UL Monroe at Troy Breakdown: Week 8, Oct. 24, 2026

The story

UL Monroe arrives at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Oct. 24 having lost six straight, including a shutout at home against Louisiana Tech on Oct. 17. Troy sits at 3-3 after losing 33-6 at Louisiana that same day, but it draws a defense giving up 41.2 points a game, about 17 more than the average FBS defense. For fantasy purposes, the interest sits almost entirely on Troy's side.

The angle

UL Monroe is soft everywhere. It is the second-worst run defense in FBS, allowing 230 rushing yards a game, about 90 more than the average FBS defense, and the third-worst against quarterbacks. Neither offense scores enough to point to a shootout, so usage decides who cashes in. UL Monroe is also the third-worst defense against receivers and the fourth-worst against tight ends, but Troy has no wideout or tight end with a real role to aim at those weaknesses. On the other side, Troy's below-average defense against receivers is not worth chasing, because no UL Monroe wideout has a big enough share or steady enough output in an offense scoring 20 points a game.

Risky plays

Goose Crowder drives Troy's offense with both his arm and his legs. Over his last three games he has averaged 9 carries, 73 rushing yards and 172 passing yards a game, and he has produced 19.5 points a game over that stretch after averaging 17.7 this season. His season high of 43.5 came against Southern Miss on Oct. 6, when he ran for 145 yards and two scores. Sports Illustrated reported that the rushing day nearly matched his career rushing total entering that game. UL Monroe is the third-worst defense against quarterbacks in FBS, which is normally a spot to attack with a dual threat. The holdup is his questionable tag. He's a risky play, since the upside only counts if he is cleared to suit up.

Jordan Lovett has been the most explosive of Troy's backs. He has averaged 15.4 points over his last three games, up from 9.6 a game this season. His season high of 33.5 came against Southern Miss on Oct. 6, when he ran for 142 yards and caught two passes for 53 yards, scoring once each way. UL Monroe is the second-worst defense against running backs in FBS, normally a backfield to target. But Troy runs a timeshare: Gavin Griffin has 28 percent of the carries over the last three games and Lovett 25 percent. Lovett's 10 carries a game leave his output leaning on big plays. Call him risky, because the matchup is ideal but the workload is split too many ways to trust.

Injuries and timeshares

Troy's Goose Crowder is questionable. If he sits, Tucker Kilcrease would step in, and he has averaged 38 passing yards a game over his last three games. Troy's backfield is a three-way committee over the last three games: Gavin Griffin has 28 percent of the carries, Jordan Lovett 25 percent and Jaheim Merriweather 20 percent. Griffin's share is down from 36 percent before that span, which is worth watching.

TL;DR

Lovett and a cleared Crowder are the only Troy pieces worth the risk, and the rest of both rosters can stay on the bench.