Troy Dominates Georgia State, Knocks Panthers from Ranks of Unbeaten

Saturday, September 30

Atlanta, Ga.

6 p.m.

Troy University

3-2 , 1-1

Georgia State

4-1 , 1-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Troy

Georgia St.

Troy Dominates Georgia State, Knocks Panthers from Ranks of Unbeaten

9/30/2023 11:14:00 PM | Football

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

ATLANTA – Troy walked into Center Parc Stadium on Saturday and controlled all facets of the game, handing Georgia State a 28-7 loss in Sun Belt Conference play, ending the Panthers' undefeated run to start the season.

Troy (3-2, 1-1 SBC) held Georgia State to just 298 yards of total offense, and the seven points scored by the Panthers (4-1, 1-1) were its fewest since 2020.

Trailing 7-6 at the break, Troy dominated the final 30 minutes, outscoring Georgia State 22-0 while limiting the Panthers to 114 yards and controlling the football for nearly 19 of the 30 minutes.

Troy improved to 6-3 under head coach Jon Sumrall when trailing at the half; the Trojans were 11-73 from 2005-21 when trailing at the half.

Taylor gave the Trojans a 13-6 lead with a 45-yard touchdown run down the far sideline on the opening drive of the second half. It was Taylor's first touchdown of the season and second of his career. The drive was kept alive by a 16-yard diving catch from Deshon Stoudemire on third-and-12 four plays before the touchdown.

On Troy's third drive of the quarter, Vidal took over. He rushed four times for 27 yards and caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from Watson with 2:42 to play in the quarter. It was the 22^nd touchdown of his career, but first on a reception.

Offensively, the Trojans were balanced with Gunnar Watson throwing for 256 yards and a touchdown, while Kimani Vidal rushed for 79 yards and Damien Taylor added a career-best 69 yards. Watson's favorite target was Jabre Barber, who finished with a career-best 121 yards on seven receptions.

The Panthers had a prime opportunity to make it a one-score game midway through the fourth quarter with a first-and-goal from the 1-yard line. Jayden McDonald stuffed Marcus Carroll on first down, and quarterback Darren Grainger fumbled on second down, which McDonald recovered and returned it 27 yards.

Georgia State wouldn't get the football back until there were six seconds left on the clock.

Troy's offense followed with a methodical 14-play, 68-yard drive capped by a 6-yard Vidal touchdown on fourth down. The Trojans converted a pair of third downs and the one fourth down on the drive, which milked 8:15 off the clock.

Caleb Ransaw and O'shai Fletcher both had interceptions for the Trojans against Grainger, who had not thrown an interception in six straight games. Georgia State's offense was held in check most of the evening as it accounted for 63 percent of its offense on nine of its 60 plays.

Scott Taylor Renfroe put the Trojans up 6-0 with a pair of field goals, including a career-long 38-yard make, before Carroll scored on a 1-yard run with 7:05 to play in the first half.

Granger completed 19-of-29 passes for 193 yards, while Carroll finished with 75 yards on 19 carries and Robert Lewis caught six passes for 114 yards to lead Georgia State.

Quotable – Troy Head Coach Jon Sumrall
"The first half, I thought we outplayed them, and we were down 7-6, and I was really proud of their response after halftime. I told our guys, if we keep showing up, there's never going to be a letdown, and we're going to fight you for four quarters, and I think you saw that tonight."

Notable
• Troy lost the coin toss and kicked off to start the game; the Trojans are 0-5 on coin tosses this season and 5-14 under head coach Jon Sumrall.

• Dell Pettus extended his NCAA-best starting streak to 52 consecutive games.

• Troy extended its non-shutout streak to 112 games and 207 games against Non-Power Five teams; the last time Troy was shutout was a 66-0 loss at Georgia in 2014.

• Troy led 3-0 at the end of the first quarter; the Trojans improved to 9-0 under Jon Sumrall when leading at the end of the first quarter and 47-5 since 2015.

• Troy trailed 7-6 at the half; the Trojans improved to 6-3 when trailing at the half under Jon Sumrall and 10-33 since 2015. The Trojans were 11-73 from 2005-21 when trailing at the half.

• Troy led 21-7 at the end of the third quarter; the Trojans improved to 10-0 when leading after the third quarter under Jon Sumrall.

• Troy was 6-0 in close games at the half last season (five points or less score differential) ... following today's game, Troy is 2-1 this season.

• Troy held Georgia State to just seven points in the game, it's fewest since being shutout against Coastal Carolina in 2020 (Oct. 31).

• Troy improved to 41-26 on the road in Sun Belt play since the start of the 2006 season; it's the second-most in the league, and Troy's .612 winning percentage ranks fifth (two teams ahead have played five games or fewer).

• Damien Taylor gave Troy a 13-7 lead on the opening drive of the third quarter with a 45-yard touchdown run; it was his first of the season and second of his career. The 45-yard rush was the longest of his career and Troy's longest touchdown run this season.

• Troy entered the weekend second nationally with four rushes of 40-plus yards; Damien Taylor's 45-yard run in the third quarter was the first 40-yard run by a player other than Kimani Vidal.

• Gunnar Watson completed 23-of-30 passes for 256 yards, his 19th career 200-yard passing game and the third this season.

• Troy improved to 19-3 when Kimani Vidal rushes for 50-plus yards; he finished the game with 76 yards on 23 carries.

• Troy has now won 12 straight games and 14 of the last 16 when rushing for more than 100 yards; Troy rushed for 154 yards on 35 carries. Troy is 56-15 since 2015, when topping the 100-yard mark.

• After Georgia State totaled 161 yards on its first three drives of the game, Troy held the Panthers to 1 yard combined on its next four drives, which spanned the second and third quarters.

• Troy held Georgia State to 298 yards of total offense; the Trojans have now held 4-of-5 opponents this season to 300 yards or fewer. Troy has held 13 of its last 14 opponents to 400 yards or fewer.

• Troy held Georgia State to just seven points; Troy has now held 12-of-19 opponents under Jon Sumrall to fewer than 19 points. The Trojans entered the weekend sixth nationally in the category.

• Troy forced multiple turnovers for the 53rd time in the last 99 games. It marks the first time since Troy's victory in the 2022 Cure Bowl (Dec. 16) that it had multiple interceptions in a game.

• Troy intercepted Darrin Grainger twice in the game after he had not thrown an interception since Oct. 19, 2022, at App State. It marked just the second time in his career (Coastal Carolina, 2022) that he threw multiple interceptions in a game.

• Troy recorded three turnovers in the game; the Trojans entered the weekend ranked first nationally since 2016 with 172 turnovers forced.

• Scott Taylor Renfroe has made eight field goals in Troy's first five games, tied for the third most by a Trojan since at least 2000.