troy’s Brandon Silvers.
Prediction
I really like the Troy Trojans to cover the 11 point spread on the blue turf in Boise. Here’s why. First, the Trojans have and experienced player under center and two explosive wide outs for him to distribute the ball to. That’s not all, they also have a powerful running back who could easily pound the rock for over 1,500 yards this year. That’s balance folks.
Sure, it’s Boise State and their home on their funky turf. I get it. I’m certainly not saying that the Broncos will not put up their fair share of points. In fact, I also am suggesting that my readers lay some cash on the game’s over 62. If Boise wins so be it, but it wont be by two touchdowns. Take Troy to cover and the over in a nice little two gamer. I jump in it!
Trends
Boise State has won 15 straight home openers by 29 points per game.
Troy is 3-12 in road openers since joining the FBS in 2002.
The under is 4-1 in Boise States last five non-conference games.
Boise State is 19-7 ATS against the Sun Belt Conference.
Troy is 9-3 ATS in their last 12 road games.
Troy’s over is 39-13 against non-conference foes.
The getmoresports.com NCAA College Football Throwdown Podcast will be returning to the air on August 24th. We will be highlighting the first five games on August 26th of the 2017 NCAA College Football season. That will be the first of three installments leading into the first week of the season. We also we will be covering our expectations for the Heisman Trophy front runners as well as predictions for conference winners and team totals.
Our second NCAA College Football Throwdown is penciled in for August 29th. In that installment, we will be discussing all the games that will be played on August 31st and the 1st of September.
Our third segment will officially be airing on August 31st. In this edition of the NCAA College Football Throwdown, we will be covering all the relevant games for Sept 2nd, 3rd, and 4th.
