Troy Dominates Southern Miss, Wins SBC West for Third Time in Four Seasons

Saturday, November 29

Hattiesburg, Miss.

2:30 p.m.

Troy University

8-4 , 6-2

Southern Miss

7-5 , 5-3

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Troy

Southern Miss.

Troy Dominates Southern Miss, Wins SBC West for Third Time in Four Seasons

11/29/2025 8:17:00 PM | Football

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

By: Troy Athletics Communications

HATTIESBURG, Miss. – In a winner-take-all showdown, Troy left no doubt about the top team in the Sun Belt West Division, defeating Southern Miss 28-18 on Saturday at M.M. Roberts Stadium. The victory delivers Troy its third West title in four seasons and sends the Trojans to James Madison on Friday for the Sun Belt Championship Game.

Troy (8-4, 6-2 SBC) outgained Southern Miss by 124 yards and held the Golden Eagles to 304 total yards; 30 of those came on a gadget play in the third quarter. The Trojans limited Southern Miss to fewer than 100 rushing yards and to its second-lowest yardage total of the season.

Goose Crowder completed 24-of-34 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns; two went to RaRa Thomas in the fourth quarter. Thomas finished with five catches for 118 yards and added 39 rushing yards on three carries. Crowder has completed 51-of-77 passes for 646 yards and nine touchdowns in two games since returning to the starting job.

Troy swung the momentum late in the first half when Ray Guy finalist Evan Crenshaw completed an 11-yard pass to Donnie Smith on a fake punt. Crenshaw also pinned Southern Miss inside the 8-yard line three times. Six plays after the fake, Crowder found Peyton Higgins for a 16-yard touchdown, Higgins' first score of the season; five of his six receptions moved the chains or produced points.

Southern Miss (7-5, 4-3 SBC) scored twice in the second half and cut Troy's lead to 21-18 with 4:52 to play. Tae Meadows powered much of that drive, carrying four consecutive times for 44 yards. Meadows led Troy with 94 yards on 21 carries and helped the Trojans record their highest rushing total since early October.

On the first play of the ensuing drive, Crowder hit Thomas in stride at the Southern Miss 40; Thomas finished a 75-yard touchdown for a 28-18 advantage with 3:16 remaining.

Troy's defense pressured Braylon Braxton throughout the night and recorded three sacks; Smith had two to raise his league-leading total to nine. Devin Lafayette intercepted a pass for the second straight week, forced a fumble and tallied 1.5 tackles for loss.

Up Next
Troy travels to James Madison on Friday for its third Sun Belt Championship Game appearance in four seasons; kickoff is set for 6 p.m. on ESPN.

Notable
• Troy improved to 7-8 all-time against Southern Miss and 5-4 against the Golden Eagles in Hattiesburg ... the Trojans have won five straight in the series and six of the last seven games.

• Troy has won the Sun Belt West Division for the third time in the last four seasons and will play in the Sun Belt Conference Championship Game.

• Troy hosted the SBC Championship Game in 2022 against Coastal Carolina (W, 45-26) and 2023 against App State (W, 49-23). This will be the Trojans' first time playing in the game on the road (at James Madison).

• Troy has won nine of its last 12 Sun Belt games and 11 of its last 16 games overall.

• Tae Meadows scored his first touchdown since Oct. 18 at ULM to put Troy on the board in the second quarter; it was his fifth of the season and sixth of his career. It was Troy's first rushing touchdown in three games and first by a running back in four games.

• Goose Crowder completed 24-of-34 passes for 285 yards and three touchdowns ... since returning as the starting quarterback (last two games), he has completed 51-of-77 passes for 646 yards and nine touchdowns.

• RaRa Thomas caught five passes for 118 yards and two touchdowns; it was his first 100-yard game since a 134-yard effort against Texas A&M in 2002 when he played at Mississippi State. It was his first two-touchdown game since that same 2022 season against Auburn. Thomas also rushed three times for 39 yards.

• Peyton Higgins caught his third career touchdown pass and first of the season; it was his first since at Arkansas State last season.

• Troy rushed for 132 yards, its first time topping the 100-yard mark since Oct. 4 against South Alabama. It marked the first time Troy outrushed its opponent since Sept. 20 at Buffalo.

• Troy has won eight of its last nine games when reaching the 100-yard rushing mark and is 5-0 this season.

• Troy improved to 6-0 this season when reaching 20 first downs; the Trojans had 22 in the game.

• Troy finished with 428 yards of total offense, its second straight game with more than 400 yards ... the Trojans went four consecutive games without reaching the 400-yard mark.

• Troy passed for 285 yards in the game, marking the first time since week three and four (James Madison, Western Kentucky) in 2023 that Troy passed for 285 yards or more in consecutive games.

• Troy held Southern Miss to 304 yards of total offense; the Golden Eagles' lowest output since Mississippi State held them to 301 yards in the opener.

• Troy held Southern Miss to 95 rushing yards; the Golden Eagles' second-lowest output of the season (41 yards at South Alabama last week) ... it was just the second time USM was held under 100 yards this season.

• Donnie Smith entered the weekend leading the Sun Belt with seven sacks; he added two against the Golden Eagles. He entered the week seventh nationally with a sack in six different games. Donnie Smith also had an 11-yard reception on a fake punt, which set up a Troy touchdown at the end of the first half.

• Devin Lafayette intercepted a pass for a second straight game on Southern Miss' second drive of the game; it was the second of his Troy career and fourth overall (had two at Northern Illinois). Lafayette also forced a fumble and recorded 1.5 tackles for loss.

• The Trojans have forced 11 turnovers in the 22 quarters after forcing just four in the first 26 quarters of the season.

• Troy has held opponents to 375 yards or fewer in eight games this season; Troy is 6-2 in those games.

• Troy has held 25 opponents to 19 points or fewer since the start of the 2022 season; Troy was 15th nationally entering the weekend.

• Troy entered the weekend ranked 17th nationally, holding opponents to touchdowns on just 48.72 percent of their red zone possessions; Southern Miss was 1-for-3 scoring touchdowns in the red zone.

• Jordan Stringer moved into sixth place in Troy history with 153 career assisted tackles after recording six on Saturday.

• Named a Ray Guy finalist earlier in the week, Evan Crenshaw placed two punts inside the 3-yard line, another at the 8-yard line, had a 49-yard punt and completed an 11-yard pass on a fake punt to set up a Troy touchdown at the end of the first half.

• It was Troy's first fake punt since 2019 against Georgia Southern.