By BJ Bennett
SouthernPigskin.com

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With Carlton Martial, college football could be looking at an all-time great resume.

Carlton Martial has been one of college football’s most productive defenders of this generation. The Troy superstar currently has 315 career tackles, 37 tackles for loss, eight sacks, six forced fumbles and four interceptions. He is just now entering his senior year. An All-American linebacker with an NFL future, Martial has made history with his efforts as he is already the lone player in the history of the Sun Belt with those statistical minimums. A potential banner senior season is still to come.

For his career, Martial is averaging 9.05 tackles and 1.07 tackles per loss per game. Projecting that work rate out over a 12 game regular season, not to mention if the Trojans make the conference championship bout or a bowl game, a reasonable, maybe even low-end, expectation for Martial in 2021 would be 109 total tackles and 13 tackles for loss. Those totals would get him to 425 tackles and 50. tackles for loss. Should he reach those margins, Martial would be the first FBS player this millennium with at least 425 tackles and 50 tackles for loss.

With Martial, college football could be looking at an all-time great resume.

After ranking in the top ten in the country with 126 total stops as a sophomore in 2019, Martial promptly tied for the national lead as a junior with 113 tackles this past year. Remarkably, he also compiled 28.5 tackles for loss in that span. The consistency of Martial is part of what makes him so effective and so special; over Troy’s last 24 games, Martial has at least seven stops in 20 of them. Every week, every game, he is the most active defender on the field.

Martial enters his senior season with unparalleled credentials overall and the momentum of a signature performance in his last game. In Troy’s season finale, a near-upset of 9th-ranked Coastal Carolina, Martial recorded a career-high 21 total tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack. He is the only player ever in Sun Belt with a 20-tackle, 2-TFL game. The week before that milestone, Martial led the Trojans to a shutout win over South Alabama for good measure. He, this fall, will pace a talented and experienced defense returning nine starters.

Hitting the ground running since arriving on campus, Martial enters his senior season in an all-out sprint.

The pre-season Sun Belt Defensive Player of the Year is on multiple summer awards watch lists and for good reason; Martial is as good as it gets. He returns as a standout player nationally. One of the most productive defenders in recent college football history, Martial is ready for more.