So, a team whose coach left for a new job after two seasons goes to Birmingham, Ala., and matches up against a team whose coach left for a new job after two seasons.

Such is the Birmingham Bowl between Duke and Troy.

Mike Elko was 16-9 at Duke, while Jon Sumrall was 23-4 with a couple of Sun Belt championships.

Duke has filled its head coach vacancy with Manny Diaz, while Troy is — as of roughly 3 p.m. Wednesday — the only FBS with an opening at head coach following Sumrall’s departure for Tulane.

It’ll be interim coaches leading Duke (Trooper Taylor) and Troy (John Gasparato) on Dec. 23 at Protective Stadium.

Here are five (more) things to know about Troy ahead of next weekend’s Birmingham Bowl:

This game will mark back-to-back games against a team from North Carolina with a trophy on the line for the Trojans.

Troy beat Appalachian State 49-23 in the Sun Belt championship game, taking a four-point lead into the fourth quarter and running away for a repeat as Sun Belt champs.

That was the Kimani Vidal show, as Troy’s fourth-year running back had the first two and last two touchdowns of the game, along with another early in the fourth quarter. That made him the first player with five rushing touchdowns an FBS conference championship game.

Vidal had 233 yards against App State and that’s only the third-most he’s had this season. The Marietta, Ga., native had games of 248 (Stephen F. Austin) and 245 (Arkansas State) earlier.

Only one of the teams in the Birmingham Bowl had a losing record at one point during the season and it wasn’t Duke.

Troy beat FCS-level Stephen F. Austin in its season opener and then lost to Kansas State and James Madison.

Those were the Trojans’ only losses.

Troy has rattled off 10 straight wins. It started with a 27-24 win over Western Kentucky and that’s one of just two one-score wins during this streak. Seven of those 10 wins have come against teams that made bowl games.

3. A QB named “Gunnar”

It feels longer than two years ago that Duke had a starting quarterback named Gunnar — Holmberg, to job your memory — and now the Blue Devils will face one.

Gunnar Watson is a sixth-year quarterback who’ll play his final game in the Birmingham Bowl. He’s thrown for 10,045 yards and 65 touchdowns and really had everything come together this season, averaging 256.8 yards per game with 27 touchdowns and five interceptions.

The 6-3, 210-pounder has thrown 18 touchdowns and one interception since the start of October.

You expect to see some outliers when looking at a Group of 5 team’s lone game against a Power 5 team. A Sept. 9 blowout loss against Kansas State fits those parameters — Troy lost 42-13.

The most jarring thing about that game, at least when perusing the box score and Troy’s body of work through the season, was Kansas State’s 10-for-15 clip on third downs.

Troy held opponents to 31.8% on third downs this season, ranking 21st in the country. That includes a 0-for-10 by South Alabama and a 2-for-13 by Army.

You win on third down by creating negative plays and pressure. Troy was fifth in the country in tackles for loss (98) and tied for third in the country in sacks (45).

It’s worth noting: Troy was down 14-10 in the last minute of the first half before Kansas State struck for a 39-yard touchdown pass. The Wildcats pulled away in the second half thanks in part to two short-field touchdown drives.

There appears to be only one significant absence for Troy heading into this game.

Linebacker Jayden McDonald entered the transfer portal earlier this week. He was the Trojans’ leading tackler (75), finally completing a season after a season-ending injury in Week 2 of last year and one about halfway through the 2021 campaign.

Troy has a few other players in the transfer portal but none who logged a heavy workload this season.

(Of note for Troy and Duke purposes: Entering the transfer portal doesn’t necessarily mean a player can’t play in the bowl game.)