Troy University Athletics
Troy University
2-2 , 0-1
Arkansas State
3-2 , 1-0
Troy Drops Sun Belt Opener to Arkansas State
9/28/2019 11:10:00โฏPM | Football
TROY, Ala. โ A controversial 10-second runoff ended an instant classic between Troy and Arkansas State in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both schools Saturday night at The Vet. Arkansas State escaped town with a 50-43 victory as Troy was left standing at the 8-yard line and out of time.
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Carlton Martial set up Troy's potential game-tying drive with his first career interception on a third-down play by the Red Wolves (3-2, 1-0 Sun Belt) near midfield. Following a penalty, Troy (2-2, 0-1) started its drive on its own 46-yard line.
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With 21 seconds remaining and Troy facing a third-and-17 from the Arkansas State 21-yard line, Barker completed a 13-yard pass to DK Billingsley, who was tackled with 15 seconds remaining on the clock. Left tackle Austin Stidham was injured on the play, and when the clock finally stopped it read nine seconds remaining.
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Despite an official replay review, no time was added back, and a 10-second runoff was invoked with the Trojans having used their final timeout two players earlier and the game was over without Troy having an opportunity to run another play.
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Barker was once again a surgeon in the backfield as he sliced apart the Arkansas State defense with 367 yards and four touchdowns. He completed 34-of-57 passes and finished with 400 yards of total offense โ the 34 completions rank as the seventh most in a game in school history and his 67 total plays sit as fourth most.
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The game was a spectacle from the opening moments with Arkansas State jumping out to a 14-0 lead on a 92-yard touchdown pass and a 40-yard fumble return. The Red Wolves also registered a safety, converted a fake punt and blocked a punt in the game.
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Trailing 21-10 after the first quarter, Troy flipped the tables in the second quarter, outscoring the Red Wolves by the same margin on a pair of Barker touchdown passes and a Kaylon Geiger 2-yard run.
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Geiger finished with 111 yards on eight catches and a touchdown through the air, while DK Billingsley added his second straight triple-digit game on the ground with 103 yards on 20 carries.
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Tyler Sumpter's third field goal of the game pulled Troy to within one, 38-37, midway through the third quarter but Layne Hatcher's fourth touchdown pass of the game extended the Arkansas State lead to eight heading into the final 15 minutes of play.
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Barker connected with Geiger from nine yards out in the early seconds of the fourth quarter to pull Troy within two, 45-43, before a safety and field goal stretched the Arkansas State lead out to the final margin.
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Hatcher completed 25-of-35 passes for 440 yards. Omar Bayless led a trio of Red Wolf receivers over 100 yards with 10 catches for 213 yards and a touchdown.
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Quotable โ Troy Head Coach Chip Lindsey
"People who play team sports understand, but when you get into a situation where things aren't going your way, your team needs to be able to rely on each other and come together. Tonight, we did that, which is impressive."
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Sound Smart with Your Friends
Troy scored twice (field goal and touchdown) within nine seconds of each other in the first quarter; it was the quickest back-to-back scores in Troy's Division I history. The Trojans scored back-to-back touchdowns in 23 seconds at Southern Miss in 2016 and a field goal and touchdown in 16 seconds against Florida Atlantic in 2008.
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Notable
โข Four different Trojans caught a touchdown pass in the game; it marked the first time since Florida A&M last season that this has happened.
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โข Kaleb Barker threw for 233 yards in the first half of the game to surpass his previous first half high of 213 yards against Southern Miss. He finished the game with 367 yards for his second career 300-yard passing game.
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โข Defensive tackle Travis Sailo made his first start of the season ... Troy has now started 18 different players on defense in its three games.
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โข The seventh-largest crowd in Veterans Memorial Stadium โ 26,437 โ was in attendance for the game.
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Up Next
Troy wraps up non-conference play next weekend with a trip to Missouri. The Trojans head to Columbia looking for their third straight victory over a Power 5 conference opponent.
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Team Stats
ASU 7, TROY 0
ASU - Bayless, Omar 92 yd pass from Hatcher, Layne (Grupe, Blake kick) 1 plays, 92 yards, TOP 0:13
ASU 14, TROY 0
ASU - Wescott, Logan 40 yd fumble recovery (Grupe, Blake kick)
ASU 14, TROY 3
TROY - Sumpter, Tyler 20 yd field goal 10 plays, 70 yards, TOP 3:00
ASU 14, TROY 10
TROY - Eafford, Tray 29 yd pass from Barker, Kaleb (Sumpter, Tyler kick) 1 plays, 29 yards, TOP 0:09
ASU 21, TROY 10
ASU - Merritt, Kirk 14 yd pass from Hatcher, Layne (Grupe, Blake kick) 6 plays, 71 yards, TOP 2:19
ASU 21, TROY 17
TROY - Clark, Bret 27 yd pass from Barker, Kaleb (Sumpter, Tyler kick) 3 plays, 46 yards, TOP 0:56
ASU 28, TROY 17
ASU - Merritt, Kirk 45 yd pass from Hatcher, Layne (Grupe, Blake kick) 3 plays, 72 yards, TOP 1:18
ASU 28, TROY 24
TROY - Geiger, Kaylon 2 yd run (Sumpter, Tyler kick), 7 plays, 65 yards, TOP 1:55
ASU 31, TROY 24
ASU - Grupe, Blake 36 yd field goal 8 plays, 56 yards, TOP 3:57
ASU 31, TROY 31
TROY - McClain, Khalil 8 yd pass from Barker, Kaleb (Sumpter, Tyler kick) 9 plays, 58 yards, TOP 3:23
ASU 31, TROY 34
TROY - Sumpter, Tyler 22 yd field goal 11 plays, 79 yards, TOP 2:44
ASU 38, TROY 34
ASU - Jones, Jamal 7 yd run (Grupe, Blake kick), 7 plays, 75 yards, TOP 2:35
ASU 38, TROY 37
TROY - Sumpter, Tyler 22 yd field goal 7 plays, 65 yards, TOP 2:33
ASU 45, TROY 37
ASU - Adams, Jonathan 32 yd pass from Hatcher, Layne (Grupe, Blake kick) 1 plays, 32 yards, TOP 0:08
ASU 45, TROY 43
TROY - Geiger, Kaylon 9 yd pass from Barker, Kaleb (Barker, Kaleb rushfailed) 10 plays, 73 yards, TOP 1:59
ASU 47, TROY 43
ASU - Chambers, T. 1 yd safety
ASU 50, TROY 43
ASU - Grupe, Blake 19 yd field goal 7 plays, 53 yards, TOP 3:29
