Giant Killers: Troy Trojans hold off late LSU rally to secure upset victory in Death Valley

You know the typical narrative — scrappy G5 team capitalizes on mistakes to squeak by a more talented P5 powerhouse. Throw that one out the window here as the Troy Trojans were simply the better team in all phases of the game against LSU in Baton Rouge tonight.

The Trojans would take the first lead of the game after Brandon Silvers rushed the ball into the LSU end zone to take a 7-0 lead in the first quarter. Troy wouldn’t look back after taking the early lead.

Evan Legassey would tack on three points with a 37 yard field goal as the Trojans would take a 10-0 lead over the Tigers into the locker room at the half. Well rested after the break, Troy came out and flat-out dominated LSU in the trenches in the second half while taking advantage of some LSU turnovers and an injury to starting LSU quarterback Danny Etling.

A slow start for both teams in the third quarter would be spoiled by a one yard run from the powerful Jordan Chunn who would cross the LSU endzone to give Troy a commanding 17-0 lead in the final minutes of the third quarter.

LSU quarterback Myles Brennan got the Tigers on the board for the first time after finding wide receiver Foster Moreau from seven yards out, bringing the score to 17-7 at the start of the fourth quarter.

A seven yard rush from Josh Anderson built Troy’s lead to 24-7 before LSU would respond after starting quarterback Danny Etling returned to the game. Etling would waste no time working his way back into the offense as he found Russell Gage for a 34 yard touchdown pass with 7:41 remaining in the game to bring the Tigers back to within two scores after the majority of the announced attendance of 99,879 would head for the exits and presumably the Tigerland drinking establishments.

The Tigers would not go down without a fight however thanks to a valiant effort from Danny Etling. Converting a key fourth and three scenario, Etling led the Tigers down the field and found Moreau for a 20 yard touchdown pass, bringing the score to 24-21 in favor of the Trojans.

Troy would jump on the LSU onside kick but were unable to convert a first down, giving LSU one last opportunity to save themselves from defeat following a Troy punt with just 22 seconds left in regulation.

LSU’s desperation drive would end in glory for the Trojans as Blace Brown would pick off Danny Etling to secure the victory for Troy. A kneel down on the Troy 40 would be all the Trojans needed to watch the clock hit zeros in Death Valley with a final score of Troy 24, LSU 21.

The Trojans outrushed LSU 206 to 162 as Jordan Chunn carried the ball 30 times for 191 yards. Someone find the man an oxygen tank and an ice bath stat. Brandon Silvers had a decent day through the air, passing for 157 yards while completing 16 of his 28 attempts.

Chalk this one up as another exciting exclamation point in the Neal Brown era at Troy. The Trojans move to 4-1 on the season while #25 LSU falls to 3-2. Troy will have a bye week to nurse any nagging injuries before facing South Alabama in Troy on October 11th.