Troy Downs New Mexico State in Belt Opener

Saturday, September 16

Las Cruces, N.M.

7 p.m.

Troy University

2-1 , 1-0

New Mexico State

1-2 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Troy

NM State

Troy Downs New Mexico State in Belt Opener

9/16/2017 11:59:00 PM | Football

Box Score Troy Postgame Notes Box Score (PDF)Quotes Neal Brown Postgame Press Conference Troy Players Postgame Press Conference Highlights

By: Adam Prendergast

LAS CRUCES, New Mexico – Troy found the end zone three times on the ground and the Trojan defense limited New Mexico State's high-powered offense as the Trojans defeated the Aggies, 27-24, in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both schools Saturday night at Aggie Memorial Stadium.

Brandon Silvers led the Trojans (2-1, 1-0 Sun Belt) with his arm and his leg as he threw for 286 yards and a touchdown and sealed the game with a 32-yard touchdown run in the final seconds of the third quarter.

Troy's defense held New Mexico State (1-2, 0-1) to just 382 yards of total offense and 51 rushing yards after the Aggies entered averaging 524.5 and 125.0 yards, respectively.

With momentum on the Aggies' side midway through the fourth quarter, the Trojan defense came up with a stop. New Mexico State started the drive on its own 39-yard line and completed three passes, but managed just six yards and head coach Doug Martin elected to punt.

Troy took over on its own 3-yard line with 6:15 to play in the game. Behind the running of Jordan Chunn and a pair of highlight reel catches from Deondre Douglas, the Trojans ran 11 plays, moved the ball 56 yards and milked the clock to a victory formation.

Chunn rushed 20 times for 87 yards and a touchdown, while Douglas finished with seven catches for 101 yards. Chunn passed Troy Hall of Famer Mike Turk to move into fifth place on Troy's career rushing yards list with 2,535 yards.

The Trojans scored on their first two possessions of the game for the first time since the 2016 opener as Silvers found Damion Willis from nine yards out on the opening drive and Chunn scored from three yards out to give Troy a 13-3 advantage, which it carried into the break.

Jamarius Henderson pushed Troy's lead out to 20-3 on the opening drive of the second half as he punched it in from three yards out to cap a 6-play, 65-yard drive.

Izaiah Lottie put the Aggies on the board after he pulled down a tipped pass from 46 yards out with just under 10 minutes to play in the third quarter.

On the ensuing possession, the Trojans converted a huge third-and-10 with an 11-yard reception by Chunn. Troy then faced a third-and-12 and picked 11 yards as Silvers found Clark Quisenberry. On fourth-and-1, the Aggies crashed the middle on a fake to Chunn and Silvers went around right end for 32 yards and his 12^th career rushing touchdown.

Tron Folsom led Troy's defensive effort with eight tackles and a pair of tackles for loss, while Kris Weatherspoon, normally a safety, started at linebacker and finished with eight tackles, two pass break ups and a half tackle for loss.

Stat Geek
• Troy improved to 11-0 when rushing for over 150 yards under Neal Brown ... Troy rushed for 183 yards and three touchdowns against the Aggies. The Trojans also improved to 14-2 all-time under Brown when outrushing their opponents; Troy outrushed New Mexico State 183-51 in the game.

• Troy finished the game with 469 yards of total offense, the 12th time that the Trojans have topped 400 yards under Neal Brown. Troy improved to 11-1 in such games.

• Troy is now 9-5 in Sun Belt Conference openers; the Trojans won seven straight league openers from 2005-2011 and then dropped four straight from 2012-15.

• Troy improved to 14-1 when leading at the half and 15-0 when leading after three quarters under Neal Brown. Troy led 13-3 at halftime and 27-16 at the end of three quarters.

• Troy held New Mexico State to just 51 rushing yards in the game; it marked the second straight game that Troy held its opponent under 100 yards rushing. Troy held opponents under 100 yards in six games last season, which was the third most in Troy's FBS era.

Turning Point
Facing fourth-and-1 from the 32-yard line, Neal Brown dialed up the play of the game as New Mexico State's defense crashed the middle expecting a Jordan Chunn dive play. However, quarterback Brandon Silvers went around right end for his 12^th rushing touchdown of the season.

Quotable – Troy Head Coach Neal Brown
"This is a big thing; we're 1-0 in the conference and we knew this was going to be a difficult trip. I really believe that's a bowl team right there, one of the most improved defenses in the country. I can't say enough about Coach Spaziani. They kept us off balance all night.

"I think the key to the game was we didn't turn it over. We shot ourselves in the foot a lot with penalties but we didn't turn it over and then defensively we got two key stops in the fourth quarter. We kind of bent and they got some things going in the second half but our guys stepped up. I can't say enough about our offensive line and running backs there we ran six minutes plus off the clock. We really managed that game well in the fourth quarter."

Up Next
Troy returns home to host Akron on Military Appreciation Day at The Vet with kickoff schedule for 5 p.m. It will mark the return of former Auburn, Samford and North Alabama head coach Terry Bowden to the state of Alabama.