Defense Leads Troy to 27-10 Victory Over Southern Miss

Saturday, October 8

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

4-2 , 2-1

Southern Miss

2-3 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Southern Miss

Troy

Defense Leads Troy to 27-10 Victory Over Southern Miss

10/8/2022 10:34:00 PM | Football

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – On a night where the Troy University football team honored its letterwinners and the 1987 National Championship team, the 2022 version of the Trojans handled Sun Belt Conference foe Southern Miss, 27-10, at The Vet on Saturday night.

The Trojans improve to 4-2 on the year and improved their Sun Belt Conference record to 2-1. Southern Miss falls to 2-3 overall and drops its first conference contest of the season and stands at 0-1.

Troy forced four turnovers in the contest, netting three interceptions and a forced fumble. Craig Slocum led the way in tackles for Troy with eight, while T.J. Jackson netted 1.5 sacks in the game marking his third game this year with multiple sacks.

Southern Miss' lone touchdown of the evening came on a drive that began on Troy's 13-yard line. The two scoring drives for the Golden Eagles combined to net a total of 39 yards.

"I try not to harp on it because I want our guys to understand the keys to winning the game," head coach Jon Sumrall said. "I'm just really proud of our guys for being able to get on a roll. We showed early in the year after the third game that we handled failure well. You also have to know how to handle some success well, in our theme and mantra of 'so what now what.' In this game, you get humbled. So, you've got to be prepared. I'm excited for the win. I'm proud of our guys."

After a three-and-out from both teams to open the game, Slocum came away with his first interception of the season to put the Trojans in a spot to grab their first points of the game. After a 10-yard gain on 3^rd-and-15, the Trojans put themselves in field goal range as Brooks Bruce nailed a 48-yard field goal to tie his career high and put Troy ahead 3-0 with 1:41 left in the first quarter.

On the first play of Troy's next drive, quarterback Jarret Doege was picked off at his own 41-yard line. The interception was returned to the Trojan 13, where Southern Miss was able to score the first touchdown of the game on the next play.

Midway through the second quarter, junior safety Markeis Colvin recorded his second-career interception and returned it 44 yards to set Troy up in good field position at the Southern Miss 27-yard line.

Senior running back DK Billingsley converted later in the drive on a 1-yard touchdown run on 3^rd-and-1 for his third touchdown of the season. The score put the Trojans ahead 10-7 at the break.

Troy found success on its first possession of the second half after starting the drive on its own 17. A 30-yard completion to Tez Johnson set sophomore back Kimani Vidal up for a 10-yard touchdown score to put the Trojans ahead 17-7.

The third interception of the game for Troy came in the middle stages of the fourth quarter when Kyle Cass made a spectacular grab near the Trojan sideline to set up another field goal from Buce to put Troy ahead by two possessions at 20-10.

With Southern Miss looking to cut into the Trojan lead, Richard Jibunor knocked the ball out of the Golden Eagles' hand to force the fourth turnover of the game for Troy. On the ensuing play from Troy, Doege found Johnson in the end zone to extend the Trojan lead to 17 and gave the game its final score of 27-10.

Notes

Saturday's victory over Southern Miss marked the first time the Trojans have defeated the Golden Eagles at The Vet (1-2).
Tez Johnson's first reception of the contest was the 100^th of his career.
Kimani Vidal rushed for a season-high 79 yards on 17 carries against the Golden Eagles.
Troy has now rushed for 100-plus yards in three straight games after being held under the 100-yard mark in the first three games of the season.
The Trojans held the Golden Eagles to zero rushing yards in the first quarter.
Troy had eight tackles for loss in the game against Southern Miss and now has 29 tackles for loss in its last three games. Troy had just 15 TFLs in its first three games.
Troy held Southern Miss to 1.8 yards per rush (26 carries, 48 yards), which is the lowest average by a Sun Belt opponent against the Trojans since Georgia State averaged 1.6 yards (33/53) in 2017.

Up Next

The Trojans will stay home for their next contest as they will welcome Sun Belt foe Texas State to The Vet. The action from Troy is set to begin at 2:30 p.m. and will serve as the school's homecoming game.