TROY NOTEBOOK - A Night of Firsts at The Vet

A night of firsts for five receivers proved pivotal in Troy's 24-21 season-opening win over Sam Houston at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday night.

Three of the catches accounted for all of the Troy touchdowns.

Newcomers TK Keyes and TJ Lott, along with veteran tight end Fabian Rogosch, all caught their first passes for Troy and each found the end zone.

The first Troy score came when quarterback Goose Crowder connected with Rogosch on a 19-yard touchdown catch at the 4:06 mark of the opening quarter to tie the game at 7-7 following the extra point kick. It marked the first career college catch for Rogosch, who has been with the program since 2022.

Rogosch also had a big 16-yard reception in the final minute to help seal the victory. For the game, he had three catches for 37 yards.

Troy head coach Gerad Parker heaped praise on Rogosch, who transitioned from a defensive end to tight end during his redshirt freshman season in 2023.

"He is an incredible human being; an incredible teammate … pours into this whole organization … and he just finished a football game for Troy," Parker said. "Caught a ball and got down to win a game, and caught a touchdown. I couldn't be happier for him and it's well-deserved."

Rogosch said the touchdown pass was worked on in practice this past week.

"I blocked down on a D-lineman and kind of snuck out late and was open over the middle," Rogosch said. "I saw Goose looking at me, the ball coming and then nothing but green grass in front of me."

Rogosch was just as pleased with his final catch to help finish off the victory.

"We always try to finish out the game with the ball in our hands," Rogosch said. "I was super happy that I was able to do that for our offense and I was trusted enough to be out there on the field and make a big play for us so we could end the game and go 1-0."

The Trojans second score came when Crowder and Keyes teamed up on a 28-yard touchdown connection on the first play of the second quarter to put the Trojans ahead 14-7. Keyes caught the pass in the end zone and Crowder zipped it over the defender's head.

Keyes had made his first career catch as a Trojan earlier in the drive on a 20-yard reception down to the Sam Houston 35.

Lott, a transfer from Old Dominion, made an 11-yard catch in the first half and caught an 18-yard touchdown pass with 10:42 left in the game to put Troy up 24-14.

More first catches
Jace Petty, a transfer wide receiver from the University of Arkansas, made his first career college catch on the second Troy drive of the game when he hauled in a 13-yard pass from Crowder.

Noreel White, a transfer from East Mississippi Community College, caught a 7-yard pass on the final play of the third quarter and a 24-yard pass in the fourth.

Not to be outdone, Crowder caught one of his own deflected passes at the line of scrimmage for a 1-yard gain midway through the opening quarter for his first career college catch.

"It got batted and I caught it," Crowder said. "That's never happened - not even in practice. We're usually taught to bat it down, because you don't want to lose yards in the backfield. It just kind of fell in my lap, so I didn't really have a choice.

For the game, Crowder completed 12-of-24 passes for 165 yards with the three touchdowns.

Making presence known
A couple of newcomers on the defensive side shined during the victory.

Keno Jones, a transfer Mike linebacker from Division II Barton (N.C.) College, and Doug Nelson, a transfer Spear linebacker from Copiah-Lincoln (Miss.) Community College, led the team in tackles.

Nelson had eight total tackles, including two solo stops, while Jones had seven tackles - four solos and three tackles for loss.

"Last year around this time, I was at a D-II surrounded by players who really didn't want it as bad as I did," Jones said. "So just to be around everybody here when they've got the same goal - they've got the same ambition - is a great feeling."

The Trojans held the Bearkats to just 38 rushing yards on 24 attempts.

Running with purpose
Three running backs were used for Troy during the victory, led by East Mississippi Community College transfer Gavin Griffin, who rushed for 81 yards on 16 carries.

"Gavin is a really good blend of a power back, and also a guy that can break away and has some speed," Parker said. "He broke a lot of tackles tonight and it's a really good start for him."

Returning running back Jordan Lovett rushed for 34 yards on nine carries and Purdue transfer Jaheim Merriweather had 22 yards on six attempts.

"Clearly the rushing yards improved and I was glad to see we had some success," Parker said.

Sacking 'em up
Bandit Donnie Smith picked up where he left off a year ago with a recorded sack in the first half.

Smith led the Sun Belt and ranked eighth nationally last season with 11 sacks during his first season at Troy after transferring from East Central (Miss.) Community College.

Boston College transfer defensive tackle Ty Clemons recorded his first sack as a Trojan late in the third quarter. Linebackers Jordan Perry and Keyshawn Campbell also recorded a sack each.

Big pickoff
On the first play of the second half, linebacker TJ Thompson picked off a pass for Troy and returned it 16 yards to the 14 of Sam Houston. It marked Thompson's second career interception.

Still booting it strong
Troy All-American punter Evan Crenshaw got off to a strong start by averaging 46.9 yards per punt on eight attempts.

In the first half, Crenshaw had punts of 47, 59, 50, 38 and 64 yards. In the second half, Crenshaw had punts of 50, 55 and 43 yards.

Drilling it through
West Virginia transfer Ethan Head made his first field goal attempt for Troy - a 32-yarder in the first minute of the second half - to put the Trojans up 17-14. Head also converted on three PATs.

Milestone on the mic
Barry McKnight called his 300th consecutive Troy football game on Saturday night in what was the beginning of his 25th season as play-by-play announcer for the Trojans.

McKnight's first game for the Trojans came during a 31-16 loss at Nebraska on Aug. 31, 2002.

Troy University Athletics

TROY NOTEBOOK - A Night of Firsts at The Vet

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Players Mentioned

Keyshawn Campbell

Ty Clemons

Evan Crenshaw

Goose Crowder

Gavin Griffin

Ethan Head

Keno Jones

TK Keyes

TJ Lott

Jordan Lovett

Jaheim Merriweather

Doug Nelson

Jordan Perry

Jace Petty

Fabian Rogosch

Donnie Smith

TJ Thompson

Noreel White

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