Legassey’s Game-Winning Field Goal Lifts Troy Past EKU

Saturday, October 17

Troy, Ala.

2:30 p.m.

Troy University

3-1 , 1-0

Eastern Kentucky

1-4

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Eastern Kentucky

Troy

Legassey’s Game-Winning Field Goal Lifts Troy Past EKU

10/17/2020 8:30:00 PM | Football

Box Score Final Stats Postgame Notes Highlights Press Conference Game-Winning Field Goal Photo Gallery Photo Gallery 2 Photo Gallery 3 Photo Gallery 4

By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – It had been a tough week for Troy's junior place kicker Evan Legassey after he missed three field goals and had an extra-point blocked in last week's win over Texas State. Saturday afternoon he found his redemption booting a game-winning 47-yard field goal as time expired to lift Troy past Eastern Kentucky, 31-29, at The Vet.

Eastern Kentucky (1-4) took a 29-28 lead with just 21 seconds remaining the game on a 4-yard touchdown pass from Parker McKinney to Keyion Dixon.

Reggie Todd returned the ensuing kickoff 35 yards out to the 40-yard line, the Trojans (3-1) took over with just 14 ticks on the clock and all three timeouts remaining. Gunnar Watson found Kaylon Geiger streaking over the middle for a 15-yard gain to the EKU 45-yard line with seven seconds to play.

Following timeouts by both teams, Watson hit Khalil McClain for another 15-yard strike to the EKU 30-yard line that set the Trojans up with two seconds to play. Troy head coach Chip Lindsey called his second timeout and sent the field goal unit out.

Long snapper Cameron Kaye placed a perfect ball in the hands of holder Luke Whittemore and there was no doubt on Legassey's 47-yard field goal that split the pipes and would have been good from at least 50-yards out.

Legassey's boot was Troy's first points since the 9:35 mark in the third quarter when Watson hit Todd for a 22-yard touchdown pass, which gave the Trojans a 28-17 lead at the time.

Watson completed 26-of-38 passes for 333 yards and three touchdowns; he did have a pair of interceptions in the game which snapped his streak of consecutive attempts without an interception at 114. Freshman Kimani Vidal rushed for 144 yards and a touchdown on just 13 carries and Geiger finished with 100 yards on seven catches.

The trio became the first in Troy history to top the 300-yard and 100-yard thresholds in consecutive games, while Vidal became the first true freshman in school history to rush for more than 100 yards in back-to-back games.

Troy struck first on a 16-yard strike from Watson to tight end A.J. Lewis in the opening minutes of the game. The touchdown was the fourth of Lewis' career on just his seventh career reception.

The Trojans took a 21-17 lead into the halftime break after McClain's 10^th career touchdown reception and Vidal's second career rushing score. EKU took a brief lead, 17-14, midway through the second quarter thanks to a field goal and Alonzo Booth 12-yard score.

EKU began its second-half comeback on a pair of Alexander Woznick field goals in the fourth quarter before Dixon's score with 21 seconds left.

Linebacker K.J. Robertson led the Troy defensive effort with a career-high 11 tackles and a pass break up, while Terence Dunlap intercepted a pass and broke up two others.

Quotable – Troy Head Coach Chip Lindsey
"I was really proud of how our guys continued to believe and fight. We overcame adversity all night long. We kept clawing and scratching and found a way to win. Evan Legassey made a huge kick after we didn't execute really well on special teams last week which was a big step in the right direction. We didn't play our best today and we know that. I heard a lot of our leaders talk about that in the locker room talking about going back to work and refocusing. We had a good week of practice and I thought we were ready to play. We just didn't play well in many different areas tonight."

Sound Smart with Your Friends
Scorigami! Today's game marked the first time in Troy history that a game finished with a 31-29 final score.

Notable
• Evan Legassey's game-winning 47-yard field goal marked the first game-winning field goal since Will Scott knocked down a 30-yard field goal against UAB (Aug. 31) in 2013 to secure an overtime win.

• For the second time this season, Troy held their opponent to less than 100 rushing yards, improving to 2-0 on the season and 5-0 all-time under Chip Lindsey when doing so.

• This marks the first time in school history that Troy has had a 300-yard passer (Gunnar Watson), 100-yard receiver (Kaylon Geiger) and 100-yard rusher (Kimani Vidal) in back-to-back games.

• Kimani Vidal became the first true freshman in program history to record 100 rushing yards in back-to-back games.

• Kaylon Geiger recorded 100 receiving yards for the seventh time in his career; he is in sole possession of third place all-time in Troy history.

Up Next
Troy returns to Sun Belt Conference play next Saturday when it hosts Georgia State at The Vet for Homecoming. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU.