Troy University Athletics
Trojans Ground Owls For 24-6 Victory
11/6/2004 12:00:00 AM | Football
TROY, Ala. - Troy freshman quarterback D.T. McDowell turned in the best overall performance of his young career to lead the Trojans to a 24-6 victory over Florida Atlantic Saturday afternoon at Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium.
Troy improved to 5-4 overall and 3-2 in Sun Belt Conference play with its 25th win in 26 regular season home games. Florida Atlantic (6-2) lost on the road for the first time in 12 games.
McDowell, who was making just his third start, suffered through a disastrous first half right up until the final drive. After completing just one of his first seven passes, and getting sacked three times for 27 yards in losses, the Tucker, Ga., native hit senior Jason Samples for gains of 19 and 42 yards, the second for a touchdown to give Troy a 7-3 lead late in the first half.
"We were able to do enough to get a little momentum right before the half," Troy coach Larry Blakeney said. "We decided to put all of our receivers on one side and just put it up there. Samples ended up getting double covered, but the safety didn't make it over there and I will take Samples in that situation every time."
After getting the lead at halftime, the Troy defense took control of the game. The Trojans shut down the FAU ground attack, holding the Owls to minus 12 yards rushing on 33 attempts. Troy recorded six sacks of the FAU quarterbacking duo of Jared Allen and Danny Embick.
With the running game effectively stifled, the Owls had to air it out to try to move the ball. Allen, the starter, completed eight of 12 passes for 122 yards while Embick, the understudy, completed seven of 16 for 138 yards, but was intercepted twice.
"They outplayed us on both sides of the ball," FAU coach Howard Schnellenberger said. "This is a bitter defeat for us. We haven't seen one like this in a long time."
The confidence the Troy offense gained late in the first half carried over to the second half. The Trojans put points on the board on two of their first three possessions of the second half. Greg Whibbs capped a 10-play drive with a 22-yard field goal for a 10-3 Troy lead. Then, after a second FAU field goal cut the lead to 10-6, McDowell led a five play drive than ended on a 2-yard DeWhitt Betterson scoring run.
McDowell finished the night with 62 net yards rushing on 17 carries to go with his 7-for-16 passing performance for 101 yards and a score. McDowell was also on the receiving end of a Samples throwback pass that gained 27 yards for the Trojans. McDowell's rushing total would have been much better if it were not for the 45 yards in losses he sustained.
"He has confidence to throw the ball," Trojans offensive coordinator Mark Fleetwood said. "He gets better as he goes and if he'll just keep going, I think he is going to break out. FAU threw a bunch at him tonight, but he kept his cool."
Florida Atlantic took the lead in the game after a relatively quiet first quarter. The Owls moved 59 yards in eight plays near the end of the period, and took a 3-0 lead on a 44-yard Mark Myers field goal with eight seconds left in the quarter.
FAU missed an opportunity to extend it's lead in the second quarter when Myers missed his first field goal of the season, from 41 yards. The Trojans then appeared to have their best scoring chance of the half nullified by a penalty.
The Owls' Mike Brown punted to Troy's Leodis McKelvin, who split the FAU coverage team and returned the punt 56 yards for an apparent touchdown. The play, however, was called back when Troy's James Earl Cray and FAU's Casey McGahee were flagged for off-setting personal fouls.
The Trojans did not, however, let the penalty affect them. McDowell put Troy in its' two-minute offense and quickly led the team to the end zone. The Trojans covered the 61 yards to the end zone in just five plays, with McDowell hitting Samples for a 42-yard touchdown with just 38 seconds left in the half.
"I just kept telling myself to calm down out there," McDowell said. "I saw the safety and tried to look him off. He shuffled a little bit and then I saw Samples outrun his guy, so I just threw it up. I knew he was going to come down with it."
Troy carried a 17-6 lead into the fourth quarter and then put the game away when McKelvin got a second chance to make a big play in the kicking game. The freshman recorded his third touchdown of the season on a 64-yard punt return. He is now averaging more than 14 yards on 15 returns this year.
"The guys told me they were going to have a wedge for me, and when I got the ball it was there," McKelvin said. "They did a great job of opening it up for me."
Defensively, in addition to shutting down the Owls' ground game, the Trojans added two more interceptions to their national best total. Senior Derrick Ansley recorded his third pick of the season, and 17th of his career, while Sherrod Martin got his third pick in the last two games. Troy now has 19 interceptions on the season.
The Trojans will try to run their win streak to three games next Saturday when they hit the road to play Louisiana-Lafayette. That game is scheduled for a 2:30 p.m. kickoff and will be televised by ESPN Regional Television.
