Troy Holds On at North Texas

Saturday, November 6

Denton, Texas

6:00 p.m.

Troy University

North Texas

Jerrel Jernigan sprints down the sideline at UNT

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

11/6/2010 9:21:01 PM | Football

Trojans Improve to 4-1 in Sun Belt play.

By: Troy Media Relations

BOX SCORE :: PHOTO GALLERY :: NOTES

DENTON, Texas - On a night when Troy senior Jerrel Jernigan became the all-time leader in all-purpose yardage in Sun Belt Conference history, the Troy Trojans had to hold on for dear life in the closing minutes to take a 41-35 victory over North Texas.

The victory keeps the Trojans' “Drive for Five” alive in the chase for the Sun Belt title as Troy improves to 5-3 overall and 4-1 in league play. North Texas falls to 2-7 overall and 2-4 in the conference with the loss.

Jernigan finished his evening with 240 all-purpose yards, giving him 5,293 yards in his career. He finished as the Trojans leading rusher with a career-high 89 yards on six carries, 57 yards on four receptions, 28yards on three punt returns and 66 yards on two kickoff returns. To cap it all off, he had a 19-yard TD pass in the fourth quarter for what turned out to be the winning points in the game.

“Before the week even started coach told us it was going to be a battle,” Jernigan said. “They just came off of a win over Western Kentucky. We had to come in and continue to make plays. The defensive had to come up with a big stop.”

Troy freshman Corey Robinson shook off the memory of the loss at ULM by connecting with Chip Reeves for a 69-yard TD pass on the first play of the game. The strike came on a flea-flicker, with Chris Anderson tossing the ball back to Robinson.

“We know the night before the game what the first play is,” Robinson said. “Chip has some speed too. Their safeties like to come down and help against the run. We figured we could hit them with the first play and we did.”

The Mean Green used a more traditional method to answer Troy's early score. UNT just put the ball into the hands of junior running back Lance Dunbar, who carried the ball four times on a five play drive. A 25-yard run to the Troy six set up the tying score on the next carry.

After the teams traded punts, Troy struck again through the air. Robinson hit Tebiarus Gill for 27 yards and then, after a penalty against the Trojans, found Jason Bruce from 39 yards out for a touchdown.

Robinson, who threw for just 167 yards against ULM last week, passed for 186 in the first quarter against the Mean Green.

“I'm happy,” Robinson said. “I'm happy with the way we played on offense as a whole. I feel good about that. I've still got a few little tweaks that I need to worry about. Mostly, it's just making better decisions to help our team win. If we keep playing like this, we will be hard to beat.”

Troy added a field goal on the second play of the second quarter, with Michael Taylor connecting from 24 yards, to cap a nine play drive after UNT turned the ball over on downs.

Things did not go as well for Robinson or the Trojans on the next series of possessions. After a UNT punt and an illegal block penalty backed the Trojans up to their own nine, Robinson was intercepted by A.J. Pearson on the first play, setting the Mean Green up at the Troy 24.

UNT needed just two plays, thanks to a roughing the passer call against Troy, to get into the end zone again. Darius Carey did the honors from 12 yards out on a receiver end around, cutting Troy's lead to 17-14.

The Trojans answered with an 11-play drive that Robinson capped with a 19-yard touchdown pass to freshman Eric Thomas in traffic. It was the first TD reception of the year for the Shreveport, La., native.

The teams traded punts for the rest of the half, leaving Troy with a 24-14 lead at intermission.

The Trojans capped an 11-play drive early in the third quarter with a 38-yard field goal from Taylor to push their lead to 27-14, but the Mean Green came right back with a five play scoring drive of their own. Riley Dodge used a perfect play fake on fourth down from the Troy 31 and connected with a wide open Drew Miller for a touchdown.

“They creased us a couple of times,” Blakeney said. “The one that five (Dunbar) caught was some kind of delay. We were lined up dead in front of a wing set and I'm hollering 'deep ball, deep ball' and they both released.”

Troy needed just four plays to get those points back. Jernigan had the big play of the drive, keeping on a third and one for 55 yards to the UNT two. The run moved Jernigan past form ULL star Tyrell Fenroy into first place on the all-time Sun Belt list for all-purpose yards. D.J. Taylor finished off the drive with a two-yard TD run, pushing the Troy lead to 34-21 with 6:46 left in the third.

“Every week he is always there,” Robinson said. “He's a big threat. Even though they scheme for him, they still can't handle him. He's obviously a very good football player and he's very fast. He makes plays for us when we need him. That's what a team leader does.”

North Texas refused to go away, and hit another big play against the Troy defense to get within six points. Dodge hooked up with Dunbar on a 66-yard scoring pass with 1:52 left in the third, cutting the Troy lead to 34-28.

Troy found the end zone once more as the Trojans pulled a play out of their bag of tricks. Jernigan came in for what the Mean Green assumed would be a “Wildcat” run, but the senior from Eufaula instead completed a 19-yard scoring strike to Donnie Crosby for the touchdown.
The touchdown pass was the second of Jernigan's career and first since his sophomore season. It was the first touchdown of Crosby's career.

That would not be the end though, as the Mean Green again drove the field and made Troy fans nervous. Dodge moved UNT into scoring position, thanks to a 25-yard run by Dunbar, and then hit Tyler Stadford with a 24-yard scoring strike with 5:29 left to play.

Troy had hopes of running out the clock from there, but Robinson was intercepted on a third down pass with three minutes to play, but the Trojans defense held their ground and forced a turnover on downs with 91 seconds left to seal the victory.

“I thought our guys played well and Jerrel played great,” Blakeney said. “Those running backs of ours, including DuJuan (Harris), who has been hurt pretty bad, ran the ball awfully hard. I was proud of them. The offensive line protected well. We made enough plays to win the game.”

The Trojans will return home to Veterans Memorial Stadium next Saturday for a showdown against Florida International.