Hey there, buddy. Marlo Pickens, former Trojan long snapper, peanut farmer's son and the only man in Pike County who measures a football field in peanut rows. I spent my playing days looking at the world upside down between my legs, so trust me when I tell you this: a bad Saturday looks a whole lot better once you flip it right side up. Let's flip last week over and look at it straight.
Part 1: Shelled in Lafayette
I won't sugar-roast it. Louisiana beat Troy 33-6 last Saturday at Our Lady of Lourdes Stadium. That's peanuts, buddy, and not the good kind. We're 3-3 and 1-1 in the Sun Belt, and AL.com noted we're 0-3 on the road this year.
Troy's own athletics office called it a game of missed opportunities, and I can't top that. Our defense forced a four-and-out on the Cajuns' first drive, and then we muffed the punt. Louisiana recovered at our 8 and scored three plays later. We put together a 15-play drive to open the second quarter that ate nearly seven minutes, and we missed a 42-yard field goal at the end of it. Troy Athletics says we also dropped two interceptions, and both of those drives ended in Louisiana touchdowns. Then the Cajuns kicked two field goals in the last 104 seconds of the half, and it was 19-0.
We came out of the locker room swinging. Our first drive of the second half went 75 yards, and Tucker Kilcrease ran a designed keeper 23 yards for a touchdown, his first of the season. That came right after Goose Crowder left the game with a shoulder injury, according to AL.com. We're praying for a quick recovery, and we'll wait on official word. Kilcrease went 5 of 10 for 76 yards, and Crowder had gone 9 of 16 for 65 before that.
There were peanuts worth saving. Jordan Perry made a career-high 13 tackles. Donnie Smith made a career-best seven tackles, though his streak of nine straight games with a sack came to an end. Jace Petty tied a career high with four catches and set a career best with 69 receiving yards. And Troy Athletics points out that the Trojans held Louisiana to 108 passing yards.
But we turned it over twice inside our own 28, and Troy Athletics says that led to 10 Louisiana points. We went 4-for-16 on third and fourth down. You don't win a peanut festival by dropping the bag on the way to the booth.
Part 2: Back to The Vet
Saturday, 4 p.m. Eastern, on ESPN+, UL Monroe comes to Veterans Memorial Stadium. And buddy, I'm happy to be home. Troy Athletics says the Trojans are 3-0 at The Vet this season. We beat Sam Houston 24-21, Alabama State 34-17 and Southern Miss 55-34 there. Home cooking, boiled peanuts and a full stadium. That's the recipe.
Being Neighborly First
I'll say something kind about the Warhawks, because Mama didn't raise a grump. Their defense played tough in the first half against Louisiana Tech last week. It was 0-0 at halftime, and ULM sacked Blake Baker four times, blocked a field goal and picked off a pass. Noah Flemmings has 51 tackles and Tyrell Brown has 2.5 sacks. That's real effort, and effort deserves respect.
Now, the Peanut Count
But here's the full harvest report, from AP's preview. UL Monroe is 0-6. Its defense ranks 136th in FBS in yards allowed, at 483.2 a game, 136th against the run, at 229.7, and 137th in scoring defense, at 41.2 points a game. Buddy, that's not a defense. That's an unlocked peanut barn with the lights on.
Troy runs for 204.7 yards a game, 27th in FBS, and holds the ball for 32:32 a game, 26th. Gavin Griffin leads us with 359 rushing yards. TK Keyes has 282 receiving yards and three touchdowns, and Donnie Smith still has five sacks. Keno Jones leads us with 40 tackles.
ULM's offense, per AP, ranks 121st in scoring at 20 points a game and 133rd on third down, converting 29.6%. And here's one I love: Troy's red zone defense ranks ninth in the country, allowing scores on 68.2% of trips. ULM's red zone offense ranks 116th. That's a peanut that can't get out of the shell.
Clean Up the Mess
We do have to clean up our own field. AP's preview has Troy 125th in FBS in penalty yards, at 75.3 a game. ULM is 37th. A long snapper notices these things, buddy, because a long snapper gets blamed for everything. If the Trojans stop flagging themselves, the field gets a lot shorter.
The History Book
CollegeFootballData.com has Troy 11-8 against ULM. Last year we won 37-14 in Monroe. Now, I'm an honest peanut man, so I'll tell you: in 2024, ULM won 13-9 at our place. That one still sits in my craw like a peanut skin. Time to get it out.
And a little perspective. Troy won back-to-back Sun Belt championships in 2022 and 2023, both at The Vet. ULM, according to Wikipedia, has played in one FBS bowl game ever, the 2012 Independence Bowl. One. I've got more trophies from the Pike County 4-H than that, and I'm not proud of how many of them are for peanut butter.
Marlo's Field Report: Troy vs. Monroe
Troy. Our little city had 17,727 people in 2020, and it's the seat of Pike County, one of the first counties established in Alabama, back in 1821. Wikipedia says the town started out as Deer Stand Hill, then was called Zebulon, then Centreville, and finally became Troy in 1838. We tried a few names and landed on a legend. There's a 45-acre Pike County Lake on the south end of town, the Pioneer Museum of Alabama hosts Troy Pioneer Days every year, and TroyFest fills the downtown square with art. Our motto, according to Wikipedia, is "A Wonderful Place to Live!" with an exclamation point. That's how you know we mean it.
Monroe. Monroe is a fine river city on the Ouachita, the seat of Ouachita Parish, with 47,702 people in 2020. And it has a pretty neat claim to fame: Wikipedia says Biedenharn, the first bottler of Coca-Cola, moved to Monroe and helped found the airline we now call Delta, which started as a crop-dusting outfit called Delta Dusters, fighting the boll weevil.
Then, and I'm quoting Wikipedia here, "as the airline expanded, it moved to Atlanta." Buddy, when your town invents an airline and the airline uses it to fly away, that's a sign. Even the planes didn't stay for the second half.
And the Warhawks? They used to be the Northeast Louisiana Indians, and the Warhawks name came along in 2006. So they've been a hawk for 20 years, and a crop duster flew out of town before that. Monroe has a real history of things with wings leaving early.
The Harvest
Here's the farm report, plain. Troy is 3-0 at home, runs the ball, holds it, and owns a top-10 red zone defense. ULM is 0-6 with the 136th-ranked run defense in the country. We've got to protect the ball, cut the penalties, and keep Pike County proud. Do that, and the Trojans will be shelling Warhawks all afternoon.
Come early, buddy. Bring a sack of boiled peanuts. Bring two. I'll bring the puns.
My call: Troy Trojans 36, UL Monroe Warhawks 18.