Troy University Athletics
NOTEBOOK - Troy Rushing Attack One for the Record Books
10/7/2026 12:10:00 AM | Football
After a career-best rushing night of 145 yards for Goose Crowder, the Troy senior quarterback known much more for his passing quipped, "I had two older brothers growing up, so I had to run away from them a lot."
Crowder certainly had his legs in motion for the Trojans during a 55-34 win over Southern Mississippi at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Tuesday night.
The rushing yards ranks second most in a game for a quarterback in school history, just behind Mike Turk, who rushed for 190 against Portland State in the 1987 Division II national championship game.
Crowder was asked when the last time he ran that much in a game.
"Probably my junior or senior year in high school - it's been a while," Crowder said. "It was a lot of fun. It's not something I would consider the strongest part of my game, but it's what tonight called for."
In the first quarter alone, the senior compiled 94 yards rushing on five tries. In the previous four games, Crowder had rushed for 74 net yards on 25 carries.
By halftime, he had rushed for 136 yards on 13 attempts. In contrast, Southern Miss had 40 yards rushing over the first two quarters on 13 attempts.
Troy head coach Gerad Parker said filmwork showed there were some good opportunities to give Crowder some runs.
"There was some design QB-run game," Parker said. "There were some things we liked on tape … we liked our match-ups on tape … that proved to be true, certainly up front to get to the number we did."
Crowder, who carried the ball 17 times in the game, also scored two touchdowns on runs of 9 yards in the first quarter and 1 yard in the second quarter as Troy sprinted to a 31-7 lead by halftime.
Crowder also had a fine night passing, completing 18-of-21 for 225 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw the key block on a 68-yard run by Jordan Lovett late in the third quarter.
Crowder is one of just four quarterbacks this season to throw for more than 225 yards and rush for more than 140 yards in a game; LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina), Michael Hawkins Jr. (West Virginia) and Avery Johnson (Kansas State).
Crowder set the tone early with his legs. His first run Tuesday night was for 14 yards to the Southern Miss 45 on the opening series of the game. He also had a 5-yard run on the drive and broke loose on a 18-yard scamper to the 15. On the next play, Lovett scored over the left side.
Late in the opening quarter, Crowder ran free on a keeper for 48 yards to the USM 11 on what was his longest run of his college career, eclipsing his previous career-high run of 23 yards. Two plays later, Crowder kept it up the middle, lowered his shoulder and busted through a would-be tackler before taking it into the end zone for a 9-yard TD run.
Crowder scored on a 1-yard sneak with 6:20 to play in the first half to make it a 24-7 Troy lead following the extra point kick.
Lovett on the move
Troy running back Jordan Lovett had a huge night, rushing for 145 yards on 17 attempts with a 15-yard touchdown run and also caught a 46-yard touchdown pass over the middle, breaking a tackle along the way, on the first Troy drive of the second half.
The Troy rushing attack as a whole compiled 437 yards on 59 attempts. Besides the big nights by Lovett and Crowder, Gavin Griffin compiled 78 yards on 15 attempts with a touchdown and Jaheim Merriweather rushed for 72 yards on 15 carries with a score.
It was the most rushing yards in a game for the Trojans since rushing for 464 against Southern Utah in 2002.
The way the ball is distributed fairly equally to the running backs is something Lovett believes helps keep them fresh.
"The main thing I believe helps us is our energy," Lovett said. "We pick up off each other."
Troy's five rushing touchdowns in the game are tied for the most in the program's Division I history and tied for the fourth most in program history.
Can't stop this
Troy scored on each of its five possessions in the first half - four touchdowns and a field goal - in possessing the ball 20:43. Troy's offense put up 336 yards of offense in the first half (242 rushing, 94 passing) in leading 31-7 at the break.
It didn't stop there. The Trojans scored a touchdown on its opening possession of the second half, answering a touchdown Southern Miss had on its first drive after halftime.
Troy was stopped on its second drive of the third quarter, resulting in the first punt of the night from Evan Crenshaw, which went for 45 yards.
For the game, the Trojans put up points on nine of 11 drives. The Trojans compiled 662 yards of total offense (437 rushing and 224 passing) and had 33 first downs.
"When you run the football for over 400 yards, that kind of gets some things open," Parker said. "We liked some match-ups, too, in our throw game, but to be honest, we didn't have to do as much of that as the game developed.
"Tonight was a culmination of a lot of really good practice habits. We had our best week in practice, period. You see the results of that. Now, we'll see if we can repeat it."
I'll take that
Troy defensive end Kavion Henderson was in the right place at the right time as he intercepted a pass from Southern Miss QB Landry Lyddy at the Trojans' 25. Lyddy rolled to his right and threw right into the hands of Henderson, who caught the ball falling to the ground.
It was Henderson's first interception of his college career.
Troy cornerback Jabari Strait also came up with a pickoff at the Trojans' 5-yard line early in the second half for his first career interception.
Defensive end Makel Green came up with a fumble recovery at the Troy 26 after Bandit Donnie Smith sacked USM QB Landy Lyddy to force the turnover at the 11:19 mark of the fourth quarter.
"It was just a regular pass rush … showing a lot of effort … knowing we needed that takeaway at that point of the game," Smith said. "It's just something we always stress to get more takeaways."
A freshman first
When tight end Nick Hampton hauled in a 5-yard touchdown pass with just 16 seconds left in the first half, it marked the first touchdown for the freshman from Gulf Shores. He's seen the end zone before, catching seven touchdown passes as a high school senior and eight as a junior at Gulf Shores High School.
Crowder certainly had his legs in motion for the Trojans during a 55-34 win over Southern Mississippi at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Tuesday night.
The rushing yards ranks second most in a game for a quarterback in school history, just behind Mike Turk, who rushed for 190 against Portland State in the 1987 Division II national championship game.
Crowder was asked when the last time he ran that much in a game.
"Probably my junior or senior year in high school - it's been a while," Crowder said. "It was a lot of fun. It's not something I would consider the strongest part of my game, but it's what tonight called for."
In the first quarter alone, the senior compiled 94 yards rushing on five tries. In the previous four games, Crowder had rushed for 74 net yards on 25 carries.
By halftime, he had rushed for 136 yards on 13 attempts. In contrast, Southern Miss had 40 yards rushing over the first two quarters on 13 attempts.
Troy head coach Gerad Parker said filmwork showed there were some good opportunities to give Crowder some runs.
"There was some design QB-run game," Parker said. "There were some things we liked on tape … we liked our match-ups on tape … that proved to be true, certainly up front to get to the number we did."
Crowder, who carried the ball 17 times in the game, also scored two touchdowns on runs of 9 yards in the first quarter and 1 yard in the second quarter as Troy sprinted to a 31-7 lead by halftime.
Crowder also had a fine night passing, completing 18-of-21 for 225 yards and two touchdowns. He also threw the key block on a 68-yard run by Jordan Lovett late in the third quarter.
Crowder is one of just four quarterbacks this season to throw for more than 225 yards and rush for more than 140 yards in a game; LaNorris Sellers (South Carolina), Michael Hawkins Jr. (West Virginia) and Avery Johnson (Kansas State).
Crowder set the tone early with his legs. His first run Tuesday night was for 14 yards to the Southern Miss 45 on the opening series of the game. He also had a 5-yard run on the drive and broke loose on a 18-yard scamper to the 15. On the next play, Lovett scored over the left side.
Late in the opening quarter, Crowder ran free on a keeper for 48 yards to the USM 11 on what was his longest run of his college career, eclipsing his previous career-high run of 23 yards. Two plays later, Crowder kept it up the middle, lowered his shoulder and busted through a would-be tackler before taking it into the end zone for a 9-yard TD run.
Crowder scored on a 1-yard sneak with 6:20 to play in the first half to make it a 24-7 Troy lead following the extra point kick.
Lovett on the move
Troy running back Jordan Lovett had a huge night, rushing for 145 yards on 17 attempts with a 15-yard touchdown run and also caught a 46-yard touchdown pass over the middle, breaking a tackle along the way, on the first Troy drive of the second half.
The Troy rushing attack as a whole compiled 437 yards on 59 attempts. Besides the big nights by Lovett and Crowder, Gavin Griffin compiled 78 yards on 15 attempts with a touchdown and Jaheim Merriweather rushed for 72 yards on 15 carries with a score.
It was the most rushing yards in a game for the Trojans since rushing for 464 against Southern Utah in 2002.
The way the ball is distributed fairly equally to the running backs is something Lovett believes helps keep them fresh.
"The main thing I believe helps us is our energy," Lovett said. "We pick up off each other."
Troy's five rushing touchdowns in the game are tied for the most in the program's Division I history and tied for the fourth most in program history.
Can't stop this
Troy scored on each of its five possessions in the first half - four touchdowns and a field goal - in possessing the ball 20:43. Troy's offense put up 336 yards of offense in the first half (242 rushing, 94 passing) in leading 31-7 at the break.
It didn't stop there. The Trojans scored a touchdown on its opening possession of the second half, answering a touchdown Southern Miss had on its first drive after halftime.
Troy was stopped on its second drive of the third quarter, resulting in the first punt of the night from Evan Crenshaw, which went for 45 yards.
For the game, the Trojans put up points on nine of 11 drives. The Trojans compiled 662 yards of total offense (437 rushing and 224 passing) and had 33 first downs.
"When you run the football for over 400 yards, that kind of gets some things open," Parker said. "We liked some match-ups, too, in our throw game, but to be honest, we didn't have to do as much of that as the game developed.
"Tonight was a culmination of a lot of really good practice habits. We had our best week in practice, period. You see the results of that. Now, we'll see if we can repeat it."
I'll take that
Troy defensive end Kavion Henderson was in the right place at the right time as he intercepted a pass from Southern Miss QB Landry Lyddy at the Trojans' 25. Lyddy rolled to his right and threw right into the hands of Henderson, who caught the ball falling to the ground.
It was Henderson's first interception of his college career.
Troy cornerback Jabari Strait also came up with a pickoff at the Trojans' 5-yard line early in the second half for his first career interception.
Defensive end Makel Green came up with a fumble recovery at the Troy 26 after Bandit Donnie Smith sacked USM QB Landy Lyddy to force the turnover at the 11:19 mark of the fourth quarter.
"It was just a regular pass rush … showing a lot of effort … knowing we needed that takeaway at that point of the game," Smith said. "It's just something we always stress to get more takeaways."
A freshman first
When tight end Nick Hampton hauled in a 5-yard touchdown pass with just 16 seconds left in the first half, it marked the first touchdown for the freshman from Gulf Shores. He's seen the end zone before, catching seven touchdown passes as a high school senior and eight as a junior at Gulf Shores High School.
Players Mentioned
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