The quarterback picture at Troy is still unsettled, which matters plenty for a Week 1 script. Tucker Kilcrease and Goose Crowder split time last season, with Crowder working through injuries before closing out the year as the starter — both threw for at least 1,300 yards and combined for 13 total touchdowns. New offensive coordinator Adam Austin arrives from Tarleton State, where his offense led the FCS in scoring, and how quickly that system clicks with whichever quarterback wins the job will say a lot about whether Troy's offense stops being its own bottleneck.
Troy also has real personnel to replace. Leading rusher Tae Meadows left for Auburn, leading receiver DJ Epps is off to West Virginia, and top guard Paul Bowling transferred to Florida State — three key losses on the side of the ball that already struggled in 2025. That's the tension of this opener: Troy is favored on name and recent conference success, but it's breaking in a new coordinator, a new-look skill group, and possibly a new starting quarterback, all against an opponent with far less proven talent but genuinely nothing to lose.
For Sam Houston, this is about survival and identity more than the scoreboard. A defense that added transfer corner Ishmel Atkins out of Elon — who reportedly turned heads in the spring game — gives Longo's staff a piece to build around, but replacing a full season's worth of results with a retooled two-deep takes time. Road trips to a program with Troy's recent pedigree are exactly the measuring-stick games this rebuild needs, win or lose.
Expect Troy to lean on whichever quarterback grabs the job coming out of camp and try to establish tempo early against a Sam Houston defense still finding its footing. If the Bearkats can hang around into the second half, that alone would be a data point in the right direction for a program that spent most of 2025 out of games by halftime.