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In a battle of teams that haven't lost since September, Arkansas State travels to Troy on Saturday night at Troy, Ala., in what figures to be a pivotal matchup in the landscape of the Sun Belt Conference West Division title race. ASU (4-4, 3-1) is riding a three-game winning streak and has not lost since its conference opener on Sept. 27 at Louisiana-Monroe. Troy (6-2, 4-0) has rattled off five consecutive victories since falling at home to Memphis on Sept. 13. With four games left on their regular-season schedules, the winner Saturday night will be positioned to control its own destiny in the race for the division title. Southern Miss (6-2, 4-0) is currently tied with the Trojans for first place in the division standings, while the Red Wolves sit a game back. Southern Miss is off this week and will take on ASU next Saturday at Jonesboro. "This is a football team and a football program that I have tremendous respect for," ASU Coach Butch Jones said of Troy. "They play the game of football with a physical style, with a mentality. If you're not ready to go, they will embarrass you." The Trojans' calling card is their defense, which ranks second in the Sun Belt in points allowed (24.3 ppg) and total yards allowed (364.1 ypg). Troy is also tied with James Madison for the conference lead with 23 sacks. Troy defensive end Donnie Smith leads the conference with six sacks, while Jah-Mal Williams has four. Luis Medina and DJ Jackson Jr. have each notched two sacks as well. "Their edge guys are as good as any edges we've seen," Jones said. "They use their hands really well, they can reduce their surface. If you play poor fundamentally, they will expose you. They've done that a lot this year. Being balanced will be vital, but they're going to challenge you in so many ways to be balanced." The Red Wolves were able to produce a balanced offensive attack in their 34-24 come-from-behind victory over Georgia Southern last Saturday. Kenyon Clay and Devin Spencer each rushed for more than 100 yards, while Jaylen Raynor passed for 216 yards and rushed for three touchdowns. ASU rolled up 482 yards of total offense last week, including a season-high 266 on the ground. Chauncy Cobb finished with in 12 receptions for 81 yards. "It's a momentum team as well," Troy second-year Coach Gerad Parker said of the Red Wolves. "They've won close games. They've come back from being down and won. It's a tough, gritty program, certainly one that got us last year at their place." ASU edged the Trojans 34-31 in Jonesboro last season, with safety Trevian Thomas, now with the Carolina Panthers, coming up with a game-clinching interception in the final minute . Prior to last season, Troy had won four of the previous five games in the series, including a 37-3 blowout of the Red Wolves the last time they met at Veterans Memorial Stadium in 2023. "They beat us up there (last year) and sent us back up the hill," Parker said. "Made us walk with humility in front of their home crowd. It's a thing that certainly has weighed on the minds of all of us in this program and they got the job done, so we have a lot to play for in this one." Tae Meadows has been the top playmaker for Troy offensively this season. He has rushed for 498 yards and four touchdowns, but missed last week's 35-23 win over Louisiana-Lafayette due to an undisclosed injury. He has been listed as questionable for Saturday matchup in Thursday's Sun Belt availability report. In Meadows' absence last week, Jordan Lovett rushed for 113 yards and two touchdowns against the Ragin' Cajuns. Quarterback Tucker Kilcrease has passed for 1,234 yards and 9 touchdowns with 3 interceptions this season. Goose Crowder has also taken snaps at quarterback for the Trojans, but he is also listed as questionable. ASU will be without a pair of tight ends in Tyler Little and Jabari Bush, while running back Cedric Hawkins is listed as doubtful. The Red Wolves will have their full complement of offensive linemen available, something Jones highlighted as a key to last week's win. "Those individuals being there, working hand and hand, has helped," Jones said. "I think getting (right tackle) Aleric Watson back now gives us some flexibility, gives us some competition going into this week as well. The best five will start that gives us the best opportunity." The Red Wolves have only one win away from Jonesboro this season. They are averaging just 16.5 points per game on the road and enter as a 5 1/2-point underdog. "Really, really difficult place to play," Jones said of Troy. "They have one of the most distinct home-field advantages in our conference. Tremendous student section, great support. The environment will be something with the maturity of a football team that you have to be able to handle when you go on the road and (have) that road focus."
