It’s difficult to paint Troy’s 2024 football season as anything other than a disappointment, but the Trojans have a chance to carry some momentum into the offseason.

Troy (3-8, 2-5 Sun Belt) finishes up the season at home Saturday against Southern Miss (1-10, 0-7). If the Trojans can beat the Golden Eagles — who have lost nine straight games — they could end the season having won three of their last four after a 1-7 start.

Troy won the Sun Belt Conference championship in both 2022 and 2023 under Jon Sumrall, but initially struggled in the transition to new coach Gerad Parker. Nevertheless, Parker said he has plenty to be thankful about as his program gets ready to honor its 13 seniors in the season finale at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

“This is my first head coaching job,” Parker said. “And for them, although the number to be very small, for them to have opened up their hearts, which is the first thing I asked them to do in the first team meeting, accept me, my family, our staff and families and all the new, and to stick by us, especially when the start was what it was, and to stay to it and keep our locker room together and give their best and very best to the future of this program and current says a lot about who they are.

“And so for that, I’ll be forever grateful for what they’ve given to the program before I was here, but certainly in our time together in this season in which it could have went many other ways and they didn’t let it and they were a big piece of it. And I think that we’ll see a lot of things in their futures that will be the foundation of what they helped build in our future as we find success.”

After beating only FCS opponent Florida A&M through the first eight games of the season, Troy pulled off upsets over Coastal Carolina and Georgia Southern to get to 3-7. The Trojans led early last week against first-place Louisiana, before giving up 27 points in the second quarter.

Troy rallied again to make it a 37-30 game early in the fourth quarter, before the Ragin’ Cajuns pulled away for a 51-30 win that was closer than the final score appeared. Parker said even in the loss, his team found some things it can continue to build upon for next year and beyond.

“The best way to do that is to … go out there and put a product that we’ve been putting out on the field, to show improvement and continue to take the steps necessary to put ourselves in a position for this offseason and this next season coming up that Troy will be proud of,” Parker said. “So with that being said to the game, I would also say I’m very, very proud of our players and our staff, once again, for being resilient, put ourselves in a position to get it to a one-score game. But it’s quite easy and simple to say that we cannot get behind the way we did in the second quarter and lose the turnover margin that way to a championship football team and expect to win.”

Southern Miss has been in a tailspin since beating FCS opponent Eastern Kentucky in Week 2, and has been far and away the worst team in the Sun Belt this season. Fourth-year head coach Will Hall was fired Oct. 20, but the Golden Eagles are 0-4 under interim coach Reed Stringer.

Southern Miss gave South Alabama a game for a half last week, trailing just 14-11 at the break. As many teams have done against the Golden Eagles this season, however, the Jaguars turned it on in the second half for a 35-14 win in Hattiesburg.

“You see a team that has not cashed it in at all, regardless of what record says,” Parker said. “…

They’re gonna push the ball down the field with tricks and downfield throws, which are always a concern and something we have to tighten up on our defense. And then their defense, they’re doing a good job changing up their fronts.

“… So there’s players on that field. They haven’t finished games, but they’re out there and there’s things that they can create problems with us if we’re not prepared to play.”

Troy’s 13-man senior class is one of the smallest in the country, and none of that number began their college careers as Trojans. Among those key contributors who will play their final games at The Vet on Saturday are running back Gerald Green, wide receiver Landon Parker, offensive tackle Daniel King, tight end Ethan Conner, defensive end Raymond Cutts, linebackers Brendan Jackson and Terry Thomas and defensive back Demaje Yancey.

Of that senior group, only Conner, King and Thomas were starters on last year’s Sun Belt championship team. Landon Parker (no relation to Gerad) said the 2024 seniors — as limited in number as they are — are trying to leave a positive legacy with a win on Saturday.

“Oh, I think it would definitely be really big, obviously, for recruiting,” Parker said. “And then for the seniors, just going out with a big win and a good win, that’s always important, just to remember at least you gave it your all that last game. That’s always a big thing to think about.”

Kickoff for Troy-Southern Miss on Saturday is set for 1 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium. The game will stream live on ESPN+.