Jacksonville State Gamecocks vs Troy Trojans Prediction & Picks - NCAA Division I, FBS, Playoffs

Prediction published on 12/16/25, 5:35 PM  by Travis Pulver | Modified on 1/13/26 at 9:11 AM in Football Picks

Bowl season rolls on Tuesday, December 16, with the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl featuring the Troy Trojans and the Jacksonville State Gamecocks. The game will take place at the Cramton Bowl in Montgomery, AL, with kickoff scheduled for 9 pm EST.

Both teams come into the game with 8-5 records and lost their last time out in their respective conference championship games. Troy fell to James Madison in the Sun Belt title game, 31-14, after struggling to generate positive offense (203 yards passing, -26 yards rushing) and failing to contain JMU's run game. Jacksonville State played a tighter game vs. Kennesaw State in the Conference USA title game, 19-14. The Gamecocks did a good job running the ball (210 total yards), but couldn't slow down the Owls' passing game enough. Troy has struggled to move the ball this season, averaging 314 yards of offense per game (121st) and 24.3 ppg (90th). Defensively, they struggled against solid run teams, averaging 182.3 ypg allowed. Jacksonville State has one of the best run games in the country this season, averaging 258 ypg, but has had a lot of trouble defending the pass (242.6 ypg allowed, 106th).