Troy’s offense struggled in 2020 to just 27 points and 393 yards per game. Head coach Chip Lindsey is one of the better offensive minds around college football today, and he was ready to see to it that the Trojans would have more success on the offensive side of the field in 2021.
Like many college coaches in today’s game, Lindsey turned to the transfer portal to help address the situation on offense. Troy brought in Missouri transfer quarterback Taylor Powell to compete with returning starter Gunnar Watson. Powell, a former three-star rated prospect out of Fayetteville, Arkansas in the Class of 2017, was able to beat out Watson in training camp and was named starter in Troy’s season opener against Southern this past week.
The former Arkansas Mr. Football player, Powell helped lead the revamped Troy offense to 55 points and 464 yards of offense in a blowout win of Southern. Powell completed 17 of his 27 pass attempts for 231 yards, 2 touchdowns, and 1 interception. He also had one rushing attempt where he scored a touchdown from one yard out.
“Their biggest difference between last year and this year is their quarterback play,” Liberty defensive coordinator Scott Symons said of Troy. “You watch the accuracy, the touch that was put on the ball, I thought it was really impressive.”
After redshirting in 2017 as a true freshman at Missouri, Powell played in six games in each of the 2018 and 2019 campaigns as the Tigers’ backup quarterback. He also made one start in 2018, a 27-0 Missouri loss to Georgia. In 12 games played for the SEC program, Powell completed 35 of 76 pass attempts for 431 yards, 1 touchdown, and 2 interceptions. He had just one yard rushing on seven carries. Powell sat out the 2020 season due to COVID concerns before entering the transfer portal.
Liberty head coach Hugh Freeze recruited Powell briefly during his time as head coach at Ole Miss. Powell attended a Freeze led camp at Ole Miss.
“He’s an incredibly accurate passer,” Freeze said of Powell. “I remember him vividly. He’s a very accurate passer, mature. He makes a difference. You put that quarterback in that system (with those weapons)…I used to play Troy. I know the kind of athletes they have. It’s going to be a tall task.”
“I think he’s a great game manager, as far as decision making,” Coach Symons stated of Powell. “He’s not careless with the football. He runs that offense very, very efficiently, accuracy, touch on the ball. He is really, really impressive. He is not a dual threat quarterback like you would typically consider it, but he has a lot of great pocket presence. He’s got some good escapability. You might not see as much plus-one runs as we’ve worked before, but if you don’t have a player on the quarterback on the zone read, he’s going to pull it. If we don’t do a good job keeping him contained, he’s going to run it. I think he is a really, really good quarterback; better than most of the ones we have played based on the one game played. I’ve got a lot of respect for him, and I think he makes their offense go.”
