Troy falls to Utah State
The Trojans collapsed in their final non-conference game, losing 21-10 to Utah State on Saturday evening at Maverick Stadium.
After going into halftime with a 10-7 lead, Troy allowed two touchdowns to start the second half and could not find a rhythm on offense to get back into the game.
For head coach Gerad Parker, this loss is frustrating.
“It's hard when you're that frustrated based on what you've seen your football team do, and when they don't play to the level that you've seen them be at, you can't help but be disappointed and frustrated,” Parker said. “I don't want to hear anything about a plane ride.
“We looked lethargic, disconnected and distracted. It didn't start well, and it finished the same way.”
Troy was outgained in yardage by Utah State, with the Aggies passing for 242 yards. However, Utah State found its most success on the ground.
“We got outplayed in all three phases,” Parker said. “They found an offense, manufactured 21 points and rushed the football for over 170 yards against a defense that we believe can contain it and didn't tonight.
“They did an excellent job scheming us, kept everything in control with their quarterback and outplayed us.”
Troy thought it had scored its second touchdown of the game in the first half on a pass from quarterback Goose Crowder to wideout TK Keyes, but the call was overturned.The Trojans settled for three on the drive. However, this would be the only field goal Troy made, as it would miss two attempts in the second half.
The biggest difference in the game was the turnover margin. Crowder threw three interceptions, tying his career high.
Crowder threw his first one early in the game, but his final two interceptions would be on the final two drives by the Trojans’ offense.
“He had to be risky on the last one and take some shots, but there were a couple,” Parker said. “He got fooled at halftime by a corner that fell under him and against cover two, stuff that a veteran player can't do.
“He'll own it; we all will. I'll be the first one to take all this on and full responsibility when we don't play to our standard, and I know he will too.”
Troy has a long week before its next matchup against the Southern Miss Golden Eagles, with this matchup not coming until Oct. 6. The key to this matchup for the Trojans will be to get healthy before the start of conference play.
“There’s some injuries stacking up for us, especially in our secondary,” Parker said. “Getting healthy will be as critical as we can make it.
“They need a little bit of time away, but then we've got to get back to work and solve some things that certainly showed up again and hopefully put ourselves in a position where we can play winning football in the Sun Belt.”
The Trojans will return to the Veterans Memorial Stadium Tuesday night for the matchup against the Golden Eagles with kickoff set for 7 p.m.
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