Troy Rally Comes Up Short at Arkansas State

Saturday, October 26

Jonesboro, Ark.

6 p.m.

Troy University

1-7 , 0-4

Arkansas State

5-3 , 3-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Troy

Arkansas State

Troy Rally Comes Up Short at Arkansas State

10/26/2024 11:41:00 PM | Football

Box Score Box Score (PDF)Game Notes (PDF)Gerad Parker Press Conference

By: Troy Athletics Communications

JONESBORO, Ark. – Troy scored 21 unanswered points in the third quarter to rally from a disaster of a first half, but Arkansas State scored a touchdown with 33 seconds remaining to escape Centennial Bank Stadium with a 34-31 win in Sun Belt action on Saturday.

Arkansas State (5-3, 3-1 SBC) took a 23-3 lead into the break after scoring on five of its six possessions in the opening 30 minutes, and it appeared as if the Red Wolves were never going to look back.

However, an inspired Troy (1-7, 0-4) team came out of the locker room and scored touchdowns on its first three possessions of the second half.

Damien Taylor opened the scoring with a 1-yard run to cap an 11-play drive to open the third quarter, and Brody Dalton caught a 16-yard touchdown pass – the first of his career – from Matthew Caldwell to close the gap to 23-16 after a three-and-out from the Troy defense.

Following another three-and-out, a 32-yard bomb from Caldwell to Landon Parker set up the Trojans on the A-State 1-yard line. On the next play, Caldwell connected with Peyton Higgins to put Troy in front, 24-23.

The Red Wolves jumped back into the lead on the leg of Clune Van Andel as he booted a 46-yard field goal in the waning seconds of the third quarter, one of his four field goals on the night.

Following the flurry of activity in the third quarter, the fourth quarter was score-free until the final 105 seconds.

A-State quarterback Jaylon Raynor fumbled through the end zone with 5:17 to play, and Troy marched the length of the field on 10 plays, capped by a 2-yard touchdown run from Gerald Green to regain the lead, 31-26.

The Red Wolves responded. Aided by two holding calls inside the 10-yard line that placed the ball at the 1-yard line, Zak Wallace scored, and A-State converted the 2-point conversion to go up 34-31.

Caldwell completed three straight passes to open Troy's ensuing drives, which moved the ball to the A-State 30-yard line with 10 seconds to play. However, Caldwell's pass on Troy's next play was intercepted in the end zone to end the game.

Raynor completed 25-of-40 passes for 349 yards but did not find the end zone and rushed for a team-high 71 yards on 12 carries. Corey Rucker led the way with 12 catches for 193 yards.

Caldwell completed 22-of-33 passes for 304 yards and two touchdowns, while Green topped the 100-yard mark for the second time this season as he finished with 113 yards on 20 carries. Devonte Ross pulled down 11 catches for 126 yards, his third 100-yard game this season.

Up Next
Troy hosts Coastal Carolina on Saturday at The Vet for Homecoming; kickoff is set for 3 p.m.

Quotable – Troy Head Coach Gerad Parker
I hurt so much for our players and staff. Honestly, I can't tell you how much I hurt for them. All my colleagues and the people I care about in this profession ask me, "How are our players? Are they still playing hard?' They've prepared so hard and have given so much to get this thing turned around and it showed.

Notable
• Troy won the coin toss for the fourth straight time after opening the season 0-4. The Trojans are now 12-24 the last three seasons and 6-15 the last two seasons on the coin toss; Troy elected to defer to the second half, marking just the second time this year that the Trojans didn't receive the opening kickoff.

• WR Roman Mothershead and DE Jabril McNeill made their first career starts in a Troy uniform and at the FBS level; Troy entered the week tied for first nationally (Air Force) with 24 players starting their first game at the FBS level this year.

• Matthew Caldwell started at quarterback for Troy; the Trojans have now had three different quarterbacks start multiple games this season -- Goose Crowder (4), Tucker Kilcrease (2), Matthew Caldwell (2).

• Devonte Ross tied a career-high with 11 catches for 126 yards, his fourth 100-yard game this season, just one off Troy's single-season record held by Kaylon Geiger (2019) and Chip Reeves (2012).

• Devonte Ross crossed the 100-reception mark for his career as he pushed his tally to 102, just two outside the top 20 in program history.

• Gerald Green rushed 20 times for 113 yards and a touchdown. It was his second 100-yard game this season and fourth of his
career.

• Brody Dalton caught his first career touchdown pass, a 16-yard strike from Matthew Caldwell, in the third quarter. It was Dalton's 28th career game played between his career at UAB and Troy.

• Peyton Higgins caught a 1-yard touchdown pass to cap Troy's 21-point third quarter outburst; it was his first touchdown reception this season and first since 2022.

• Troy rushed for 162 yards as a team, which included a -23-yard team rush; it marked the fifth time this season that Troy has rushed for more than 100 yards in a game this season.

• Troy passed for a season-high 304 yards in the game, marking the first time it topped the 300-yard mark through the air this season.

• Troy had six passing plays of 20 yards or more in the game; its most this season (Texas State, 5).

• Troy's 21-point third quarter would have outscored four of Troy's full games from this season and tied another.

• Troy totaled 193 yards of offense in the third quarter, and Caldwell completed 8-of-9 passes and threw two touchdowns.

• Troy's offensive line did not allow a sack; the first time this season, it has done so. It was Troy's sixth different offensive line combination in eight games.

• After recording 4.5 tackles for loss at South Alabama in Troy's last game, Brendan Jackson added two against Arkansas State, including on 3rd-and-goal from the 1-yard line on A-State's opening possession to force a field goal. He was responsible for the only sack of the game by either team.

• Troy's defense had back-to-back goal line stands to open the game; A-State had 1st-and-goal from the 4-yard line on both drives and settled for field goals on both drives.

• Troy forced two Arkansas State turnovers; the Trojans entered the week second nationally since 2016 with 195 forced turnovers. It marked the 92nd time in the last 115 games that Troy has forced a turnover and the 59th time in that span with multiple turnovers.

• Brendan Jackson, Damaje Yancey and Devin Lafayette all set career-highs with 10 tackles to lead Troy.

• Damaje Yancey and LJ Green set career-highs with two pass break ups.

• Scott Taylor Renfroe improved to 9-for-10 on field goals this season with a 37-yard field goal in the second quarter. He is now 28-of-34 in his career, tying Will Scott for eighth all-time in program history in career makes.

• Scott Taylor Renfroe moved into 20th place all-time in Troy history with 151 career points scored after scoring seven on Saturday.