Troy Blasts Arkansas State for Ninth-Consecutive Win; Trojans to Host SBC Championship Game

Saturday, November 26

Jonesboro, Ark.

2:30 p.m.

Troy University

10-2 , 7-1

Arkansas State

3-9 , 1-7

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Troy

Arkansas St.

Troy Blasts Arkansas State for Ninth-Consecutive Win; Trojans to Host SBC Championship Game

11/26/2022 7:55:00 PM | Football

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

JONESBORO, Ark. – Troy exploded for 34 points in the fourth quarter, sparked by a 67-yard Reddy Steward interception return for a touchdown, to defeat Arkansas State, 48-19, and clinch the Sun Belt West Division title in the process, Saturday afternoon at Centennial Bank Stadium.

Troy's (10-2, 7-1 SBC) ninth consecutive win, the fourth-longest active streak in the country, coupled with Coastal Carolina's (9-2, 6-2) loss at James Madison, means that the Trojans will host the Sun Belt Championship Game next Saturday (Dec. 3) in Veterans Memorial Stadium.

It will be Troy's first-ever appearance in the title game, and the Trojans are eying their league-leading seventh Sun Belt Conference title.

"I'm proud of our guys," head coach Jon Sumrall said. "It's been a goal since January to compete for a championship, and I'm proud to see that goal through; we still have work to do, but we are not done yet. Once we got in a rhythm and in sync, we were rolling. We have been behind before, but going into halftime, I knew we would win the game. I didn't doubt our guys stepping up. To be able to host the Sun Belt Championship Game in Troy, Alabama, is incredible, and everybody needs to be there."

Sophomore running back Kimani Vidal put the team on his back, rushing for 208 yards and a school-record tying four touchdowns in the game. It's his second straight 200-yard game after putting up 242 yards in last week's win over ULM.

Vidal, who topped the 1,000-yard mark for the season on his last carry of the game, is just the second player in program history to rush for more than 200 yards multiple times in a season and only the 13^th in Sun Belt history; the first since App State's Jalin Moore in 2017.

His second score of the game put the Trojans in front for good, 20-19, with 14:55 to play in the game. Touchdowns three and four came with 8:13 and 4:38 to play in the fourth quarter and put the game on ice for the Trojans.

Following Vidal's go-ahead score, Arkansas State (3-9, 1-7) moved into Troy territory thanks to a pair of long completions. However, Arkansas State quarterback James Blackmon made a critical error, and Steward capitalized returning one of his two interceptions of the game 67 yards for a touchdown to put Troy up 27-19 with 12:53 to play in the game.

It was Troy's longest interception return for a touchdown since 2017, when Marcus Jones returned a pick 100 yards into the same end zone in Jonesboro in a game that clinched Troy's sixth Sun Belt title.

Troy held Arkansas State to negative six rushing yards in the second half and just 38 rushing yards for the game. The Trojans have held eight opponents to less than 100 yards rushing this season, tied for the most in the program's FBS history.

Troy trailed 13-7 at the half after a pair of costly turnovers led to Arkansas State points. Samy Johnson intercepted Troy's second pass attempt and returned it 69 yards before Vidal made a touchdown-saving tackle at the 3-yard line. Troy's defense held on three straight plays and forced a Red Wolves' field goal.

Right before the half, with Troy leading 7-6, Gunnar Watson was hit from behind, causing a fumble which Arkansas State recovered. Blackmon turned the turnover into points scoring on a 30-yard run with 24 seconds remaining in the half.

Up Next
Troy hosts Coastal Carolina in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. at The Vet, and the game will be televised on ESPN.

Notable
• The Sun Belt Championship Game appearance will be Troy's first in the game's five-year history; Troy is aiming for its league-leading seventh Sun Belt Conference championship.

• Troy outscored Arkansas State 34-0 in the fourth quarter. Troy entered the weekend eight averaging a +5.09 scoring differential in the fourth quarter.

• Troy's 34 points in the fourth quarter are its most since at least 1991 ... the closest in the records books is 24 points against Louisiana in 2009 and 24 against Western Kentucky in 1993.

• Troy extended its winning streak to nine games with the victory, Troy's longest winning streak since the 1999 squad opened the season with nine straight wins. This is Troy's longest winning streak of its FBS era. The winning streak is the fourth-longest active streak in the country.

• Troy trailed 19-14 at the end of the third quarter; Troy improved to 4-2 this season when trailing after the third quarter and

• Troy trailed 13-7 at the half; Troy improved to 7-31 since 2015 when trailing at the half ... the Trojans are 4-1 this season when trailing at the half.

• Troy has now won 56 games since the start of the 2016 season; the Trojans entered the weekend with the 23rd most wins nationally and the eighth most in the Group of Five over that time.

• Kimani Vidal became the 11th 1,000-yard rusher in program history and the 10th player to do so; he needed 202 yards entering the game and finished with 208 yards on 33 carries. His final rush of the game went for 15 yards to put him over the 1,000-yard threshold.
• Kimani Vidal tied the Troy single-game record with four rushing touchdowns in the game; it is tied for the fourth most in a game this season and the most by a player in the Group of Five. His four rushing touchdowns are tied for the 10th most in a game in Sun Belt history and just one off the record.

• Kimani Vidal becomes just the second player in program history to rush for more than 200 yards in multiple games in the same season; Eddie Brundidge (1986). In addition, Vidal becomes just the 13th player in Sun Belt history to post multiple 200-yard rushing games in a season and the first since App State's Jalin Moore in 2017.

• Kimani Vidal averaged 158.5 yards per game in November with seven rushing touchdowns.

• Troy scored 34 points in the fourth quarter; the Trojans entered the weekend 31st nationally, averaging 8.55 points per game in the fourth quarter.

• RaJae' Johnson caught three passes for a career-high 101 yards, including a touchdown in the third quarter to give Troy a lead.

• Troy has now rushed for 100-plus yards in eight of the last nine games after being held under the 100-yard mark in the first three games of the season.

• Troy shutout Arkansas State in the fourth quarter; the Trojans entered the weekend tied for third nationally, holding opponents to just 3.45 points in the fourth quarter.

• Troy held Arkansas State to just six points in the second half; the Trojans entered the weekend 13th nationally, holding opponents to 8.09 points in the second half.

• Troy has held eight of its last 10 opponents under 100 yards rushing, with one of the two being Army, who has the nation's third-ranked rushing attack.

• Troy held Sun Belt opponents to 15.1 points, 93.1 rushing yards and 272.6 total yards this season.

• Troy forced two turnovers in the game and has now forced a turnover in 76 of its last 92 games and multiple turnovers in 49 of those 72 games.

• Reddy Steward's interception return for a touchdown marked the sixth straight year the Trojans have returned an interception for a touchdown. It was the longest since Marcus Jones returned an interception 100 yards for a touchdown also at Arkansas State in 2017.