Troy Falls to Jacksonville State in IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl

Tuesday, December 16

Montgomery, Ala.

8 p.m.

Troy University

8-6 , 6-2

Jacksonville State

9-5 , 7-1

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Troy

Jacksonville State

Troy Falls to Jacksonville State in IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl

12/17/2025 12:39:00 AM | Football

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Troy's defense delivered one of its most disruptive performances of the season, yet the Trojans came up short in a 17–13 loss to Jacksonville State on Tuesday night in the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl at the Cramton Bowl.

Troy (8-6) finished with five sacks, a defensive touchdown and held Jacksonville State to 273 total yards, its lowest output of the season. The Trojans also limited the Gamecocks to 100 rushing yards after Jacksonville State entered the game averaging 258 yards per contest on the ground.

The Trojans answered an early Jacksonville State touchdown with a defensive score late in the first quarter. T.J. Thompson stripped quarterback Caden Creel on a sack in the end zone, and Luis Medina recovered the fumble for a touchdown to tie the game at 7 with 1:39 remaining in the period.

Scott Taylor Renfroe gave Troy the lead in the second quarter, connecting on field goals of 38 and 30 yards as the Trojans took a 13-7 advantage into halftime. Renfroe finished with seven points, moving into seventh place on Troy's career scoring list.

Quarterback Goose Crowder was injured in the first quarter, limiting Troy's offensive rhythm. Tucker Kilcrease completed 12-of-23 passes for 116 yards in relief, while RaRa Thomas caught five passes for 52 yards.

Jacksonville State (9-5) trimmed the margin to three on a 51-yard field goal by Garrison Rippa midway through the third quarter before taking the lead early in the fourth on Andrew Paul's 1-yard rushing touchdown.

Jordan Stringer led Troy with a career-high 16 tackles, and Justin Powe added 10 as the Trojans recorded their fifth defensive touchdown of the season.

Quotable – Troy head coach Gerad Parker
"We tried to manufacture explosive plays on that two-minute drive with the limited time we had, and we got as much as we could out of it.

"I'm not pleased with how we performed today. It's still very fresh. But I'm proud of this team, our program and our staff for doubling our win total from last season. The work is far from over, and there is still work to be done heading into next year.

"I give Jacksonville State a lot of credit for the win. We played well enough on defense, had a good attack, and the defense kept us in it down the stretch. The biggest thing right now is accountability. That doesn't change from game one to game 14. For the most part, we maintained that all season, but today we couldn't finish. It's my job to stand tall in victory or defeat and be there for my players. Today is going to stick with them for a while, but I'm proud of them. And that's what I told them. This season wasn't a disappointment based on one result. They need to take a step back, look at the big picture and recognize the entire resume from this year."

Notable
• Troy became the first school to play in all three Alabama bowl games following Troy's appearance in the IS4S Salute to Veterans Bowl -- Birmingham (2023), Mobile (2010, 2016, 2018).

• Troy fell to 6-5 all-time in bowl games.

• Troy finished the season with eight wins, a four-win improvement from last season.

• Tyler Bell and Patrick Screws Jr. made their first career starts on the offensive line; the Trojans started the fifth different offensive line unit of the season.
• RaRa Thomas caught five passes for 52 yards; he finished the season with 16 catches for 302 yards over the last four games.

• Troy recorded five sacks as a team, the second-most in a bowl game in program history (2017 New Orleans Bowl, 6).

• Troy recorded three or more sacks in nine games this season; the Trojans entered bowl season ranked second in the country in the category.

• Troy has recorded multiple sacks in 35 games since the start of the 2022 season, four or more sacks in 18 games and five or more sacks in 11 games. It marked Troy's first loss over that span when recording five or more sacks.

• Donnie Smith recorded his Sun Belt-leading 11th sack of the season ... he entered bowl season tied for second in the country with a sack in nine different games.

• Troy held Jacksonville State to 273 yards of total offense, its lowest output of the season.

• Troy held Jacksonville State to 100 rushing yards, its fewest of the season by 41 yards. Jax State entered bowl season ranked fourth nationally, averaging 258.0 rushing yards per game.

• Jordan Stringer recorded a career-high 16 tackles and added a half sack.

• T.J. Thompson recorded his first career sack, which also forced a fumble that Luis Medina recovered for a touchdown.

• The defensive touchdown was Troy's fifth of the season and second fumble recovery for a touchdown. It's Troy's most defensive touchdowns in a season since 2015, when it also had five.

• Troy has 19 defensive touchdowns since the start of the 2020 season, tied with Notre Dame for the third most in the country.

• Justin Powe recorded 10 tackles for his second straight double-digit tackle game, the only two of his career.

• Scott Taylor Renfroe scored seven points in the game, pushing his career total to 246, passing Tyler Sumpter for seventh all-time in Troy history.

• Scott Taylor Renfroe made 2-of-3 field goals in the game ... he finished his career with 41 field goals, the fourth most in program history, while his 53 attempts also rank as the fourth most.