Troy knocks Georgia Southern, 35-21

Daniel HuntStaff Writer On a sunny Saturday in Statesboro the Troy Football team (8-2, 6-0 Sunbelt) knocked off Georgia Southern (7-3, 4-2), 35-21 in one of the most important Sunbelt games of the season. Both teams came into the game 7-2 with control of its own destiny in the conference standings. With this loss, Georgia Southern's hopes of hosting the first Sun Belt conference championship look to be over. It was a rough start for Troy after scoring an early field goal in the first five minutes. Georgia Southern’s back-to-back touchdown drives closed the quarter with an eagles 14-3 lead. The Trojans scored its first touchdown on a 12-play 85-yard touchdown after being bailed out by two flea flickers thrown by Sidney Davis and Luke Whittemore respectively in the second. After getting on the board for the first touchdown, the Trojans showed just how good its offense can be as it scored 32 consecutive points to take a 35-14 lead. With 11 minutes to play, Georgia Southern was able to answer with a touchdown on a drive that took just 1:17 of clock. But it was too little too late for Southern despite Troy missing a field goal in the fourth quarter. Troy’s defense allowed just 21 points against one of the top Sunbelt teams. This moves head coach Neal Brown to 32-0 when his team has 400- plus-yards of offense and is leading into the fourth quarter. B.J. Smith’s two rushing touchdowns on the day moved him to 12 on the season. Sawyer Smith followed up his impressive performance at home by going 21-28 with 287-yards on the road. Troy will be back in action at Veterans Memorial Stadium Saturday, November 19, at 2:30 p.m.