Troy Dominates Southern Miss for Sixth Straight Victory in Series

Tuesday, October 6

Troy, Ala.

7 p.m.

Troy University

3-2 , 1-0

Southern Miss

1-4 , 0-1

Team	1st	2nd	3rd	4th	Final F
Southern Miss	0	7	20	7	34
Troy	17	14	10	14	55

Box Score (PDF)Game Notes (PDF)

Troy Dominates Southern Miss for Sixth Straight Victory in Series

10/7/2026 12:37:00 AM | Football

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

By: Troy Athletics Communications

TROY, Ala. — Troy rolled to a 55-34 victory over Southern Miss behind a dominant offensive attack, racking up 662 total yards at the Vet on Tuesday night. The Trojans' 437 rushing yards marked the highest regular season total on a Tuesday since 1995.

For the first time in program history, two Trojans ran for more than 130 yards in a single game. Goose Crowder led the charge with 145 yards on 17 attempts, adding a pair of rushing touchdowns. Jordan Lovett followed closely behind Crowder, with 142 yards on 12 attempts and a touchdown.

Through the air, Crowder posted a career-best 86 percent completion rate, connecting on 18-of-21 passes for 225 yards and two touchdowns.

The Trojans (3-2, 1-0 SBC) were perfect once more in the red zone, converting on all eight opportunities to boost their season mark to 16-for-17.

After winning the toss and electing to receive, Troy struck first as Lovett found paydirt with a 15-yard rush to cap off a 10-play, 75-yard scoring drive. The Trojans rushed on nine of 10 plays in the opening drive for 70 yards.

The Trojan offense came out firing, scoring on all three of its first quarter possessions. Ethan Head drilled a 34-yard field goal to build a 10-0 lead, and Crowder capped the hot start with a 9-yard touchdown run, pushing the advantage to 17-0 by the end of the frame.

Southern Miss responded early in the second, as Landry Lyddy connected with Mario Sanders on a two-yard touchdown to complete a 12-play, 75-yard drive.

After Crowder's second touchdown run made it 24-7, Kavion Henderson intercepted Lyddy, keeping the momentum rolling. Crowder then connected with Nick Hampton for a 5-yard score, giving Troy a 31-7 lead at the break.

Southern Miss cut the deficit to 31-13 to open the third quarter with a two-play, 75-yard touchdown drive following a trick-play passing touchdown by Mario Sanders. Troy responded by scoring on its sixth straight possession, as Crowder connected with Lovett for a 46-yard touchdown.

Jabari Strait recorded his first career pick, intercepting Eelijah Singleton after the Trojans sniffed out another Golden Eagle trick play.

Mario Sanders capped off his stellar performance for Southern Miss with his third touchdown of the night on a 27-yard touchdown pass. Sanders finished with eight receptions for 102 yards and two receiving scores, while chipping in 75 yards passing and a touchdown through the air.

The Trojans extended their lead to 41-20 following Head's second field goal of the contest.

Southern Miss responded, making it a two-score game after Robert Briggs broke out for a 44-yard rushing touchdown, making it 41-27 heading into the final quarter.

Troy's run game continued to control the game, as Jaheim Merriweather found the end zone for his fourth score of the season.

After Southern Miss scored its final touchdown to make it 48-34, Gavin Griffin put the game away with a 12-yard touchdown run, marking the fourth Troy player to score on the ground.

Up Next
Troy hits the road for a battle at Louisiana (4-1, 1-0) on Saturday, Oct. 18.

Quotable – Troy Head Coach Gerad Parker
"I want to open by saying a huge congrats to our football team. It's been a long nine days or so around here, and with the last two games, it leaves a scar. There are some things that showed up in our last game out at Utah State that we wanted to get rid of.

We still have a very long way to go, but I was super proud of our football team tonight. The way we started the first half, that's as good and as clean of a half as we have played all year to date.

Unfortunately, the second half would not say so in the way we played defensive football. That's something that was uncharacteristic of us and something we have not done in our time here together. We have a lot of work to get that fixed.

On a positive note, we are 1-0 (in SBC play). I think there's several rushing records that were set tonight offensively, so I'm very proud of that effort."

On Goose Crowder
"There were some designed quarterback runs that he has done well on. I would not think his rushing yards would get to the number we got it to, especially in the first half. But I think there were some things we liked on tape, and that proved to be true, certainly up front, to get it to the number we did."

Notable
• Troy ran its win streak to six games against Southern Miss.
• Troy improved to 19-6 against Sun Belt West Division foes since moving to that side of the league in 2022. Troy is 18-1 against the SBC West in 2022, 2023, 2025 and 2026.
• Troy improved to 7-3 in games played on Tuesday; the Trojans had lost two straight Tuesday games (Jax State, 2025; South Alabama, 2024) prior to the victory and three of the last four.
• Troy won its Sun Belt opener for just the fourth time in the past nine years.
• Troy improved to 13-10 all-time in Sun Belt openers.
• Troy's 437 rushing yards were the fifth-most in a Tuesday night FBS game since at least 1996 and the most since Army rushed for 481 yards in an overtime victory over North Texas on Dec. 27, 2016. It was the most in a regular season game on a Tuesday night; the four others were all in bowl games.
• Troy recorded 33 first downs in the game, it's most since 34 at Tennessee on Nov. 3, 2012. The Trojans had two games that season with 34 first downs (Louisiana).
• Troy's five rushing touchdowns are tied for the most in the program's D-I record and tied for the fourth most in program history.
• Troy set Gerad Parker-era offensive records in points (55), first downs (33), rushing attempts (59), rushing yards (437), and total offense (662).
• Troy's 437 rushing yards were the most in a SBC game since Georgia Southern rushed for 507 yards against New Mexico State on Oct. 17, 2015.
• Four Trojans found the end zone on the ground in the game (Goose Crowder, Jordan Lovett, Jaheim Merriweather, Gavin Griffin) ... it marked just the 12th time this season a team has had four players rush for a touchdown in a game. It's the second-most by a Troy team (since at least 1995) and marks just the fourth time a Troy team has done so since at least 1995.
• Goose Crowder rushed for 145 yards and two touchdowns on 17 carries. It was the most rushing yards by a Troy quarterback since Mike Turk rushed for 190 against Portland State in the 1987 NCAA Division II National Championship.
• Goose Crowder's 145 rushing yards are the eighth most by a quarterback this season at the FBS level and seventh-most against an FBS opponent.
• Goose Crowder completed 18-of-21 yards for 225 yards and two touchdowns; his 85.7 completion percentage was the best of his career.
• Goose 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).
• Goose Crowder is one of just two quarterbacks this season (Michael Hawkins Jr., West Virginia) to throw for 225 yards with two touchdowns and rush for more than 140 yards with two touchdowns.
• Goose Crowder has six career games with multiple touchdown passes; it marked his first career game with multiple rushing touchdowns.
• Goose Crowder's 136 rushing yards in the first half marked the third most by a primary quarterback this season nationally. He trailed only Navy's Braxton Woodson (160) and Central Michigan's Angel Flores (144).
• Jordan Lovett rushed for a career-high 142 yards on 12 carries; he also had a rushing touchdown. Lovett also caught two passes for 53 yards and a touchdown.
• Jordan Lovett and Goose Crowder became the first Troy teammates to rush for more than 130 yards in the same game.
• Troy is one of just three teams in the country this season to have multiple players rush for more than 140 yards in a game; West Virgina vs. Iowa State and Northwestern vs. Penn State.
• Troy rushed for 437 yards the most rushing yards since the Trojans rushed for 464 yards against Southern Utah in 2002.
• Troy's 437 yards on the ground are the fifth-most overall and second-most against an FBS opponent; Kansas rushed for 480 yards against Middle Tennessee.
• Troy has won 11 of its last 13 games when rushing for more than 100 yards; Troy is 55-2 when rushing for more than 200 yards and 29-0 when rushing for more than 250 yards since joining the Sun Belt in 2004.
• Today marked the first time Troy scored on the opening six drives of a game since ULM in 2015.
• Troy finished the game with 662 total yards, it's most since recording 706 yards against in Austin Peay in 2016. It was Troy's most against an FBS opponent since a 721-yard effort at Tennessee in 2012.
• Jordan Lovett rushed for a 15-yard touchdown on the opening drive of the game. It marked the third time this season Troy has scored on the opening drive of the game.
• Jordan Lovett's 15-yard touchdown rush was his first touchdown of the season and the fourth of his career.
• Goose Crowder had a 48-yard rush in the first quarter, the longest rush of his career. He set his previous long of 23 yards in the opener against Sam Houston.
• Nick Hamilton caught his first career touchdown in the second quarter after Goose Crowder connected with him from five yards out.
• Goose Crowder connected with Jordan Lovett for a 46-yard touchdown pass, marking the longest reception of Lovett's career.
• Jordan Lovett recorded a 68-yard rush in the third quarter, setting a new career long.
• Donnie Smith had a sack and a forced fumble; he now has a sack in 14 games and a tackle for loss in 17 games over the past two seasons, both lead the country.
• Troy forced three turnovers in the game; two interceptions and a fumble. The Trojans entered the week fifth since 2016 with 222 turnovers forced and 10th with 133 interceptions. The Trojans were fourth nationally since 2016 with three or more forced turnovers in 35 games.
• Troy punted just one time in the game for the first time against an FBS opponent since a 42-38 loss to Coastal Carolina on Dec. 12, 2020.