Troy Trojans Finish 10-3, Win Dollar General Bowl

The Troy Trojans are celebrating their first 10-win season since joining the FBS back in 2001 and head coach Neal Brown finally got to experience the coveted gatorade bath. This was Brown’s first bowl game victory coaching the Trojans and it was well-deserved. They outplayed the Ohio Bobcats all four quarters and came out with a 28-23 victory. Ohio had a tough time hanging on to the ball throughout the game giving up a total of 4 interceptions.

Five turnovers and a missed field goal in the first half resulted in sloppy play from both teams. Troy kicker, Ryan Kay missed a 20-yard field goal in the second quarter, but the Bobcats were never able to secure a lead. Another Ohio offense mistake led to an excellent interception by Troy linebacker Justin Lucas in the second quarter. The Trojans capitalized on the turnover scoring a touchdown pass from quarterback Brandon Silvers to Emanuel Thompson. Ohio responded by finally making a decent offensive play, gaining 77 yards in under four minutes with a touchdown pass from quarterback Greg Windham.

During halftime Troy head coach, Neal Brown commented on the first half saying, “it looked like we haven’t played in three weeks, we left a lot of opportunities out there on offense and on defense we need to cover better.”

As the third quarter started the Trojans offense gave up only their eighth sack of the year by Ohio’s Casey Sayles. The senior defensive lineman had a killer night and later blocked an attempted pass from Silvers. Troy’s defensive line just couldn’t be stopped tonight, they were able to convert turnovers into points with a 4-yard touchdown by Jordan Chunn. Honestly this many turnovers in a single game is just unacceptable, but it helped Troy sore over and over again. Player of the game, Emanuel Thompson controlled the Troy offense with the help of Jordan Chunn, who had 20 carries for 56 yards and three touchdowns.

This game really came down to who could make the least amount of mistakes and Ohio wasn’t able to take the lead at any point because of the endless turnovers. Windham made some great throws and completed 23/47 of his attempts, but the fumbles, picks, and turnovers gave the Bobcats no chance.

Definitely an exciting night for Troy, the first Sun Belt Conference team to make the College Football Playoff Top 25. If they can hang on to coach Brown then they could potentially have another great season ahead.