Trojan Empire falls to the Red Wolves

Once again the unexpected happened in college football as Arkansas State stuns Troy, blowing out the hometown Trojans 35-3.

With last night’s win Arkansas State moves to 6-4 overall and 6-0 in the Sun Belt. This win makes the Red Wolves bowl eligible and number one in the conference. Troy is now 8-2 overall and 5-1 in the Sun Belt. Their #25 spot in the ranking vanished in a blink of an eye. Regardless of the setback the Trojans are still a team to fear.

Thursday night did not go as planned for the Trojans. Every misfortune that could happen, happened. Troy would took an early lead 3-0 after a 43-yard field goal by Ryan Kay and that was the last time the Trojans had the lead.

Arkansas State then took the lead 7-3 after Justice Hansen tossed to Kendall Sanders for the touchdown. After that score the Red Wolves never looked back.

The first play after the second half kickoff, Brandon Silvers passed the ball behind the line of scrimmage and the Red Wolves pounced in the end zone. At this point the game was 14-3.

Arkansas State scored two more times in the third quarter making the score 28-3 going into the fourth. With three minutes and eleven seconds left the Red Wolves put the icing on the cake with a 6-yard touchdown run by Davis-Rollings making it 35-3.

This game was all Arkansas State. The Red Wolves forced four turnovers against the Trojans and made 14 points off those turnovers. For the Red Wolves offense they showed that they are worthy contenders to win a bowl game.

Justice Hansen played well against the Trojans going 13 for 24 for 149 yards with one touchdown. Warren Wand also played well, carrying the ball 17 times for 91 yards.

Troy’s offense was nowhere to be found. The Trojans had a total of 262 yards of offense while the Red Wolves had 388 yards. The running game for the Trojans was only 55 yards with all of those yards coming from Jordan Chunn.

Brandon Silvers struggled against the Red Wolves. He went 20 for 39 for 207 yards and two interceptions. Troy’s offense and lack of momentum cost them the game.

The Trojan defense played well to a certain extent. Troy’s defense contained the Red Wolves to seven points in the first half. Problems came when the offense was not clicking and put the defense in jeopardy because of the long periods on the field.

Look for the Trojans to bounce back this next week as they travel to Texas to take on the Texas State Bobcats. The Red Wolves are also on the road in week 13 as they take on the Louisiana Lafayette Ragin’ Cajuns.