No. 8 Clemson Rallies to Thwart Upset-Minded Troy

Saturday, September 6

Clemson, S.C.

2:30 p.m.

Troy University

1-1 , 0-0

Clemson

1-1 , 0-0

1st

2nd

3rd

4th

Troy

Clemson

No. 8 Clemson Rallies to Thwart Upset-Minded Troy

9/6/2025 8:56:00 PM | Football

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By: Troy Athletics Communications

CLEMSON, S.C. – Entering Saturday as more than 30-point underdogs, Troy led No. 8 Clemson 16-3 at the half, but the Tigers scored on their first four possessions of the second half thanks to a pair of Troy turnovers and a failed fake field goal to escape Memorial Stadium with a 27-16 victory.

Troy (1-1) jumped on Clemson out of the gate, needing just five plays to cover 75 yards, thanks to a 44-yard touchdown pass from Goose Crowder to Tray Taylor. The Trojans held the Tigers (1-1) to a three-and-out on the ensuing drive before the game was delayed for 99 minutes due to lightning.

An interception set the Tigers up on the Troy 30-yard line late in the first quarter, but on a 4^th-and-2, Luke Hodge dislodged the ball from Adam Randell and Justin Powe returned it 53 yards to the Clemson 32-yard line.

The Trojans got a 37-yard field goal out of the opportunity to grab a 10-0 lead early in the second quarter, then two drives later it was Hodge again for Troy.

After an Evan Crenshaw punt pinned Clemson on its 8-yard line, Hodge deflected a pass at the line of scrimmage and T.J. Thompson pulled it out of the air and returned it four yards for a touchdown.

Clemson's lone points of the opening half came on a 25-yard field goal with 4:11 to play in the second period, and Troy missed a 51-yard opportunity as the clock expired before the break.

Randell found the end zone from 1-yard out on Clemson's opening drive of the third quarter, and Crowder's second pass on the ensuing possession was deflected and intercepted. The Tigers capitalized on the first play following the pick with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Cade Klubnik to Bryant Wesco Jr.

Another deflected pass led to a third Crowder interception on Troy's next series, which Clemson turned into a 30-yard field goal to extend its lead to 20-16. The Trojans followed with an impressive drive down to the Clemson 22-yard line, but a fake field goal resulted in a sack and a Clemson touchdown seven plays later.

Troy held Clemson to just 316 yards of offense in the game, the Tigers' fewest against a non-Power Four opponent since South Florida held them to 296 yards in a neutral site game in 2010; it was the fewest at home by a Clemson squad against a non-P4 opponent since 2001 when UCF held the Tigers to 292 yards.

Up Next
Troy returns to The Vet on Saturday, Sept. 13, for a non-conference matchup with Memphis. Kickoff is scheduled for 11 a.m. and the game will be televised on ESPNU.

Quotable – Troy Head Coach Gerad Parker.
To win a game like this, we looked at a recipe for Troy. We studied it all summer long. Rushing yards and turnover margin were two of the biggest things. In the first half, we performed exceptionally well. But, in the second half, not so much. I told our guys, losing is unacceptable. The expectation is to win at Troy, and we came into today with that expectation and believed we could win. I'm so proud of our coaching staff and our guys. If we had had a couple of things go our way, we would've walked away with something special.

Notable
• Troy's last two losses to Clemson have come by a combined 13 points; the Tigers were ranked No. 2 and No. 8 in those contests.

• With the touchdown pass on the opening drive, Troy extended its consecutive drive with a score streak to seven straight (not counting taking a knee to run out the clock vs. Nicholls) ... it was the most consecutive drives with a score since 2022 when Troy scored on eight straight drives at Arkansas State and against Coastal Carolina (SBC Championship Game).

• RaRa Thomas caught four passes for 40 yards; he now has a reception in 30 straight games.

• Tight end Ethan Conner finished with three receptions for a career-high 53 yards.

• Luke Hodge forced a fumble on 4th-and-2 at the end of the first quarter and Justin Powe returned it 53 yards ... it was the first forced fumble in Hodge's career and the longest fumble return by a Trojan since a 63-yard return by Chris Pickett against Middle Tennessee on Sept. 24, 2011.

• Luke Hodge broke up a pass that T.J. Thompson intercepted and returned for a touchdown to give Troy a 16-0 lead in the second quarter. It's the second time this season that a Trojan defender has forced a fumble and broken up a pass in a game (Devin Lafayette, Nicholls).

• T.J. Thompson returned an interception four yards for a touchdown in the second quarter; it was Troy's first interception for a touchdown since a 45-yard return by Reddy Steward in 2023. It was Troy's first defensive score since a 10-yard fumble return for a touchdown by Don Callis in the 2023 Sun Belt Championship Game against App State.

• Troy held Clemson to 316 yards of total offense, the fewest by a non-Power 4 opponent since South Florida limited the Tigers to 296 yards in 2010 and the fewest at home by a non-P4 opponent since UCF held the Tigers to 292 yards in 2001.

• Troy held Clemson to 196 passing yards, the fewest by a Clemson squad since Georgia held it to 142 yards in the 2024 season opener. It was the fewest allowed by a non-Power 4 team since Georgia State held the Tigers to 148 yards in 2014.

• Troy limited Clemson to 3.9 yards per carry (120 yards on 31 carries) ... it's the lowest output against a non-Power 4 team since UConn held Clemson to 3.0 yards per carry (129 yards on 43 carries) in 2021.

• Troy held Clemson to 114 yards on 27 plays and three points in the first half.

• Troy forced a pair of Clemson turnovers to push its total to 203 since the start of the 2016 season; Troy entered the week fifth in the country over that period. It was Troy's 61st multi-turnover game in its last 121 contests.

• Troy has now held six of its last eight opponents to 318 yards or fewer after holding Clemson to 316 yards in the game.