Troy ‘Started To Believe’ During Tough Start To Landmark 12-Win Season

Prior to Friday’s Cure Bowl trophy presentation, Jon Sumrall’s father had something to say to his son, the coach who was about to hoist the trophy.

“He said, ‘I am glad to see you,’” said Sumrall. “‘After the first half, I wasn’t sure if you were here coaching or not.’ I always have him to keep me humble.”

Indeed, the first two quarters of Troy’s 18-12 win over UTSA at Orlando’s Exploria Stadium were downright unsightly. The Trojans totaled all of 66 yards, turned the ball over twice and had four straight possessions begin inside their own 10. Yet, they trailed only 12-7.

Being in arrears at the half was familiar territory for the Sun Belt Conference champs. Part of the first-year coach’s message throughout the season, though, was to not look back. Rather, look ahead and do something about changing what is reflected on the scoreboard.

“You have no control with what happened previously,” he said. “Play the rest of the game. It’s a four-quarter game for a reason. Play the whole game.”

After 60 minutes, the Trojans had won for the fifth time (5-1) when trailing at the half. It was their 11^th straight win in a 12-2 season, a victory total that is the program’s most since transitioning to the Football Bowl Subdivision in 2001.

Sumrall’s team entered the bowl season No. 23 in the AP and No. 24 in the coaches poll after checking in at No. 24 in the final College Football Playoff rankings. Prior to this season, Troy’s lone appearance in the polls was one week at No. 25 in the AP during the 2016 season.

The 40-year-old Sumrall, an Alabama native, returned to Troy a year ago to run a program for the first time. He arrived from Kentucky, his alma mater and where he was an assistant under Mark Stoops for three seasons, the last two as co-defensive coordinator. Sumrall, who was a linebacker at UK, coached linebackers at Troy for three seasons (2015-17) under Neal Brown.

Sumrall was tasked with turning around a program that was coming off three straight five-win seasons under Chip Lindsey. What helped, was that during his first stint at Troy he recruited a handful of players who were instrumental in leading the way during this landmark season.

“When I accepted the job roughly a year ago, I was fortunate because I knew a lot of the guys,” he said, following the bowl win. “A lot of veteran guys that I helped recruit as an assistant, I knew that they would understand the vision of what we were trying to project and that they would help reinforce the buy-in. I knew those guys would, maybe help get this turn-around done faster.”

They did, and one of them was Carlton Martial. The linebacker was a 5-foot-9 walk-on with no FBS offers. After recording 14 tackles against UTSA, he leaves Troy with 577 career tackles, the most in FBS history.

A game earlier this season was one in which Martial felt, despite not playing due to injury, put the Trojans on the path to success. Though Troy slipped to 1-2 after a Hail Mary fell into the hands of Appalachian State’s Christian Horn as time expired in a 32-28 loss in Boone, the larger picture revealed a team that went stride for stride with the Mountaineers, who know a few things about achieving a high level of success in the Sun Belt.

“The App State loss, I think that was a loss we needed because it really brought the team together,” said Martial, who was twice a finalist for the Burlsworth Trophy, given to the nation’s top player who began his career as a walk-on. “It sparked us to make this special run to a conference championship and a bowl win. It was tough going out there and losing in dramatic fashion like that, but we saw that we could compete with (a top Sun Belt team). I felt a different feeling in the locker room. A lot of guys started to believe. We came together as one and made something special happen.”

The sense of belief only heightened as the Trojans, who lost the season opener at Ole Miss, piled up the wins while demonstrating that they had each other’s back.

For linebacker KJ Robertson, who celebrated being named Cure Bowl MVP with his two-year-old daughter, Layla Drew, after recording nine tackles and a third-quarter interception he returned 61 yards to set up the Trojans’ go-ahead touchdown, responsible and selfless play were key ingredients in a memorable season.

“Our core values are attitude, toughness, discipline and love,” said Robertson, another of the veterans Sumrall recruited. “The biggest thing out of those is love. It is not a feeling, it’s an action, sacrificing for your brother. We were so much tighter than ever before, since I have been here. We cared about doing our job right so our brother can do his job right. At the end of the day, it doesn’t matter if you have 18 tackles or none. If you do your job right and we get the win, that was the most important thing.”

The Trojans finished with only 166 yards against the Roadrunners. However, it was the yards they did not allow that made the difference. Midway through the fourth quarter, UTSA had first-and-goal from the five. Four plays later, Troy took possession after stifling quarterback Frank Harris and company.

“When they got down there, it wasn’t like, ‘Hey, they are going to score,’” said Sumrall, whose team allowed only 17.1 points per game, eighth nationally after defeating UTSA. “They still had to punch it in. With the type of kids we have on defense, the mindset on that side of the ball and within our program, we are not going to give you anything.”

Huge holes need to be filled as many key players on defense, including Martial and Robertson, are leaving. That is why barely an hour after walking off the Exploria Stadium turf, Sumrall was looking ahead to work that needs to be done.

“When they come back, they are going to be reminded that I don’t want to hear anything about a conference championship in 2022, or this bowl game, because it will be history to me,” he said, referring to a January 10 meeting with returning players. “I think we will reflect on (our season) the next few days and really appreciate it. But in a couple of weeks, it will be gone because we have to get ready for 2023.”