Alabama State counters with Andrew Body, the reigning SWAC Preseason Offensive Player of the Year, who threw for 20 touchdowns and completed 71% of his passes a season ago while leading the Hornets to a 10-2 finish and a share of the SWAC East title. Body's opened this season 2-0, going for a touchdown in a comeback win over Southern and directing a 34-0 shutout of Lane College, and he'll now run into Troy senior Donnie Smith, the Sun Belt's preseason Defensive Player of the Year after leading the league in sacks in 2025.
None of that has moved this line very far — Troy is still priced as a heavy home favorite at Veterans Memorial Stadium, and a 3:00 PM CDT kickoff under partly cloudy Alabama skies figures to be a track meet on paper more than a dogfight on the scoreboard.
The gap in classification is the real story here. Alabama State's two wins came against Southern, an FCS SWAC rival, and Lane College, a Division II program — neither prepares a roster for the size and speed jump that comes with a Sun Belt front seven, let alone one fronted by a Sun Belt sack leader.
Troy's own opener wasn't exactly a laugher, either. The Trojans' offense finished 95th nationally in scoring a season ago, and holding a Conference USA team to a 3-point final margin in the opener suggests that unit hasn't fully turned the corner even against lesser competition — worth watching against an Alabama State defense that just blanked an opponent.