3 takeaways from Troy blowout of North Texas in the 2017 New Orleans Bowl

The first FBS bowl game of the 2017-2018 postseason ended in a big Troy victory over North Texas. Here are three takeaways from the New Orleans Bowl.

The Celebration Bowl that serves as the HBCU national championship technically kicked off the postseason calendar. But in terms of the FBS, the New Orleans Bowl traditionally opens the schedule. It has offered some exciting action over the years, and the 2017 edition didn’t disappoint that tradition.

Troy, which shared the Sun Belt title with Appalachian State, ended the regular season 10-2. The Trojans were something of an enigma in 2017. They held their own in a road loss against Mountain West champion Boise State, and pulled off an upset in Tiger Stadium against LSU. But Troy also missed out on the outright conference title after an inexplicable loss against South Alabama.

Their reward was a trip to the New Orleans Bowl, where they were pitted against C-USA West champion North Texas. The Mean Green opened the year 1-2, but won eight of their last nine in the regular season to earn a rematch with FAU in the Conference USA title game. The result was another blowout loss against the Owls.

Through the first half, the game was close in the Mercedes-Benz Superdome. But Troy eventually pulled away for a 50-30 victory. Here are three things we learned from the standout Trojans performance on Saturday afternoon in a New Orleans Bowl that kicked off the postseason with a bang.