Martial Shatters SBC Tackles Record, Troy Bests Marshall in Defensive Battle

Saturday, September 24

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

2-2 , 1-1

Marshall

2-2 , 0-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Marshall

Troy

Martial Shatters SBC Tackles Record, Troy Bests Marshall in Defensive Battle

9/24/2022 10:47:00 PM | Football

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – The Troy football team, led by senior linebacker Carlton Martial, put on a defensive show Saturday night at The Vet in a 16-7 victory over Sun Belt Conference foe Marshall. Martial also broke the Sun Belt record for tackles in a career with 460 in the victory.

Troy evens its record to 2-2 on the year and now stands at 1-1 in Sun Belt action. The Thundering Herd drops their second-consecutive game and falls to 2-2 on the year and 0-1 in SBC play.

"Really great win for our team and for our program," head coach Jon Sumrall said. "I think we came back after the heartbreak of last week and competed. We would also like to thank our fans for showing out tonight. I'm really proud of our guys for how they responded after last week."

The Trojans began their first-quarter offensive outburst on the opening drive. A 50-yard pass from Gunnar Watson to Marcus Rogers put Troy in the red zone for the first time, but a strip sack on 3^rd-and-11 gave Marshall the ball.

The Thundering Herd, however, gave the ball right back to the Trojans as on second down, Marshall lost the ball on a sack from T.J. Jackson, and Buddha Jones was able to scoop the ball and take it into the back of the Marshall end zone for Troy's first score of the game. The scoop and score was Troy's first fumble return for a touchdown since 2020 at Arkansas State.

With Martial's third tackle of the game, he moved into sole possession of first place in Sun Belt Conference history as the all-time tackles leader. The senior linebacker would finish the game with 18 tackles to lead all players.

"I'm so incredibly happy for the win tonight, first and foremost," Martial said. "As for the record, I've always been judged by my size, but my dad always asked, 'Why not you?'. I give all the credit to my coaches and my defensive line. Those guys are awesome, and I could go on and on talking about the work they put in. We're just 11 guys playing the game with incredible detail, and those are the results."

A field goal late in the first quarter from Brooks Buce gave Troy a 10-point lead, and both offenses were held at bay until the end of the first half. The Thundering Herd lined up for a late field goal with seconds left on the clock, but Caleb Ransaw blocked the wkick to send Troy into halftime with a 10-0 advantage.

The first Marshall score of the game on the heels of a Watson interception. The Thundering Herd went two plays for 16 yards to find the back of the end zone on a 14-yard touchdown run by Khalan Laborn. The Marshall touchdown was also the first offensive touchdown of the game by either team.

A 58-yard pass from Watson to Tez Johnson on Troy's second drive of the fourth quarter set up the Trojans for a 25-yard field goal from Buce to extend their lead to 13-7 over the Thundering Herd. A late field goal from Buce solidified the defensive battle and gave Troy its ultimate 16-7 victory over Marshall.

Notable

Troy extended its non-shutout streak to 98 consecutive games and 193 games against non-Power Five teams. The last time Troy was shutout was a 66-0 loss at Georgia in 2014.
Watson's first two passes in the game covered 113 yards, 50 yards to Rogers, and 63 yards to Tez Johnson.
Troy forced one turnover in the game. The Trojans entered the weekend ranked second nationally since 2016 with 1.90 turnovers forced per game and fourth with 146 total turnovers forced.
The attendance of 27,514 is the fourth highest attendance at The Vet and the highest since 2017 when the Trojans hosted Akron.
Kicker Brooks Buce nailed three field goals in the contest against Marshall.
Martial is now 71 tackles shy of becoming the all-time FBS leader in career tackles.
Troy finished the day with 421 yards of total offense. The Trojans gained 321 yards through the air and 100 yards on the ground. The Trojan defense held Marshall to 174 total yards.
Watson threw for 321 yards to surpass 5,000 career passing yards. He is the seventh Troy quarterback to reach that feat.

Up Next

The Trojans will play their final non-conference road game in 2022 for their next matchup. Troy will travel to Bowling Green, Ky., to take on Western Kentucky. The action from L.T. Houchens-Smith Stadium is slated to begin at 6 p.m. on ESPN+.