Last-Minute Field Goal Lifts Troy Past Georgia Southern

Saturday, October 9

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

3-3 , 1-1

Georgia Southern

2-4 , 1-2

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Georgia Southern

Troy

Last-Minute Field Goal Lifts Troy Past Georgia Southern

10/9/2021 11:43:00 PM | Football

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By: Ken Rogers - TroyTrojans.com

TROY, Ala. – Brooks Buce said he tried not think about a game-winning kick before he trotted onto the field at The Vet in the final minutes of a tie game.

"When I went out there, I was trying to clear my mind of everything but the one goal -- which was to get the team a win and try to block out all the crowd noise and everything," Buce said.

That was harder than he imagined.

"Of course, you know the situation," the transfer kicker from Johns Creek, Ga., said. "Luckily, I have a really good snapper and holder to help execute that play, and we went out there and executed it."

Buce's 24-yard field goal lifted Troy over Georgia Southern, 27-24, the kind of thrilling finish that didn't look necessary when the Trojans led 24-3 early in the second half.

The victory snapped a two-game losing streak and evened Troy's record to 3-3 overall and 1-1 in the Sun Belt Conference. Georgia Southern fell to 2-4 and 1-2.

"Obviously, really excited to get a win, especially a conference win," Troy head coach Chip Lindsey said. "Anytime you do that you've got to be happy about it. I really like the way our guys just kept fighting. I think it says a lot about our team.

"When things were going bad -- the adversity we fought through in the third quarter and fourth quarter -- they just kept fighting. ... To our credit, our coaches kept coaching, our players kept playing, and we were able to get a win."

Troy started Gunnar Watson at quarterback. Taylor Powell, who had started the first five games, wasn't able to practice last week with a knee injury. Watson started nine games last year before Powell was named the starter before the season.

"I just thought it'd be nice to get us a little shot in the arm. With Taylor not being 100 percent, it made that decision pretty easy," Lindsey said of the decision to start Watson, a sophomore from Butler, Ga.

Watson said he felt he would get the start on Wednesday and Thursday when Powell couldn't practice.

"Really proud of Gunnar. He is a guy that's special," Lindsey said. "In this day and age, for a guy to look you in the eye when you make a decision before the season and say, 'Coach, I'll be ready when you need me,' that's pretty special."

Watson said he was nervous going into the game, but that went away quickly.

"Once you get out there, usually it's just the first play. After that, I was good," the quarterback said.

It helped that Troy jumped out to a fast start.

"The first half, it came pretty easy, honestly," Watson said. "We were executing pretty well in the first half. In the second half, we got in a bind because we didn't get many first downs. They may have made a few adjustments, but I think we took our foot off the gas and let up, but we'll get better at that."

Watson finished the game completing 24 of 36 passes for 270 yards and two touchdowns. He engineered a drive to a field goal on the game's opening drive and finished the first quarter with a 15-yard scoring strike to Jabre Barber.

Jamontez Woods, who had a career-high 98 yards rushing on just nine carries, bolted up the middle, angled to the right in the secondary and won a race to the goal line. He flew the last four yards, diving for the pylon with the football on the scoring run.

With Troy leading 17-3 at halftime, another solid start to the second half put the Trojans well in command. After the defense forced a three-and-out, Watson threw a slant pass to Reggie Todd on Troy's first drive of the third quarter. Todd was sandwiched by two Georgia Southern defenders, shook them off and completed a 26-yard touchdown reception.

At that point, Troy led 24-3 with 10:55 remaining in the third quarter.

"The biggest thing when you're up like that is trying to take care of the ball on offense," Watson said. "You want to take care of the ball and get a couple of first downs."

But first downs were difficult to convert. The Trojans were a disappointing 1-for-11 on third down and 0-for-2 on fourth.

The game then tightened quickly.

Georgia Southern was forced to shed its run-heavy attack, but quarterback Justin Tomlin showed he could do more than make option pitches. The Eagle came into the game ranked fourth in the country in rushing offense. Troy held them to 82 yards on the ground -- the fewest for Georgia Southern in a game since Appalachian State held them to 65 in 2016.

"We took away what we wanted to take away. To their credit, they hit some passes on us," Lindsey said. "What they do makes it hard because you're so committed to stopping the run that you have to play some single coverage or maybe some simple zone coverage. That's what you saw tonight."

Tomlin found Derwin Burgess on a sideline route. Two Troy defenders missed tackles near the reception, and the receiver turned it into a 57-yard big play.

"That play where we had the missed tackle, that seemed to ignite them," Lindsey said.
On third-and-4 at the 12, Tomlin connected with Jjay Mcafee for seven yards and a first-and-goal at the 5. Two plays later, Logan Wright banged in from the 1. Tomlin scored on a two-point run that cut Troy's lead to 24-11 with 7:57 left in the third.

Troy fumbled it back to Georgia Southern when running back Kimani Vidal lost the ball and Quin Williams recovered for the Eagles at the Troy 34.

The visitors took advantage with a 23-yard touchdown run by Khaleb Hood, who took an option pitch around right end and trailed 24-18.

They drew within 24-21 on Alex Raynor's 42-yard field goal with 12:53 left in the game. Raynor then tied it at 24-all with a 38-yarder with 6:08 on the clock.

Troy was forced to punt on its ensuing possession, but the defense got the ball back immediately. T.J. Harris, who plays the Spear for the Trojans, took a deep drop and intercepted Tomlin. It was his third pick of the season and put Troy on the Georgia Southern 46 with 4:09 left.

A pass interference penalty against Todd on second-and-19 from the Troy 45 gave Troy a first down.

Watson then hit Orlando Lacey on a key 31-yard reception and a first-and-goal at the 9. That forced Georgia Southern to use its timeouts and set up Buce's game-winning 24-yarder that came with 1:46 remaining.

The defense sealed the victory when Elijah Culp got a pass deflection and Javon Solomon caught the ball for an interception with 32 seconds left at the Troy 40.