Troy Downs SBC East Leader Georgia Southern

Saturday, November 16

Statesboro, Ga.

3 p.m.

Troy University

Georgia Southern

Troy Downs SBC East Leader Georgia Southern

11/16/2024 8:29:00 PM | Football

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

STATESBORO, Ga. – Troy's late-season resurgence continued Saturday afternoon as the Trojans walked into Paulson Stadium and walked away with a 28-20 victory over Sun Belt East Division-leading Georgia Southern.

The victory was Troy's 100^th as a member of the Sun Belt, the first school in league history to hit the mark, and the Trojans' fourth in the last five meetings against the Eagles.

Matthew Caldwell accounted for all four of Troy's touchdowns, rushing for a pair of scores and throwing touchdown passes to Brody Dalton and Devonte Ross, while the Troy (3-7, 2-4 SBC) defense limited Georgia Southern (6-4, 4-2) to just 246 yards of total offense on 48 plays.

Troy's offense controlled the ballgame, racking up 441 yards and maintaining possession for more than 38 minutes, thanks to an 11-of-14 conversion rate on third down. Troy's 79 percent conversion rate on third down is even more impressive when you factor in that the Trojans' average need on third down was 7.4 yards.

Caldwell, who had his hand in 10 of the 11 third-down conversions either with his legs or his arm, completed 26-of-32 passes for 288 yards, while rushing 12 times for 13 yards (rushed for 35 positive yards before sacks).

Trailing 10-7 at the break, Troy stuffed Georgia Southern on three straight plays to open the second half and then responded with an 11-play, 71-yard drive capped by a 4-yard touchdown pass from Caldwell to Ross.

Ross finished with 11 catches for 95 yards, while Damien Taylor rushed 18 times for 92 yards to lead the Trojans.

The Eagles answered to regain the lead with a 1-yard touchdown run by Jalen White after a controversial pass interference call in the end zone on third down kept the Eagles' touchdown hopes alive.

The lead was short-lived as the Trojans answered thanks to a pair of chunk plays through the air at the end of the third quarter. Caldwell hit Peyton Higgins for 37 yards and then Ethan Conner for 29 yards on consecutive plays to set up Troy with a 1^st-and-goal from the 2-yard line to open the fourth quarter. Caldwell punched it on third down to put the Trojans back in front 21-17.

After an Eagle field goal closed the gap to 21-20, Troy milked 8:11 off the clock with a 16-play drive that ended with Caldwell in the end zone for his second rushing touchdown with 2:32 to play in the game.

On the second play on Georgia Southern's ensuing drive, Justin Powe intercepted JC French, and the Trojans ran out the clock to secure their second straight win.

French completed 17-of-28 passes for 171 yards, while OJ Arnold rushed five times for 26 yards for the Eagles.

Up Next
Troy hits the road for another battle with a divisional leader as the Trojans travel to Lafayette, Louisiana, for a showdown with SBC West leader Louisiana next Saturday at 4 p.m.

Quotable – Head Coach Gerad Parker
"Sometimes I wish our Troy faithful could come watch these guys practice. Good things have been happening from early on, but it just wasn't enough good things. Now, the numbers we are putting up, the pace we are moving out, the joy that is in our building, and how they are accepting coaching is all changing. Just the sound of the building is changing because we are winning. Sooner or later, you have to start seeing some results, and we are seeing that now. We have to have that to create belief in what is there, and we have that now. We are behaving like a team that wants to keep playing."

Notable
• Troy improves to 15-7 all-time against Georgia Southern and has won five of the last six meetings. It was Troy's first win at Paulson Stadium since 2018 and just its second since 1992.

• Troy becomes the first program in Sun Belt history to reach the 100-win mark in league play; the Trojans joined the Sun Belt three seasons (2004) into the league's existence when current members Arkansas State, ULM and Louisiana joined the league.

• Troy won for the first time this season when trailing at the half; Georgia Southern led 10-7. It was Troy's first win when losing at halftime since Oct. 28, 2023, when Troy rallied from a 10-7 deficit at Texas State to win 31-13.

• Troy reached the red zone on its first drive of the game but failed to score, marking the first time this season that the Trojans were not successful on a red zone trip. The Trojans were the last team this season to have a 100 percent conversion rate (24-of-24).

• Brody Dalton caught a 6-yard touchdown pass on Troy's second drive of the game, it was his second career touchdown reception, both coming in Troy's last three games.

• Matthew Caldwell accounted for four total touchdowns in the game, with two rushing scores and two passing touchdowns. He now has a touchdown pass in 10 career games and in five games this season and multiple TD passes in six career games and three in 2024.

• Matthew Caldwell's rushing touchdowns marked the first time in his career he's scored twice on the ground and the sixth time he's scored a rushing touchdown (third this season).

• Matthew Caldwell is the first Trojan to rush for multiple touchdowns this season; he is the first Troy quarterback since Gunnar Watson at App State in 2022 to rush for a pair of touchdowns in a game.

• Devonte Ross caught his 10th touchdown pass of the season to move into a tie for sixth place on Troy's single-season touchdown list; he also moved into a tie for fourth place with 13 career touchdown receptions.

• Devonte Ross moved into 14th place all-time in Troy history with 116 career receptions after catching 10 passes in the victory.

• After a season-low 172 yards at South Alabama, Troy has topped the 440-yard mark in three straight games after recording 441 yards against Georgia Southern.

• Troy ran a season-high 73 plays in the game and the Trojans have topped the 70-play in three straight games; the Trojans had run 58 or fewer plays in four of the previous six games.

• Troy held Georgia Southern to just 48 plays of total offense, the fewest by a Troy opponent since Mississippi State ran 48 plays on Oct. 10, 2015.

• Troy held Georgia Southern to just 75 rushing yards, 171 passing yards and 246 yards of total offense ... it was the Eagles' second-fewest passing yards and total yards (Ole Miss) and third-fewest rushing yards (Ole Miss, Nevada) this season.

• The game marked the second this season (ULM) that Troy has held an opponent to fewer than 250 yards of total offense and the 39th time since moving to the FBS ranks in 2001; the Trojans improved to 34-5 in such games. Troy has now held multiple opponents to fewer than 250 yards in six straight seasons.

• Troy improved to 108-17 since 2004 when allowing fewer than 24 points and 65-5 when allowing less than 100 yards rushing.