Gunnar Watson is in his sixth season of college football and has 26 career starts, but he enters 2023 as Troy’s undisputed QB1 for the first time.

Watson leads the defending Sun Belt Conference champion Trojans into their season-opener vs. Stephen F. Austin on Saturday, with kickoff set for 6 p.m. at Veterans Memorial Stadium. Troy enters the game on an 11-game winning streak, second-longest in the country behind defending national champion Georgia.

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“I just want to win a championship,” Watson said. “They gave us a sheet during the summer that told us to write down our personal goals, and I wrote ‘win a championship.’ I’m in the business of winning ball games. I don’t really have any personal goals for myself. I just want to win ball games and win another championship.”

Watson first became Troy’s starter in 2020, but missed three games that year due to injury. He briefly lost his position to a since-departed Division I transfer in each of the last two seasons — Taylor Powell (Missouri) in 2021, Jarrett Doege (Western Kentucky) last year — but each time wound up as the starter again by the end of the year.

Based on the way he played down the stretch in 2022, it’s unlikely Watson will give up the starting job any time soon. The 6-foot-3, 210-pound Butler, Ga., native was Most Valuable Player of the Sun Belt championship game after throwing for 312 yards and three touchdowns in a rout of Coastal Carolina last December, then threw the game-winning TD pass late in the third quarter of an 18-12 victory over UT-San Antonio in the Cure Bowl.

The latter win ended a 12-2 season for the Trojans, who finished ranked in the Top 25 for the first time in program history at No. 19. Troy coach Jon Sumrall said whatever confidence Watson gained late in 2022 only grew in the offseason.

“A year and a half ago when I got here, Gunnar was inconsistent leading himself,” Troy head coach Jon Sumrall said. “I’m not say he was doing a poor job every day, but he wasn’t doing a great job daily. He has done a much better job day-in, day-out of leading himself. And then on top of it, I think has gained confidence in leading others. I’m really just so proud of his commitment to his own development, too.

“… He’s really committed himself to the weight room, to the nutrition plan. Nobody’s going to confuse him with Michael Vick, but he is a much more athletic version of Gunnar Watson right now than I’ve ever seen and quite honestly ever imagined we would see. And then he not only is he leading himself really well, but he’s leading our offense, our team. He’s much more vocal, much more confident. When you put that kind of work in, it usually follows to lead others, too.”

Along with running back Kimani Vidal and tight ends Deyunkrea Lewis and Clayton Ollendieck, Watson is one of the few proven commodities among Troy’s offensive skill players this season. The Trojans’ top two receivers from 2022 are gone, as RaJaé Johnson graduated and Tez Johnson (no relation) transferred to Oregon.

DK Billingsley, who shared the rushing load with Vidal in 2023, also has exhausted his college eligibility. In addition, the Trojans must replace three starting offensive linemen, including all-conference picks Austin Stidham and Jake Andrews.

So it’s likely more will fall this season on the shoulders of Watson, who threw for 2,818 yards and 14 touchdowns a year ago. His primary backup headed into 2023 is Goose Crowder, a West Virginia transfer with six career passing attempts at the college level.

“I’ve really challenged him as a senior — as a ninth-year senior or whatever he is here; we always kid him about that,” offensive coordinator Joe Craddock said of Watson. “It’s his turn. It’s his time to be the leader on the field. It’s his time to be a coach on the field. The offenses that I’ve been around that have had success have had that — a coach on the field at quarterback.”

Said Watson, “This is my last go-round, I’ve got one more last shot at it. So I think that has kind of changed things a little bit. I give coach Sumrall and coach Craddock a lot of credit in that aspect. They’re really helped me grow.”

The Trojans have added a number of transfers who are expected to contribute immediately, including center Eli Russ (Oklahoma State) and running back Asa Martin (Memphis). Wide receivers Marcus Rogers and Jabre Barber return to the lineup after suffering season-ending injuries midway through last year.

Saturday’s game is a matchup of defending conference champions, though Stephen F. Austin’s 2022 title carries a bit of an asterisk. The Lumberjacks went 6-5 overall and 3-1 in league play to win a watered-down WAC, which had just three teams eligible for its championship because Sam Houston was transitioning to FBS play and Tarleton and Utah Tech were moving up from Division II.

SFA lost its lone game against an FBS opponent last year by a 52-17 margin to a Louisiana Tech team that finished 3-9. Troy has rarely stumbled against FCS opposition over the years, though Eastern Kentucky gave the Trojans a game in 2020 and Abilene Christian won 38-35 at the Vet in 2014.

“They’re coming off three straight winning seasons, so they’ve established a winning tradition there,” Sumrall said of Stephen F. Austin. “… They’ve got three straight winning seasons — we’ve got one. So anybody that thinks this is going to be anything other a tough, physical, hard-nosed, blue-collar game — our guys better be ready to play.”

Saturday’s game will stream live via ESPN+. Former Troy star DeMarcus Ware, a 2023 inductee into the Pro Football Hall of Fame, is scheduled to attend the game and will be honored throughout the evening.