Trojans tripped up by ULM on the road

The Troy Trojans (2-2, 0-1) opened up Sun Belt Conference play on Sept. 25 on the road and struggled their way to a 29-16 loss to the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks (2-1, 1-0).

ULM came into the game having won just one game in its last 13 outings, including an 0-10 record in 2020.

Troy put up 364 yards in the loss, while holding ULM to 297 yards but mistakes plagued the Trojans. Troy turned the ball over once, was penalized 10 times and gave up a safety.

“I’m really disappointed we didn’t play better,” Troy coach Chip Lindsey said. “Give Monroe some credit, they did a good job tonight. Obviously, I didn’t have our guys ready to play. That’s on me, that’s my responsibility.”

ULM opened up with a 10-0 lead in the first half after quarterback Rhett Rodriguez threw a 23-yard touchdown pass to Zach Jackson in the first quarter and kicker Calum Sutherland booted a 26-yard field goal in the second quarter.

The Trojans got on the scoreboard late in the first half on a Brooks Buce 32-yard field goal and trailed 10-3 at halftime.

ULM extended its lead to 17-3 on a 40-yard run from Andrew Henry in the third quarter, but a 49-yard touchdown pass from Taylor Powell to Luke Whittemore cut the lead to 17-10. ULM booted another field goal late in the third quarter to extend the lead to 20-10.

Things began to truly unravel in the fourth quarter after a Trojan allowed a punt roll inside the Troy 5-yard line. Powell then scrambled in the end-zone and threw the ball away leading to an intentional grounding penalty that resulted in a safety to extend the Warhawk lead to 22-10.

Powell responded by driving the Trojans down inside the Warhawk 10-yard line with a chance to get Troy right back in the game. Powell then threw a pass to receiver Tez Johnson, who bobbled it only for a ULM defender to deflect it into the outstretched arms of Warhawk defender Ja’cquez Williams who proceeded to race 96 yards for the clinching touchdown. With under 10 minutes remaining, ULM led 29-10.

Troy managed an 11-play scoring drive that was capped off with a 4-yard touchdown pass to Jamontez Woods to cut the lead to 29-16, but the long drive ate up too much time and Troy only had 36 seconds left in the game. The Trojans attempted an onside kick but ULM recovered it and held on to the win.

For the game, Powell completed 35-of-49 pass attempts for 311 yards and two touchdowns with one interception, while Dothan receiver Jabre Barber caught a career-high nine passes for 58 yards and Kimani Vidal rushed for 60 yards on 12 carries. Reggie Todd added six catches for 83 yards. Whittemore hauled in two passes for 72 yards and a touchdown. For the third straight game, Troy rushed for less than 100 yards.

Carlton Martial led the Troy defense with 12 tackles, one tackle-for-loss and a forced fumble, while Javon Solomon recorded seven tackles, 3.5 tackles-for-loss, two sacks and a forced fumble.

Troy is on the road again this week against the SEC’s South Carolina Gamecocks with kickoff scheduled for 2:30 p.m. on Oct. 2. The game will be nationally televised on the SEC Network.