Troy University Athletics
Troy Falls Short Against ULM
11/1/2008 5:00:00 AM | Football
MONROE, La. ? Leading by nine at halftime, the Troy Trojans fell behind in the second half and missed a potential game-winning field goal as time expired to drop their first Sun Belt conference road game in three seasons 31-30 to ULM on Saturday night.
The loss was the first on the road in Sun Belt play since Troy dropped a 9-3 game at Arkansas State on November 12, 2005.
With starting quarterback Kinsmon Lancaster on the bench with a leg injury, back up quarterback Trey Revell drove the Warhawks down the field and into the end zone to cap a nine play, 72-yard drive to put ULM on top 31-30 after a failed two-point conversion.
After a squib kick was picked up by Jorrick Calvin and returned to midfield, Troy took over with 26 seconds remaining still trailing by one point.
Troy's Levi Brown was forced to throw away on both first and second down, then on third down completed a pass across the middle to Patrick Cherry. That play set up a fourth down and three with five seconds on the clock, and also set up a 56-yard attempt by Sam Glusman that hit off the cross bar and missed to end the game.
“I thought that putting Glusman in there gave us the best chance to win the game," head coach Larry Blakeney said. "When he first hit it, I thought it could make but it hit the crossbar and didn't go in. I thought it was going to be a dog fight. They are a good team and it's tough to play here."
The game featured seven lead changes along the way before the final field goal attempt.
“We gave up a lot of third downs tonight and against a good football team especially offensively, even their back-up was a good player," Blakeney said. "They did what they needed to do. We made some mistakes and didn't play perfectly but that's why you play the game.”
Glusman was one-for-four on the game with his lone make coming from 47-yards with 9:02 remaining in the first half to give Troy their first lead of the night at 10-8.
Wide receiver Darrell McNeal took a direct snap at quarterback and rushed around left end for a seven-yard touchdown, but Calvin broke through to block the point after attempt holding ULM to just a 6-0 lead early in the first quarter.
On the second play of Troy's ensuing drive center Steven Adams snapped the ball over Brown's head into the end zone resulting in the quarterback falling on the ball for a safety and increasing the Warhawk lead to 8-0. The safety was Troy's second given up in three games.
Troy rebounded quickly with a 10-play, 77-yard drive that lasted just two minutes and 35 seconds that concluded with Brown hitting Andrew Davis for an 11-yard scoring strike to cut the lead to 8-7.
The touchdown was Davis' first since October 6, 2007 against FIU and he became the eighth Trojan to catch a touchdown in 2008. He finished the game with five receptions for 45 yards and the touchdown.
Later in the second quarter, Justin Bray fumbled the ball after a catch to mark Troy's first turnover since Jamie Hampton threw an interception against Florida Atlantic on October 7, but Troy got the ball right back with Donnell Golden's second interception in two games.
Two plays later, Brown found Cornelius Williams on a slant from five yards out for a touchdown to give Troy a halftime lead of 17-8. In a span of eight plays both teams turned the ball over and Troy scored its second touchdown of the game.
ULM started the second half strong with a 63-yard kickoff return by Robert Williams. The offense followed suit as Lancaster directed a touchdown scoring drive culminating with a five-yard toss to Mitch Doyle to cut Troy's lead to 17-15 with 11:07 remaining in the third quarter.
The Warhawks regained the lead with 3:40 left in the third on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Lancaster to Frank Goodin. After the extra point, the ULM lead stood at 22-17.
Later in the third quarter, the Trojans faced a fourth-and-one from the ULM 45-yard line when DuJuan Harris took a handoff the distance to put the Trojans back on top 24-22 with under two minutes remaining in the third quarter. The carry put Harris over 100 yards for the second time this season and the first time since he rushed for 148 yards in the season opener against Middle Tennessee.
The Warhawks continued to battle with Radi Jabour connecting on a 48-yard field goal to push ULM back on top 25-24 with 12:47 remaining in the game.
The Trojans' next drive was halted by their second turnover of the game. It came on Brown's first career interception. It was his first interception in 104 attempts this season.
After Troy got the ball back, Harris again made his presence known as he scampered to the end zone for a touchdown on a 29-yard shovel pass from Brown. Troy attempted a two point conversion, but Brown was picked off in the end zone leaving the Troy lead at 30-25 with 4:58 remaining.
Harris finished the day with 173 total yards, including 143 yards rushing on 20 carries and two total touchdowns. Brown completed 23-of-36 passes for 221 yards and three touchdowns and one interception.
The Trojans are in action on next Saturday when they host Western Kentucky University at 2:30 pm at Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium. The game will serve as the Trojans homecoming game for 2008. For ticket information call 1-877-878-WINS.
Troy vs ULM Game Notes
- Today's game captains were Sherrod Martin, Chris Jamison, Dion Small and Steve McLendon.
- The Trojans committed their first turnover since the first half against FAU.
- Sam Glusman was named as a semifinalist for the Lou Groza Award. The award is given to the nation's top placekicker.
- Troy is 7-2-1 all-time against ULM. The tie was 15-15 in 1973.
- Jorrick Calvin (Baton Rouge), Rashad Roussell (Boutte), Dion Gales (New Orleans) are the Trojan players from Louisiana.
- ULM is one of three teams that Troy will face from the state of Louisiana.
- DuJuan Harris took his first snap as a quarterback in the first quarter on a direct snap.
- The ULM scoring drive on their first possession in the first quarter was the first time that Troy has trailed since the FAU game when the Owls led 3-0 back on October 7.
- Jorrick Calvin blocked ULM's PAT after the first touchdown.
- Steven Adams snapped a ball over the head of Levi Brown for Troy's second safety of the season.
- Danny Franks saw action for the first time since the FAU game.
- Andrew Davis caught his first touchdown pass since the FIU game back in 2007.
- Donnell Golden picked off his second pass in two games in the second quarter.
- Cornelius Williams caught his second touchdown pass of the seaosn in the second quarter.
- Rashad Roussell got his first career sack in the third quarter.
