Troy Storms Back to Claim the “Battle for the Belt”; Trojans Bowl Eligible

Thursday, October 20

Mobile, Ala.

6:30 p.m.

Troy University

6-1 , 4-0

South Alabama

3-4 , 0-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Troy

South Alabama

Photo by: Joey Meredith

Troy Storms Back to Claim the “Battle for the Belt”; Trojans Bowl Eligible

10/21/2016 12:32:00 AM | Football

Box Score Final Stats Season Stats Troy Postgame Notes Postgame Quotes Photo Gallery Troy Players Postgame Press Conference Neal Brown Postgame Press Conference Game Highlights

By: Adam Prendergast

MOBILE, Alabama – Jordan Chunn scored a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns, including one with 80 seconds to play, and the Troy defense pitched a shutout in the second half as the Trojans knocked off in-state and Sun Belt rival South Alabama, 28-21, Thursday night in Ladd-Peebles Stadium to claim "The Battle for the Belt."

Troy moves to 6-1 on the season and 4-0 in Sun Belt Conference play. The Trojans become the first Sun Belt school to reach bowl eligibility this season and it's the first time Troy has reached six wins since finishing the 2013 season at 6-6 overall.

Chunn topped the 100-yard mark for the fourth time this season as he rushed for 143 yards on just 23 carries, but it was two of his shorter runs that proved to be the biggest of the game.

Troy entered the fourth quarter trailing 21-13, but there was no panic on the visiting sideline. Backed by a Trojan crowd that turned Ladd-Peebles Stadium into a Troy home game, the Trojans marched down the field on eight plays sparked by runs of 24 and 23 yards by Chunn. Nicknamed MegaChunn, Troy's junior running back capped the drive with a 2-yard touchdown run to pull Troy within two, 21-19.

For the second straight week, Troy head coach Neal Brown dialed up a two-point conversion. Quarterback Brandon Silvers handed the ball to John Johnson on a sweep who then threw back across the field to a wide open Silvers for the conversion and the tie game.

Troy's defense held South Alabama (3-4, 0-4) on the ensuing possession and the Trojans drove to the Jag 40-yard line, but a fumble turned the ball back over to South Alabama.

The Trojan defense answered with their fifth three-and-out of the game to give the ball back to their offense with 2:13 to play and 80 yards to the end zone.

Tevaris McCormick pushed the ball across midfield with a 24-yard reception and two plays later Silvers found Sidney Davis streaking down the sideline for a 42-yard gain to the South Alabama 1-yard line. Chunn found paydirt on the next play to give the Trojans a 28-21 lead – their first of the game – with 1:20 to play.

Troy sacked Dallas Davis twice on the Jags' final drive and the game ended when Blace Brown stripped South Alabama's Kevin Kutchera and Kamryn Melton fell on the loose ball.

Silvers finished with a career-high 395 yards through the air as he completed 28-of-42 passes. McCormick caught four of those passes for a career-best 127 yards, while Emanuel Thompson had seven catches for 74 yards and Johnson had six grabs for 72 yards.

Troy's defense was disruptive all night as the Trojans finished with six sacks and eight tackles for loss. Troy outgained South Alabama 585-340 as the Trojans held the Jags to just 146 yards in the second half.

Rashad Dillard had a pair of sacks and four tackles to lead the Trojans, while Demetrius Cain finished with 1.5 sacks and five tackles.

South Alabama jumped out to a 14-0 lead on a pair of Xavier Johnson touchdown runs after short fields courtesy of Troy miscues. A fumble on Troy's opening possession gave the Jags a 39-yard field on their first scoring drive and a bad snap on a punt led to a 9-yard field for their second score.

McCormick electrified the strong Troy contingent with an 80-yard touchdown reception as time expired in the first quarter. It was the longest pass of Silvers' career and the longest play by the Trojans this season.

Ryan Kay booted a pair of field goals in the second quarter around a Gerald Everett touchdown reception for the Jags to set the 21-13 score at the break.

Davis completed just 11-of-20 passes for 195 yards and a touchdown, while Johnson finished with 58 yards on six carries.

Quotable
"That was a big win," Troy head coach Neal Brown said. "I thought this was a great college football game, great atmosphere. I thought South played well, we did well. I thought there was a different flow at different times in the game. Our students and band did a tremendous job. The fan base really turned out in big numbers. This game meant something, it's a rivalry game. It meant something for us to get to six wins. We haven't been bowl eligible in a while, that was important to our fans as well. Everything we worked on in the offseason was overcoming adversity, and I really think that paid off."

Turning Point
Troy's defense had six sacks on the night and the one that swung the momentum came with South Alabama near midfield facing a third-and-six on the second play of the fourth quarter. Baron Poole dropped Dallas Davis for a 9-yard loss to force a South Alabama punt; Troy went eight plays on the ensuing drive to tie the game.

Stat(s) of the Game
• Troy's defense picked up six sacks in the game with 4.5 coming from the defense line; the Trojans now have 16 sacks in their four Sun Belt Conference games.

• Facing a defense that had 12 sacks on the season, Troy did not allow a sack on its 42 pass attempts. The Trojans entered the game leading the country with just one sack allowed on the year; Troy has allowed just four sacks over the last 13 games (455 pass attempts).

Bowl Eligible
• The Trojans become the first Sun Belt school to reach bowl eligibility this season. October 20 marks the earliest that Troy has been bowl eligible in school history; the previous best was October 27 in 2007.

Up Next
• Troy will enjoy a pair of weekends off as the Trojans will have their second bye week of the month next week. The Trojans open a stretch of three-straight home games on Nov. 5 when they play host to UMass.