Troy survives the Battle for the Belt

At one point it looked like the Troy Trojans (5-4, 3-2) would run away with the “Battle for the Belt” on Nov. 6 but in the end they were able to weather the storm of a comeback attempt from the South Alabama Jaguars (5-4, 2-4) to earn a 31-24 win.

Troy hung for the Sun Belt Conference win despite being outscored 10-0 in the second half, due to what ended up being an insurmountable 31-14 lead at halftime. The game also became a battle of the backup quarterbacks as Troy starter Gunnar Watson and USA starter Jack Bentley both went down with injuries.

Backup quarterback Desmond Trotter got USA on the board first with a 4-yard run as the Jags went up 7-0 early, but Troy cut that lead to 7-3 following a 22-yard field goal from Brooks Buce with 7:15 left in the first quarter. The Trojans then took their first lead of the game on a 3-yard touchdown run from Jamontez Woods with just 56 seconds left in the opening period. Troy led 10-7.

Troy added to that lead when Tez Johnson scored on a 31-yard run and then Woods added a 3-yard run to extend Troy’s lead to 24-7.

The Troy defense then got in the scoring fun as KJ Robertson intercepted a USA pass and returned it 32 yards for a touchdown to put the Trojans up 31-7. The Jags finally got back on the scoreboard when Terriron Avery caught an 11-yard touchdown pass from Trotter with just nine seconds remaining in the half. Troy took that 31-14 lead into halftime.

In third quarter, Avery caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Trotter and USA converted a 34-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to cut the lead to 31-24 but couldn’t get any closer.

Taylor Powell took over for Watson late in the first half after Watson suffered a head injury. Powell started the season as Troy’s starting quarterback before being overtaken by Watson. Watson completed 11-of-14 pass attempts for 121 yards before going down with the injury, while Powell completed 6-of-11 passes for 80 yards and an interception.

BJ Smith led all Troy runners with 49 yards on 12 carries and Luke Whitemore caught three passes for 59 yards.

Carlton Martial led the Troy defense with 14 tackles, while TJ Harris and Jordan Anthony had 10 tackles each. Javon Solomon had another big night with six tackles, 2.5 tackles-for-loss and two sacks. Solomon is currently third in the country in tackles-for-loss (15), only behind Alabama’s Will Anderson Jr. (19.5) and Utah’s Devin Lloyd (18). His 10 sacks on the season also also tied for third in the country.

Troy is home again this Saturday, Nov. 13, against conference foe Louisiana at 2:30 p.m.