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The 76 Birmingham Bowl features a matchup between the Troy Trojans (11-2, 8-5 ATS) and the Duke Blue Devils (7-5, 6-6 ATS) on the Saturday before Christmas. Both teams are undergoing coaching changes, and will use interim head coaches for the bowl game. Troy finished the season by dominating the Sun Belt Championship Game 49-23 over Appalachian State, easily covering the 5.5-point spread as favorites. Duke closed out their year with a win at home over Pitt, defeating the Panthers 30-19 as 4.5-point favorites. Kickoff is scheduled for 12:00 EST from Protective Stadium in Birmingham, Alabama and can be found on ABC.
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Troy played an excellent 11-2 this season and won the Sun Belt Championship. The trouble with small schools, is that once they find some success, their head coach leaves for greener pastures and more money. Head Coach Jon Sumrall left Troy after the season to accept the head coach position to Tulane. Greg Gasparato will step in as the interim head coach for the bowl game, he served as defensive coordinator this season. The program will be taken over by Gerard Parker, he was the offensive coordinator at Notre Dame this year.
Troy was not hit hard by the transfer portal, as the only player opting out who played more than 50 snaps is linebacker Jayden McDonald. Gunnar Watson is a 6'3 quarterback looking to close out his career with a win. Watson averaged 256.8 passing yards per game, with an impressive 27-5 TD-INT ratio. He is strictly a pocket passer, as he does not leak out and run often, he fini shed the season with negative rushing yards coming off sacks. Running back Kimani Vidal finished the season 2nd in the entire nation in rushing yards with 1,582 on the season, working out to 121.7 yards per game. Vidal has 14 touchdowns on the season, and ran for 233 yards and five touchdowns in the Sun Belt Championship Game. Jabre Barber is a 5'10 receiver leading the team with 68.6 yards per game with five touchdowns, and 6'4 Chris Lewis is a taller target with 10 touchdowns on 56.6 yards per game.
Troy finished the season averaging 31.2 points per game, and allowed only 17.2 points per game defensively. McDonald was their top tackler, but opted out for the transfer portal, leaving safety Dell Pettus as the top tackler with 72, just three less than McDonald. Linebacker Javon Solomon led the entire nation in sacks with 16 on the season, and cornerback Reddy Steward led the team in interceptions with four. The team forced 21 turnovers in their 13 game s this season.
Players missing the game:
Opt-out: LB Jayden McDonald, G Kobe Williams