TROY, Ala. — Troy scored a touchdown with seven seconds remaining Saturday to beat South Alabama 34-33, erasing a lead the Jaguars had taken 41 seconds earlier after rallying from a 17-point second-half deficit.
South Alabama set records in the loss with 630 yards of total offense and 471 passing yards. The game was the Jaguars’ first trip to Troy and only the second football meeting between the two schools.
The defeat was South Alabama’s second straight and left the Jaguars 2-3 overall and 1-1 in the Sun Belt Conference. Troy snapped a three-game losing streak to even its record at 3-3 overall and 1-1 in league play.
Troy Builds an Early Lead
Troy received the opening kickoff and drove 73 yards in 12 plays over 4:12, scoring on a 9-yard touchdown pass from Deon Anthony to Bryan Holmes.
South Alabama answered with a 12-play, 75-yard drive that took 4:47. Facing second-and-28 from its own 28, quarterback Ross Metheny completed a 14-yard pass to tight end Wes Saxton. On the next play Metheny found Danny Woodson for 11 yards, and a fumble at the end of the play rolled forward and was recovered by Jereme Jones at the Troy 34 for a first down. The Jaguars finished the drive to tie the game 7-7 in the first quarter.
The score stayed even until early in the second quarter, when Anthony threw a 62-yard touchdown pass to Eric Thomas with 13:53 left in the half. That drive covered 70 yards in five plays and 1:42.
After a South Alabama three-and-out and a 33-yard punt, Troy went 63 yards in 11 plays and 4:57 to take a 17-7 lead.
The Jaguars threatened before halftime. Brandon Bridge was forced to run on third-and-6 from the Troy 7 and gained 2 yards. Head coach Joey Jones sent out the field goal unit, but Aleem Sunanon’s attempt from the right hash missed to the right.
Second-Half Comeback
South Alabama went three-and-out to start the third quarter, and after Scott Garber’s 50-yard punt, Troy took over at its own 30. The Trojans needed five plays and 1:38 to cover 70 yards and extend the lead to 24-7.
The Jaguars responded immediately. T.J. Glover returned the kickoff 37 yards, Bridge connected with Saxton for a 34-yard gain to the Troy 29, and Jay Jones scored on a 10-yard run a few plays later. Sunanon’s extra point was blocked, leaving South Alabama behind 24-13 with 10:05 left in the third quarter.
Romelle Jones sacked Troy quarterback Corey Robinson for a 10-yard loss on third-and-4 at the South Alabama 46 to force a punt. Late in the third quarter, the Jaguars drove to a fourth-and-4 at the Troy 19. A field goal try sailed wide right, but an offsides penalty on Troy gave South Alabama a first down at the 14. The drive ended a few plays later when Trey Fetner was stopped short on fourth-and-1 from the Troy 5, turning the ball over with 13:29 to play.
The defense forced another three-and-out, and Glover downed a 50-yard Troy punt at the South Alabama 44. After an incompletion, Bridge hit Bryant Lavender along the left sideline, and Lavender broke free for a 56-yard touchdown. Metheny entered for the two-point attempt, but his pass fell incomplete, and Troy led 24-19.
A Late Exchange of Leads
Troy returned the ensuing kickoff 51 yards to the South Alabama 41, but the Jaguars’ defense forced a three-and-out. A punt rolled out of bounds at the South Alabama 6, and the Jaguars went three-and-out themselves. Troy drove to the South Alabama 6 before the defense held, and the Trojans kicked a 23-yard field goal for a 27-19 lead with 5:22 remaining.
Glover returned the next kickoff 26 yards from the end zone to the South Alabama 26. With Metheny back at quarterback, the Jaguars drove to a first down at the Troy 16, and Metheny ran up the middle for a touchdown. The two-point try again failed, leaving South Alabama behind 27-25 with 2:51 left.
Sunanon kicked deep, and Troy’s returner slid down at the Troy 17 after fielding the ball at the 8. Incomplete passes and plays out of bounds stopped the clock, and South Alabama got the ball back after a Troy punt rolled to the Jaguars’ 1-yard line with 1:27 left.
A personal foul for targeting against Troy’s Anthony resulted in his ejection and moved the ball to the South Alabama 16. Metheny completed a 9-yard pass to Jay Jones, who stepped out of bounds at the 25, and then ran for 10 yards and a first down at the 35.
On the next play, Metheny threw down the left sideline. The defender tipped the ball and fell, and the ball dropped into the arms of Jereme Jones, who ran untouched into the end zone. Metheny then completed the two-point conversion to Corey Besteda, and South Alabama led 33-27 with 48 seconds left.
Troy’s Winning Drive
Troy returned the kickoff 26 yards to its own 29. Robinson completed passes of 11 yards to Holmes and 7 yards to Burks before a timeout with 25 seconds left and the ball at the South Alabama 48.
Robinson added completions of 9 and 19 yards, the second one stopping the clock when the receiver went out of bounds at the South Alabama 20. Defensive coordinator Kevin Sherrer called an all-out blitz on the next snap, but Robinson released the ball just before the rush arrived. Thomas caught the pass in the end zone over Qudarius Ford for a touchdown with seven seconds left, and the extra point gave Troy a 34-33 lead.
South Alabama had one final snap from its own 32 with one second remaining. Bridge rolled left under pressure and threw deep, and Shavarez Smith caught the ball at the Troy 18, but the Jaguars could not get it into the end zone.
By the Numbers
South Alabama finished with 30 first downs to Troy’s 24 and outgained the Trojans 630-434. The Jaguars held edges of 159-129 on the ground and 471-305 through the air, and they controlled the ball for 32:11 to Troy’s 27:49. South Alabama converted 7 of 16 third downs and 1 of 3 fourth downs.
Metheny completed 15 of 21 passes for 236 yards and a touchdown and was sacked once. Bridge was 11 of 20 for 235 yards and a touchdown.
Metheny also led the team in rushing with 55 yards on 10 carries. Bridge ran for 54 yards on 11 attempts, Jay Jones added 44 yards on 13 carries and Cris Dinham had 19 yards on six carries.
Smith caught six passes for 106 yards. Saxton had six receptions for 95 yards, Jereme Jones made three catches for 84 yards and a touchdown, Lavender had three for 68 yards, Woodson caught three for 61 yards, Jay Jones had four for 43 yards and Dinham caught one pass for 14 yards.
For Troy, Robinson completed 20 of 26 passes for 210 yards and two touchdowns and was sacked three times. Anthony was 4 of 8 for 95 yards and two touchdowns. Burks ran for 100 yards on 17 carries, Anthony added 38 yards on 10 carries and Jordan Chunn had 26 yards on six attempts.
Sunanon made 1 of 2 extra-point attempts and missed his only official field goal try; a second attempt was nullified by the Troy offsides penalty.
On defense, Maleki Harris led South Alabama with nine tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack and a fumble recovery. Romelle Jones had four tackles and two sacks for 24 yards in losses.
What They Said
“It’s heartbreaking,” Joey Jones said. “With 40-plus seconds left in the game when you go up six points you feel good about it. … But credit to Troy for making that last drive and putting it in the end zone.”
Jones said penalties put the Jaguars in a hole, citing a block below the waist that wiped out a kickoff return past midfield and three offensive holding calls in the first half. “It’s tough to win a ballgame when you do that on the road,” he said.
“We aren’t going to quit, I can promise you that,” Jones added.
Metheny described the go-ahead drive that started at the 1-yard line. “That speaks volumes for our offense about how we didn’t quit,” he said. “We kept battling trying to respond to adversity.”
Romelle Jones pointed to slow starts. “Our Achilles heel all season has been that we haven’t been able to start fast,” he said. “If we can start fast, it will be a lot easier on us in the second half.”
Up Next
South Alabama has an open date next week before hosting Kent State in its homecoming game at Ladd-Peebles Stadium in Mobile on Oct. 19. Troy plays at Georgia State next Saturday.
