Troy Stuns Southern Miss at The Rock

Saturday, September 17

Hattiesburg, Miss.

6 p.m.

Troy University

2-1

Southern Miss

2-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Troy

Southern Miss

Photo by: Colin Edwards

9/18/2016 12:41:00 AM | Football

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

By: Adam Prendergast

HATTIESBURG, Mississippi – Needing one more stop, the Troy defense held Southern Miss with three seconds to play in the game and the Golden Eagles nine yards away from the end zone. The Trojans defeated the Golden Eagles 37-31 on Saturday night in Roberts Stadium in the first regular season meeting between the two schools since 1977.

Troy did not trail for the final 53 minutes of the game – the game was tied for 4:32 early in the third quarter – after scoring two touchdowns over a 23-second period in the first quarter; it was the quickest Troy has scored back-to-back touchdowns in it's Division I history.

Brandon Silvers threw a 34-yard touchdown pass to put the Trojans (2-1) on the board, and after the Golden Eagles (2-1) fumbled away the kickoff, he found Emanuel Thompson from 29 yards out to put Troy in front 14-7.

Silvers completed just 10-of-27 passes for 123 yards on a rainy night in Hattiesburg, but the junior signal caller threw three touchdown passes to move into a tie with Levi Brown for sixth all-time in Troy history with 38 in his career.

The workhorse for the Troy offense was junior running back Jordan Chunn who rushed for a season-high 176 yards on 36 carries with a huge momentum changing touchdown. Leading by three, Troy stopped Southern Miss short on a fake punt attempt near midfield. Chunn took the first carry of the ensuing drive for 10 yards and then turned in a SportsCenter Top 10 run from 39 yards out to put Troy up 34-24.

Ryan Kay made sure that Southern Miss would need a touchdown and not a field goal in the final seconds after booting a 43-yard field goal with 10:21 to play in the game to put Troy up 37-31. Kay made a career-high three field goals in the game.

Troy's defense once again was active as the Trojans forced three Golden Eagle turnovers, including intercepting Conference USA Player of the Year Nick Mullens twice, while holding the Southern Miss quarterback to just 24-of-52 passing. Ito Smith rushed 20 times for 131 yards – 70 on one carry – with two touchdowns to lead the Southern Miss rushing attack.

The Trojans forced the Golden Eagles into nine three-and-outs in the game. Josh Marshall led the way with seven tackles – six solo – plus an interception and a pass break up. Rashad Dillard became the first Troy defensive lineman to intercept a pass since 2010.

Quotable
"That's a big win," Troy head coach Neal Brown said. "That's a quality football opponent. [They're] a team that plays as hard on video as anybody we've played in my two years here as a head coach. We talked about it with our team, this is going to be a defining moment for our team and our program. This is the biggest win, maybe, since the 2010 bowl game. I'm proud of everyone that's involved with our program."

Turning Point
Southern Miss jumped out to an early 7-0 lead thanks to a 61-yard interception return for a score. For the second straight week, Neal Brown dialed up a 4^th-and-short play that went for a touchdown as Brandon Silvers tied the game at 7-all with a 34-yard touchdown pass to Deondre Douglas on 4^th-and-2.

Stat of the Game
Troy's defense forced Southern Miss into three-and-outs offensively on nine different possessions.

Sound Smart With Your Friends
Jordan Chunn became the first Troy running back since DeWhitt Betterson in 2003 to have 20 carries in any half as he carried the ball 20 times in the first half against Southern Miss.

Notable
• Troy did not allow a sack in the game … the Trojans have allowed just four sacks over the past nine games and 297 pass attempts.

• The Troy defense has already recorded five interceptions through the first three games this season; the Trojans had just six interceptions all of last season.

• The Trojans intercepted multiple passes in a game for the second straight contest; it marked the first time since Nov. 8, 2014, and Nov. 15, 2014, against Georgia State and Idaho that Troy intercepted multiple passes in back-to-back games.

• Brandon Silvers finished the game with three touchdown passes; it marked his sixth career game with at least three touchdown passes.

Up Next
Troy opens Sun Belt Conference play next Saturday when the Trojans welcome New Mexico State to Veterans Memorial Stadium. Kickoff is scheduled for 6 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on ESPN3.