Turnovers Bite Troy in Stillwater

Saturday, September 11

Stillwater, Ola.

6:05 p.m.

Troy University

Oklahoma State

Photo by: Kevin Glackmeyer

9/11/2010 8:05:52 PM | Football

Trojans and OSU Complete a Thriller

By: Taylor Bryan

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STILLWATER, Okla. - After battling back from behind and absorbing every body blow Oklahoma State could dish out, the Trojans saw their chance at a marquee road victory slip away by turning the ball over deep in Cowboys territory in the second half of a 41-38 loss at Boone Pickens Stadium.

The Trojans fall to 1-1 on the season with the loss while Oklahoma State improved to 2-0.

"We made enough mistakes tonight to lose about six or eight ballgames in one, and they did too," Troy head coach Larry Blakeney said. "And that's the only thing that made it 41-38 instead of one of us winning by a larger margin. We got a chance playing against a team like Oklahoma State. They're a young football team; we're a young football team.

"We battled hard against each other and we came out on the short end of the stick. It was kicking game woes, it was turnovers. We couldn't stop the deep ball. We've got so many things we've got to work on, but I think we have a chance to be a decent team."

Despite piling up more than 200 all-purpose yards in the game, senior Jerrel Jernigan turned the ball over near the OSU goal line late in the third quarter, thwarting one Troy scoring chance. Freshman quarterback Corey Robinson had the second costly miscue when he was unable to handle a high snap on a third and five play at the OSU 10, giving the ball back to the Cowboys again without putting points on the board.

After holding a 27-20 lead at halftime, the Trojans saw Oklahoma State score on a 10-play drive to start the second half and then return a Trojans punt 67 yards for another score just three minutes later.

"27-20, I knew it probably wasn't going to end that way; I had a pretty good idea it wasn't," Blakeney said. "We talked about trying to eliminate some mistakes and play 30 minutes and not beat ourselves. We could win if we played well. It didn't turn out that way, but this football team has a chance. We need to do what it takes to correct those errors and those flaws."

Michael Taylor connected on his third field goal of the game, which came from 27 yards out after an OSU turnover, that closed the gap to 34-30 with 4:31 left in the third quarter.

Despite the two turnovers in the Red Zone, the Trojans still trailed by just four mid-way through the final quarter, but turned the ball over again in Oklahoma State territory when Jernigan was stripped of the ball at the Cowboys' 37.

Following that turnover the Cowboys delivered a knockout punch when quarterback Brandon Weeden connected with Justin Blackmon on a 45-yard touchdown pass with 8:08 left in the game.

The Trojans made things interesting still with a late touchdown toss from Robinson to Brett Moncrief. The score was the first of Moncrief's Troy career and combined with a two-point conversion left the Trojans trailing by just three with more than four minutes to go.

OSU went back to Hunter though and the senior All-American churned out a pair of first downs, but Weeden fumbled and the Trojans had new life with 54 seconds remaining.

On the ensuing play, Robinson fumbled and the Cowboys recovered leaving nothing but a pair of kneel downs to expire the remaining seconds on the clock.

"I really wish I could get that last play back on offense," Robinson said. "I feel a little different about the call, but that's how it goes sometimes. They're a great team, Big 12 football, always tough out there, big, physical guys. We showed we've got potential. We're a rather young team in some areas, but I feel when you get close to beating a big school like that, (it) shows we've got potential to be good this year."

Hunter finished the day rushing for 157 yards on 28 carries with two touchdowns.

Weeden threw for 348 yards in the game, completing 29 of his 39 pass attempts for two scores, both to Blackmon, who had 10 receptions for 132 yards in the game.

Robinson played well despite his pair of turnovers and completed 28-of-38 passes for 272 yards and three touchdowns. Jernigan was Troy's main catalyst totaling 277 all-purpose yards with his pair of TD's.

Tebiarus Gill added four receptions for 44 yards and his score and Bruce totaled 82 yards on four catches and a touchdown.

The first quarter only provided a taste of the fireworks that were to come in the game. Both teams mounted drives that stalled deep in opposing territory, with both settling for field goals sending the game to the action-packed second quarter knotted at 3-3.

The second quarter opened with OSU driving deep into Troy territory again, but the Trojans held and forced a second OSU field goal.

After a third Troy punt, the Cowboys needed just four plays to cover 68 yards for the first touchdown of the game. Cowboys quarterback Brandon Weeden set the stage for the score with a 45-yard pass completion to a wide-open Colton Chief. Hunter pounded in from 10 yards away two plays later for a 13-3 OSU lead.

With the momentum firmly on the home sideline, the Trojans went to work. Jernigan returned the ensuing kickoff 53 yards into OSU territory and, after failing to gain an inch on the first two plays, Robinson hooked up with Jason Bruce for a 47-yard touchdown.

Hunter appeared to get those points right back, returning the kickoff all the way to the end zone, but a holding penalty on the return brought the ball back to the Cowboys' 10. On the second play, Weeden connected with Josh Cooper for a short gain, but Donnell Golden punched the ball loose and Jonathan Massaquoi recovered at the OSU 21.

The Trojans tried a trick play on a reverse pass that Bruce was supposed to throw back to Jamie Hampton, but the play was covered well by the Cowboys and Bruce ran for 10 yards to the OSU 12. Three plays later Robinson connected with Jernigan for a 10-yard touchdown, giving the Trojans their first lead, 17-13, with 6:56 left in the half.

The Cowboys turned the ball over for the second time on their next possession when Weeden was sacked by Mario Addison and Jimmie Anderson recovered at the OSU 41.

The Trojans gained just 18 yards on the possession, but pushed their lead to 20-13 on a 41-yard field goal from Taylor.

The fireworks in the quarter were far from over.

After Taylor's kickoff was returned to the 44, a holding penalty backed OSU up to the 36. Weeden answered by hitting Cooper for a 40 yard gain to the Troy 24. Hunter did the rest from there, pounding in for a touchdown with 2:26 left to knot the score at 20.

The Cowboys' lead was short-lived. Jernigan took the kickoff with a foot on the goal line and split the OSU coverage team, sprinting 100 yards for a touchdown, the first in his career on a kick return.

"He'd been kicking it deep all night and Coach (Shayne) Wadsden said he's going to mess around eventually and give me a chance," Jernigan said. "So when he kicked it I thought about keeping it in but I saw my men blocking their guys up front so I took it on out. The kickoff team did a great job blocking, it's all them, I just run on through so they did a great job blocking."

Both teams had one more possession before the half ended, but were too tired to mount another scoring threat. Troy took a 27-20 lead in at the intermission.

The Trojans are in action next on September 18 when they travel north up I-65 to face in-state rival UAB at Legion Field. Kick-off is set for 3 pm.