2001: The Southern Utah Game

Homecoming is always a wonderful time at Troy. It is a time to come home, reminisce on the old times at the alma mater, and catch up with old friends. Then there’s the game. It’s what the whole day is built around. 

On this particular Homecoming, Troy had invited Southern Utah University to play. The Thunderbirds of SUU came to The Wiregrass from Cedar City, Utah with a 1-7 record. They were the second straight 1-win team the Trojans had played in three weeks. And once again, the 17.000 in attendance at The Vet saw Troy struggle to get their bearings against I-AA competition.

The Trojan Spread came out quick and drove 49 yards for a touchdown in only 1:25. They took the early 7-0 lead in only 5 plays after Thomie Venisee caught a Brock Nutter pass. The Thunderbirds took over and drove 90 yards in 8 minutes to answer the Trojan score with a 2 yard touchdown run. 

Troy looked set to answer, but a fumble gave the ball back to Southern Utah fairly quickly. The Thunderbirds only moved the ball about 14 yards before having to settle for a 23 yard field goal, putting them up 10-7. When SUU took the lead in the second, it was the first time that Troy had trailed since the Miami Game. The deficit didn’t last long however. 

Demontray Carter took the ensuing kickoff 94 yards to the house. As exciting as kickoff returns normally are, this one had a little extra spice. Carter tried to field the ball at the 4 yard line, but muffed the catch. He was able to recover it on the 6 and that was the last challenge for Carter. He ran untouched the rest of the way to the endzone. Kicker Drew Boteler’s extra point attempt was blocked, giving Troy a 13-10 lead with 11 minutes left in the second quarter. The score would stay that way as both teams went into a stalemate through the end of the 2nd and all of the third. 

The scoring resumed with about 10 minutes left in the fourth quarter. Troy only had to go 20 yards on this drive after recovering a Thunderbird fumble. The Trojans took five plays to hit paydirt. They did so on a 3 yard Brock Nutter pass to the ever-reliable Heyward Skipper. Shortly after increasing the score to 20-10, Troy looked to pad the score after a Rayshun Reed interception. 

Unfortunately, the Trojans gave it right back on a strip sack of Brock Nutter. After a 6 play, 17 yard drive, the Thunderbirds were in the endzone once more. This brought the score to 20-17 with only 4 minutes left in the game. Thankfully, the Trojan defense settled down and closed out the game without allowing another SUU score. “Our defense rose to the occasion when they had to,” said Coach Blakeney. “It just wasn’t our day to have a complete game, but we did get the win.”

For as prolific as Troy State was against Cal State Northridge, the opposite team seemed to show up for Homecoming. Troy controlled the game in passing yards (135-6) and return yards (125-60). Southern Utah had more first downs (13-12), rushing yards (231-24), and had a definite time of possession advantage (35:54 – 24:06) due to their rushing attack.

Troy’s Brock Nutter was 13 of 23 passing for 135 yards with 1 interception and 2 touchdowns. The normally prolific rushing attack of Troy was stymied by the Thunderbirds. Demontray Carter was the leading rusher with 17 carries for 22 yards. Thomie Venisse led the Trojan receivers with 55 catches on 4 targets with 1 touchdown. Heyward Skipper added another 36 yards on 4 targets with a touchdown of his own. Jason Samples also had 30 yards receiving on 3 targets.

The Trojans knew after the game that this wasn’t their best. “People expect more of us and maybe we didn’t prepare the way we should have,” said QB Brock Nutter. Linebacker Jimmy McClain described the SUU game succinctly, “It was a big contrast to what we saw last week.”

Coach Blakeney put it best, “We got a wake up call. If this doesn’t do it, nothing will.” The Trojans would need to be fully awake to handle the next challenge on the schedule: the 7-1, #15 ranked Maryland Terrapins and a trip to College Park, Maryland. 

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