Week 7: Troy at Florida Atlantic

Once thought to be the Sun Belt’s game of the year, this matches up last season’s co-champions, which are headed in different directions. Troy is 1-0 in conference play after a season-opening victory over MTSU. Florida Atlantic lost on a last-second Hail Mary pass to MTSU in another Tuesday night game on ESPN2 last week. FAU will try to rebound from last week’s nationally-televised loss, as the Owls squandered a 10-0 fourth-quarter lead.

This may be an early desperation game for FAU, which likely cannot lose to Troy and repeat as Sun Belt champions. Only once has the Sun Belt champion had two conferences losses, and that was a three-way tie atop the standings in 2005. But before FAU can defeat the Trojans, it must find out what’s ailing Rusty Smith. The junior quarterback and reigning Sun Belt Player of the Year has completed less than 50 percent of his passes and has only four TD tosses to seven interceptions. He had 32 TDs and nine picks last year, but Smith has no TDs and six interceptions in the last two games.

Troy has its own motivation to knock off FAU, which rallied to beat the Trojans 38-32 to earn a New Orleans Bowl bid last season. To that point, Troy was having one of the best seasons in Sun Belt history, but the loss to FAU left the Trojans out of the bowl picture. First-year starting quarterback Jamie Hampton has actually out-performed Smith despite playing his last two games at Oklahoma State and Ohio State. Troy’s speedy defense must play to its strengths against an FAU offense that has looked sluggish thus far this season. However, the Trojans allowed 612 yards of total offense to Oklahoma State in the last game. The winner will likely be the team returning to its previous form.

Notes:

Troy is 2-8 all-time when playing on Oct. 7, but 5-1 in ESPN2 games.

FAU had the nation’s best turnover margin in the nation last year, but it has among the worst this season with four takeaways and 13 giveaways. FAU committed four turnovers in last week’s loss at MTSU.

Despite returning nine offensive starters from last season, FAU ranks 116th nationally in scoring offense. Aside from their 49-34 win over UAB, the Owls have only scored 26 points in their other four games.

With three extra days to prepare for FAU since its last game, Troy held a junior varsity game against Georgia Military College on Sunday.

Key Player (Trojans) — Bear Woods, LB

FAU quarterback Rusty Smith has looked uncomfortable under a heavy blitz. Woods leads the Trojans in sacks and tackles for loss.

Key Player (Owls) — Chris Bonner, WR

Smith needs help in the passing game, but starting WR Bonner has given him little. Bonner is a talented wideout, but he has dropped more than he’s caught lately.

Troy by 6