Trojans Battle Through Mistakes To Down Cajuns

Saturday, October 16

Troy, Ala.

6:00 p.m.

Troy University

Louisiana

Jerrel Jernigan returns a punt for a TD against ULL

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

Trojans Battle Through Mistakes To Down Cajuns

10/16/2010 11:31:17 PM | Football

By: Ricky Hazel

BOX SCORE :: NOTES :: FEATURE :: QUOTES :: PHOTO GALLERY

Twice in the fourth quarter Saturday night it looked as if the Troy Trojans were going to see their 12-game Sun Belt Conference win streak slip away.

But twice the Trojans responded against the visiting Ragin' Cajuns of Louisiana-Lafayette to take a 31-24 victory to stay unbeaten in conference play and take another step toward a fifth consecutive league title.

The Trojans improved to 4-2 on the year overall and 3-0 in Sun Belt play with the victory while dropping ULL to 2-4 overall and 2-2 in the conference.

In a game of big plays and momentum swings, turnovers and official reviews, it was the Trojans who seemed to get the breaks, especially with the game in the balance in the second half. Perhaps the biggest play of all game early in the fourth quarter with ULL holding a 21-17 lead and threatening to add more.

Troy freshman quarterback Corey Robinson was intercepted on the second play after ULL took the lead, and the Cajuns were poised to push their advantage to two scores. ULL decided to take points off the board when Troy was called for a personal foul penalty, giving the Cajuns a first and goal at the five.

ULL quarterback Chris Masson tried to get into the end zone on a sneak, but was stacked up by the heart of the defense and stripped of the ball. Trojans sophomore Bryan Willis bounced on the loose ball and rambled 62 yards, turning the field and the game.

“The only think that was going through my mind was that we had to get back out there and make a stop,” sophomore defensive end Jonathan Massaquoi said of the series. “This game is about making stops and making plays. We were called up to the plate and it was a great time for us to make a big play.”

Willis said he and Mario Addison saw the loose ball in the backfield at the same time.

“I think that Mario saw the ball come out first, but I saw it and reacted on it,” Willis said. “I tried to take it back, but I have been bothered by a hamstring injury and wasn't able to run as fast as I normally would. My eyes got big because we work on ball drills every Sunday where you scoop and score. I saw it, scooped it and tried to score.”

After the turnover and return, the Trojans needed just three plays to score, but all of the yards came on the third snap. Senior Jonathan Chandler, who was forced back into duty as a full-time quarterback after the season-ending injury suffered by Jamie Hampton and the defection of junior college transfer Greg Jenkins, made the play of the game.

“We practice that about five or six times a week,” Chandler said. “It is a trick play that has been in our bag ever since I have been here. We ran it last year against Arkansas and we scored on it. It seems as if every time we run the play it doesn't work, but it always does seem to work.”

Chandler said the play, which resulted in a 34-yard touchdown pass to Jason Bruce, got off to a bad start at the snap.

“Originally, Jerrel Jernigan is supposed to hand it off to the running back in motion, but I think it was a bad snap,” Chandler said. “He made a good play to get it to me. I was able to avoid one guy and then just threw it up to Bruce, who made a great play.”

With the Trojans back on top 24-21, the Cajuns refused to go away quietly. After an unsportsmanlike conduct call was tagged on Jernigan, even though it should have gone to Bruce, moved the ball back to the 15 for the kickoff, ULL used seven plays to move into position for a game-tying field goal.

Sophomore Brett Baer connected from 42 yards out on his first collegiate attempt to tie the game at 24-24 with 7:11 left to play.

The Trojans responded again by going right back to work.

Robinson, who had his worst outing of the season with three interceptions as well as a long fumble, needed just seven plays to take the Trojans 53 yards for the winning score after Jernigan put the team in good field position with return to near midfield of the kickoff.

“I got so tired of watching that pooch stuff that I got with Shayne (Wasden) and rotated Jerrel late to the pooch, which is what we did on the last kickoff to get us some pretty good field position,” Trojans coach Larry Blakeney said. “It was a weird game, it really was, and we knew it was going to be a tough game.”

With a short field to work with, the Trojans turned to the ground game. Sophomore Chris Anderson ripped off runs of 28 and 11 yards to the ULL 14. Another five yard run was followed by a two-yard gain by Chandler and an incomplete pass, setting up a fourth down.

Troy lined up for a go-ahead field goal but, before the snap, ULL was flagged for trying to call out offensive signals in an effort to get the Trojans to jump. The ensuing mark-off gave Troy a first down at the ULL four.

A procedure penalty against Troy was followed by a three-yard loss by Anderson before Robinson connected with Jernigan on a 12-yard touchdown pass for the winning points.

“It was a stick left, I spot, and I was surprised to be that wide open when I got out into the flat,” Jernigan said. “Corey made a great read and threw me the ball. I turned around and expected someone to be there, but I had some room to work. The corner came up and I just had to make him miss to get into the end zone.”

The Troy defense took care of the rest, forcing a punt on the next ULL possession and three incomplete passes when the Cajuns got the ball back with 18 seconds left.

The two teams battled back and fourth during an ugly first half that saw ULL holding to a 14-10 lead, thanks to a pair of one-yard scoring runs from backup quarterback Brad McGuire. That all changed in the blink on an eye when ULL punted the ball to Jernigan with less than three minutes to play in the half.

The senior dodged one defender and then split the rest, going 75-yards for the first punt return score of his career. The play was all the more special for Jernigan because former Trojan Leodis McKelvin, who had seven punt returns for touchdowns in his career, was on the Troy sideline.

“I think the first guy that got down there thought I was going to fair-catch it,” Jernigan said. Then, when I caught the ball, my first instinct was the slide to the right to make him miss. Once I did that I saw that the punt return team and sealed off everything and I just hit the gap.

“It gave us the momentum going into halftime. It was also big that I was able to return one because Leodis was here tonight.”

Troy's 17-14 lead stood up until the fourth quarter when ULL quarterback Chris Masson capped a nine-play drive with a five-yard scoring pass to Marlin Miller. That set the stage for the game's final dramatic moments.

“I knew they would be well-prepared,” Blakeney said. “(Rickey) Bustle is one of the best in the business and I knew they would be prepared well. His team got after us. We certainly helped them a lot, but you have to give them credit for their efforts defensively. They gave us a lot of looks and coverages.”

Bustle said his team came in prepared to throw the kitchen sink at the Trojans.

“We tried everything,” Bustle said. We ran the fake punt, we went for it on fourth down, we tried to win the game. I thought our kids responded, but it came down to just a play or two.”

Robinson continued to pile up the yardage, completing 23 of his 33 pass attempts for 237 yards and one touchdown, but the three interceptions and lost fumble haunted him.

“I was off tonight, obviously,” Robinson said. “I wasn't making the right reads and wasn't seeing the right stuff. I have two weeks to get better. Hopefully, I won't have another game like that ever again. The offensive line, the running game and all of the receivers played very well tonight. I just stunk it up.”

Jernigan had six receptions for 77 yards to go with 104 yards in kick returns. He became Troy's all-time leader in career receptions, surpassing the mark of 215 that was set by Danny Grant in the late 1960s. Jernigan now has 220 receptions in his career and is just nine away from tying the league record. He is also now just 100 yards behind Grant for the school record in receiving yards.

The Trojans now have two weeks to prepare for their next game, a road tilt at Louisiana-Monroe on October 30.

“I have said all along that if we can get through October with wins and get a chance to get healed up a little bit, then we will have a chance to be a pretty good football team,” Blakeney said. “That is where we are headed, I hope.”