Troy University Athletics
Saturday, November 7
Troy, Ala.
2:30 p.m.
Troy University
3-6 , 2-3
51
vs
14
ULM
1-8 , 0-5
1st
2nd
3rd
4th
F
ULM
14
0
0
0
14
Troy
27
21
3
0
51
Team Stats
ULM
TROY
Total Yards
376
493
Pass Yards
262
345
Rushing Yards
114
148
Penalty Yards
84
30
1st Downs
20
20
3rd Downs
5
9
4th Downs
2
0
TOP
31:28
28:32
1st Quarter
ULM 0, TROY 3
TROY - Solomon, Jed 20 yd field goal 6 plays, 47 yards, TOP 2:02
ULM 0, TROY 10
TROY - Reddick, Darrin 27 yd fumble recovery (Solomon, Jed kick)
ULM 0, TROY 13
TROY - Solomon, Jed 28 yd field goal 6 plays, 18 yards, TOP 2:42
ULM 7, TROY 13
ULM - Green, Marcus 47 yd pass from Smith, Garrett (Ford, Craig kick) 6 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:27
ULM 7, TROY 20
TROY - Holmes, Bryan 43 yd pass from Silvers, B. (Solomon, Jed kick) 3 plays, 55 yards, TOP 0:52
ULM 14, TROY 20
ULM - Holley, Ajalen 30 yd pass from Smith, Garrett (Ford, Craig kick) 10 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:53
ULM 14, TROY 27
TROY - Burks, Brandon 75 yd pass from Silvers, B. (Solomon, Jed kick) 1 plays, 75 yards, TOP 0:20
2nd Quarter
ULM 14, TROY 34
TROY - Thompson, E. 9 yd pass from Silvers, B. (Solomon, Jed kick) 11 plays, 55 yards, TOP 4:07
ULM 14, TROY 41
TROY - Farmer, L. 55 yd interception (Solomon, Jed kick)
ULM 14, TROY 48
TROY - Thompson, E. 3 yd pass from Silvers, B. (Solomon, Jed kick) 9 plays, 73 yards, TOP 2:31
3rd Quarter
ULM 14, TROY 51
TROY - Solomon, Jed 33 yd field goal 4 plays, 5 yards, TOP 1:49
Game Leaders
Passing Leaders
CMP
22
TD
4
YDS
326
INT
0
CMP
2
TD
0
YDS
19
INT
0
Players Mentioned
RB
/ Football
CB
/ Football
WR
/ Football
S
/ Football
WR
/ FootballQB
/ Football
WR
/ FootballPhoto by: Joey Meredith
Troy Dismantles ULM 51-14
11/7/2015 7:48:00 PM | Football
TROY, Alabama – The Troy defense forced six turnovers, and quarterback Brandon Silvers threw four first half touchdowns as the Trojans scored 48 first-half points en route to 51-14 rout of ULM in Sun Belt Conference action Saturday in Veterans Memorial Stadium.
"The things we talk about within our program is number one, playing great defense," Troy head coach Neal Brown said. "We want to score touchdowns in the red zone, we want to win the special teams battle and we have to win the turnover margin.
"If we win the turnover margin and we have explosive plays, it's going to be hard to beat us," Brown added.
ULM quarterback Garrett Smith committed three first half turnovers, which turned into 17 points for Troy. On back-to-back possessions he was stripped of the football while attempting to throw. Safety Darrin Reddick scooped up the first of Smith's two fumbles and took it 27 yards for a touchdown. Reddick recovered another fumble on the next series, which set up a Troy field goal as the Trojans led 13-0 midway through the first quarter. The play was initially ruled an incomplete pass and was overturned by replay, had the play been allowed to continue, Reddick had a clear path to the end zone for his second touchdown of the game.
"That was about as bad as I've ever seen us play," ULM head coach Todd Berry said. "It may be as bad as I've ever seen one of the teams that I've been a part of play. There was very, very poor execution on both sides of the ball. Kicking game, penalties and turnovers are all the things that get you beat."
Smith recovered to throw touchdowns to Marcus Green and Ajalen Holley as the Warhawks narrowed the deficit to 20-14 late in the first quarter. However, Silvers and the Troy passing game were hitting on all cylinders. The sophomore quarterback was 18-of-22 passing for 285 yards and four touchdown tosses in the first half. Three of the touchdowns came in a nine-minute span.
Bryan Holmes caught a slant route and sprinted 43 yards for a score, and Brandon Burks caught a wheel route and raced 75 yards down the sideline for a touchdown. Emanuel Thompson was left wide open in the end zone for another touchdown as Troy (3-6, 2-3 Sun Belt) quickly claimed a 34-14 advantage when the defense came up with another big play.
"I was happy for Bryan Holmes," Brown said. "He had a big drop early in the game, then he came back and hit the big play. Emanuel Thompson is a guy that's getting better, and he's making a lot of improvement."
Cornerback LaMarcus Farmer jumped on a receiver screen pass and took the interception 55 yards for a touchdown. To close the first half Silvers found Thompson for a 3-yard score in the corner of the end zone as the Trojans took a 48-14 lead to the locker room.
"I was happy for LaMarcus," Brown said. "He had a big game and he's played well three weeks in a row."
Troy averaged 9.8 yards per play in the first half as it racked up 334 yards offense.
Silvers finished the game with a career-high 326 yards passing on 22-of-33 passing. Teddy Ruben caught five passes for 55 yards, while Thompson finished with six catches for 44 yards and Holmes had three catches for 62 yards.
"He's been healthy and he's playing with some confidence," Brown said of Silvers. "He made some not so good decisions in the third quarter, but he'll bounce back."
Burks topped the 100-yard mark for the third time this year and the eighth time in his career as he finished with 107 yards on 19 carries; he added 89 yards on three catches. Had Burks reached the 100-yard receiving mark, he would have become just the second player in school history to top the century mark in rushing and receiving in the same game (Demontray Carter, 2000).
Green caught 12 passes for 149 yards for the Warhawks (1-8, 0-5). Smith passed for 257 yards, but was sacked four times, lost two fumbles, was intercepted twice and suffered an injury in the third quarter.
The Trojans tallied 493 yards offense for the game compared to 376 yards for the Warhawks. The big difference in the outcome was turnovers, a 6-0 advantage for Troy.
"We finally got turnovers defensively," Brown said. "That's something we stress on an everyday basis, and they usually come in bunches."
The Trojans will have their final home game of the season next Saturday at 2:30 p.m. CDT versus Georgia Southern.
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