Troy Drops Season Opener to Nevada

Saturday, August 31

Troy, Ala.

6 p.m.

Troy University

0-1 , 0-0

Nevada

1-1 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Nevada

Troy

8/31/2024 11:02:00 PM | Football

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. – Nevada took advantage of a strong rushing game to hold off a late Troy rally as the Wolf Pack snapped Troy's five-game home winning streak with a 28-26 victory on Saturday night at Veterans Memorial Stadium.

Nevada (1-1) scored two rushing touchdowns en route to 218 total yards on the ground, including 140 in the second half to wear down the Troy (0-1) defense. The Wolf Pack scored 22 of its 28 points in the final 30 minutes of the game.

Troy pulled within eight, 28-20, on a 19-yard field goal from Scott Taylor Renfroe with 6:12 to play in the game and got the ball back with 2:17 remaining after holding Nevada to just one first down following the field goal.

Goose Crowder led Troy on a 9-play, 75-yard drive in 116 seconds, capped by a 16-yard touchdown pass to Devote Ross, who made a spectacular catch to keep one foot in bounds. However, Troy's two-point conversion was unsuccessful, and the Wolf Pack recovered the ensuing onside kick to close out the game.

Both teams' offenses moved the ball throughout the game, as Troy totaled 391 yards, including 190 on the ground, while Nevada had 393 yards of offense.

Damien Taylor opened the scoring for Troy on a 25-yard rushing touchdown to make it a 7-0 lead with 3:59 remaining in the first quarter. Taylor had a strong night for Troy, rushing for a career-high 103 yards on 11 carries.

Troy extended its lead to 14-0 with 3:08 left in the first half on a 16-yard rushing touchdown by Gerald Green, his first as a Trojan. Green logged 40 yards on 11 carries.

Nevada found the end zone for the first time with 25 seconds left until the halftime break on a 17-yard pass from Brendon Lewis to Jace Henry. The Wolf P{ack missed the extra point, and the two teams went into the break with Troy leading 14-6.

Nevada opened the second half with a 75-yard drive that culminated with a 1-yard touchdown run by running back Patrick Garwo III, and after converting the two-point conversion, Nevada leveled things at 14-14.

Renfroe knocked in a 30-yard field goal to put Troy in front 17-14 with 7:24 in the third, but Nevada answered right back with a 22-yard touchdown run from Garwo III to jump ahead 21-17.

The Wolf Pack extended their lead to 28-17 after Marcus Bellon snagged a 7-yard pass from Lewis with 12:56 left in the fourth quarter.

Crowder finished the night 20-of-30 passing for 201 yards and completed his second career touchdown pass and first a Trojan. Ross led the team in receiving yards with 103 on seven receptions and had one touchdown.

Lewis completed 17 of his 20 passes for 158 yards and two touchdowns for the Wolf Pack. Savion Red led Nevada with 137 rushing yards on 11 carriers.

On defense, Brendan Jackson led Troy with 1.5 tackles for loss. Troy finished with five tackles for loss and no sacks as a team.

Troy hits the road next Saturday for a nationally televised game against Memphis. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. on ESPNU.

Quotable – Troy Head Coach Gerad Parker
"Certainly not the way we want to come in and greet you all for the first time after this football game that way. We fell short. I would open by saying a wonderful thanks to our fanbase, our fans, our students and everyone who showed up and gave us a great environment to open the season for 2024. Disappointed for them that we couldn't bring them home a smile and finish the football game.

"You tip your hat to Nevada. Coach had his guys ready to go. They came out here on the road, traveled across the country and were ready to play, certainly at the end of the first half as well as going into the second half. It was just too much for us in the third quarter to overcome, so I tip the hat.

"I'm certainly proud of our guys. They battled to the end and played football to the last chance to tie that game up with the two-point play. We just didn't have enough. I certainly hold myself responsible for everything that happened. We will look at this as we always do with a critical eye to see where we are, see where our personnel is and our schemes and put ourselves in a position to go win a game next week. That's all we can do. We've been at this for a long time. This stings. It hurts, and losing is not acceptable here, and we know that. We'll do everything in our power to make this football team where we want it to be."