Troy University Athletics
Saturday, October 3
Troy, Ala.
6 p.m.
Troy University
1-3 , 0-1
18
vs
24
South Alabama
3-2 , 1-0
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
South Alabama
14
7
3
0
24
Troy
8
7
0
3
18
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Team Stats
USA
TROY
Total Yards
365
265
Pass Yards
205
146
Rushing Yards
160
119
Penalty Yards
55
66
1st Downs
21
18
3rd Downs
4
6
4th Downs
1
0
TOP
34:39
25:21
1st Quarter
USA 7, TROY 0
USA - Xavier Johnson 1 yd run (Aleem Sunanon kick), 9 plays, 80 yards, TOP 3:27
USA 7, TROY 8
TROY - Thompson, E. 6 yd pass from Silvers, B. (Burks, Brandon rush) 3 plays, 11 yards, TOP 1:21
USA 14, TROY 8
USA - Gerald Everett 17 yd pass from Cody Clements (Aleem Sunanon kick) 6 plays, 66 yards, TOP 2:44
2nd Quarter
USA 21, TROY 8
USA - Gerald Everett 6 yd pass from Cody Clements (Aleem Sunanon kick) 3 plays, 9 yards, TOP 1:10
USA 21, TROY 15
TROY - Flakes, Andre 20 yd run (Solomon, Jed kick), 8 plays, 58 yards, TOP 3:23
3rd Quarter
USA 24, TROY 15
USA - Aleem Sunanon 35 yd field goal 5 plays, 53 yards, TOP 2:25
4th Quarter
USA 24, TROY 18
TROY - Solomon, Jed 33 yd field goal 13 plays, 43 yards, TOP 5:12
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
16
TD
1
YDS
146
INT
3
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
RB
/ Football
WR
/ FootballQB
/ Football
WR
/ FootballPhoto by: Kevin Glackmeyer
Troy Drops Sun Belt Opener to South Alabama
10/3/2015 11:16:00 PM | Football
TROY, Alabama – South Alabama's defense held Troy to three points in the second half to win "The Battle of the Belt," 24-18, Saturday night in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both schools at Veterans Memorial Stadium.
Trailing by six points late in the game, Troy was faced with a fourth-and-one from its own 43-yard line. South Alabama linebacker Akeem Lewis shot through the line and stopped running back Brandon Burks for no gain with 1:44 remaining.
South Alabama, on a fourth down from Troy's 35-yard line on the next series, picked up a first down on a run up the middle from Tyreis Thomas, which allowed the clock to expire.
Troy scored on a 33-yard field goal with 10:34 left in the fourth quarter and had two more offensive possessions to drive and score a potential game-winning touchdown. However, the Jaguars defense stood firm and was the winning difference.
The South Alabama defense held Troy to 265 yards offense and intercepted Brandon Silvers three times. Burks was held to 83 yards rushing on 26 carries.
"I know we had at least three turnovers," Troy head coach Neal Brown said. "We lost the turnover margin, and then penalties. We had too many penalties, and they were crucial penalties. One took points off the board."?
South Alabama led a high-scoring first half 21-15, but both teams had difficulty amounting substantial drives in the second 30 minutes. The Jaguars had a pair of threatening drives in the third quarter, but came away with just three points converting on one of two field goal tries.
Troy had its opportunities in the second half offensively. The Trojans dropped a pass down the middle on a post route that could have resulted in a touchdown early in the third quarter. The Trojans also had a touchdown called back on their field-goal drive in the third quarter because of an illegal receiver down field.
Late in the third quarter, a 15-yard penalty against South Alabama and a 26-yard catch down the sideline by Bryan Holmes positioned Troy at the Jaguars 34-yard line. However, linebacker Kalen Jackson picked off Silvers over the middle for his second interception of the game. Jackson had six tackles in addition to his two interceptions. Linebacker Blake Dees led the Jaguars defense with nine tackles.
South Alabama ran the ball 52 times for 163 yards. Xavier Johnson had 94 yards and a first-quarter touchdown on 21 carries. Thomas ran the ball 15 times for 69 yards.
Quarterback Cody Clements had 205 yards on 11-of-21 passing. He connected with Josh Magee for two big plays down field in the third quarter, for 44 and 48 yards, which set up the Jaguars' field goal tries. Silvers was 16-of-35 for 146 yards for Troy.
The Jaguars opened scoring midway through first quarter on a 1-yard run by Johnson on a drive that he and Thomas carried the ball eight times in nine plays.
The The Jaguars next possession ended on a botched punt attempt that hit an upback, giving Troy the ball 11 yards from the end zone. On the ensuing third down play, Silvers threw to Emanuel Thompson in the corner of the end zone. Thompson snagged it over the defender for the score, which was his first career touchdown. Troy lined up for the extra point with its linemen split to the left, and Burks took an option pitch from Silvers and raced right into the end zone to give Troy an 8-7 advantage.
Troy's lone lead was short lived. South Alabama took its next possession in for a score as Clements escaped the pocket and found tight end Gerald Everett in the end zone to make the score 14-8 Jaguars.
Silvers made a costly mistake two series later for Troy. Throwing under pressure his pass attempt fell into the arms of Jackson. A short field yielded a three-play, nine-yard drive capped by another Everett score, this time on a six-yard reception. South Alabama led 21-8 at that point.
"(Silvers) struggled without question," Brown said. "I give them a lot of credit. They had a bad loss last week (to North Carolina State), and they came in here and played hungry."
Silvers responded after his interception leading the Trojans down the field for a score. Andre Flakes finished the 58-yard drive with a 20-yard dash on his only carry of the game to cut the deficit to six points at 21-15.
The fourth down stop to save the game for the Jaguars in the fourth quarter was the second time in the game they stopped Burks on fourth down. They did so late in the second quarter as Troy had just crossed midfield with the score 21-15.
"We had opportunities to win the game," Brown said. "They took advantage of their opportunities. We didn't."
Troy travels to Mississippi State next Saturday, while South Alabama stays in the Sun Belt Conference with a home game versus Arkansas State.
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