Troy at Georgia Southern: A Statesboro Story

Troy used the long ball, the wide receiver pass and a whole lot of guts to take down Georgia Southern on the road, 35-21.

The win put the Trojans one step closer to an east division crown and all but buried Georgia Southern’s hopes of a trip to the Sun Belt championship game.

Here is the story of what went down on Saturday, from my trip to-and-from to the game itself.

5:10 am CT- Departure

I’m pretty sure there’s something in the Bible about being up and around this early. My grandparents would know, they get up this early just to read the Bible.

It’s a five hour trip from Troy, so I made sure to put some ATP in my system with a bowl of Strawberry Mini Wheats.

This did nothing for me. The drive sucked.

10:52 ET- Arrival

It was a little busy around here. After parking in some random spot in the grass, I made my way past several Georgia Southern people incessantly offering me rally towels and into Paulson Stadium.

The tailgate scene was vibrant, one particular tent had the music on blast and seamlessly transitioned from country to Right Thurr by Chingy.

Subway and Dominoes awaited me in the press box. As trash as Dominoes is, it made my journey worth it.

12:06 ET- The Accident

My chair in the press box broke. Whoops.

1:05 ET- Kickoff

It seemed like Troy came out with the highest energy level after each team had a possession. The Trojans loaded the box with 10 players on the Eagles first possession and forced a three and out.

Troy parlayed that early momentum into a field goal on its first drive.

That’s when Georgia Southern showed up. The Eagles had 130 yards in the first quarter, 103 of them coming on just three plays. A 29 yard Monteo Garrett run followed by a 44 yard Wesley Fields reception set up Georgia Southern’s first touchdown of the game.

Troy answered by giving the ball back on the first play of the drive by way of fumble. A 30 yard reception by Fields led to Shai Werts finding a man in the back of the endzone for his second touchdown pass of the game.

Georgia Southern held a 14-3 lead and all the momentum after the first quarter. This is when the Eagles went back into the locker room.

Troy coach Neal Brown pulled out every trick in his visor to get Troy into the endzone for the first time in the afternoon.

Wide receiver Luke Whittemore completed a 16 yard first down pass and then receiver Sydney Davis hit Sawyer Smith on fourth and short Philly Special for a first down. The drive was capped off, fittingly, by a touchdown run by receiver Tray Eafford.

“We wanted to go into attack mode, I thought that was the drive of our season,” Brown said following the game. “It felt like if (the score) went 21-3 then we were in trouble.”

Then the fireworks came. On the next Troy drive, the Trojans found themselves backed up on their own two yard line.

Do-it-all man Whittemore wasn’t deterred. Smith found Whittemore on the right sideline on two consecutive plays for 41 yards and 40 yards respectively.

Running back BJ Smith capped the drive with a six yard touchdown scamper to put Troy back on top by three before halftime, 17-14.

BJ Smith came into the game riding a five game 100-yard rushing streak but was held to 16 yards on 10 carries through two quarters. Sawyer Smith, on the other hand, had a cool 16.7 yards per completion at the break.

Georgia Southern didn’t exactly come out of the half with a fiery response. The Eagles ran just nine plays and gained only 13 yards in the third quarter.

Meanwhile, Troy added a field goal and a 29 yard Whittemore receiving touchdown to extend its lead. Following the touchdown pass, Brown called yet another trick play on a two point conversion and, yet again, it worked.

Troy held a commanding 28-14 lead heading into the final 15 minutes. A BJ Smith touchdown run, his second of the day, put a dagger into the game early in the fourth quarter.

Georgia Southern added a score for posterity but the Eagles simply are not equipped to come back from being down multiple scores. A steady dose of Smith milked a chunk of clock and an eventful final Eagle drive yielded nothing.

When it was all said and done, Troy held the Sun Belt’s top rushing offense to 101 rushing yards on 3.0 yards per carry. Out of the 101 yards, 47 came on just two plays. The Eagles averaged 1.7 yards per carry on the other 32 carries.

On the other side, it was a career day for Whittemore. His previous career high in receiver yards was 26. He caught three passes for 110 yards against Georgia Southern.

Sydney Davis also had a career day, hauling in a personal best 10 passes.

The Troy win leaves the East down to one game barring disaster from either Troy or Appalachian State. Linebacker Carlton Martial isn’t concerned about the November 24 date, though.

“(We’re) keeping our heads down, focusing on what’s in front of us,” Martial said after the game. “Worrying about the task at hand and being where are feet are.”

4:00 ET- Food

Transitioning from the meat of the story to the post-game fun, here is the story of how Uncle Shug nearly had me on the side of the road in the pitch black middle of nowhere, South Alabama.

I ran a twitter poll asking Georgia Southern fans where I was going to eat following the game. The overwhelming answer was Gnat’s Landing. When I arrived there, the wait time for just me was 45 minutes. No thank you.

I decided to head down the road that took me out of town and stop at whatever I could recognize. I spotted a Subway, pulled in and noticed a different restaurant in the same building.

That fine establishment was Uncle Shug’s Chicken Barn. I knew this was a mistake, but I went in anyway. The food was well enough, chicken fingers with the “famous” Uncle Shug’s sauce.

However, for the last hour of my journey home, I felt like death.

9:18 CT- Finally Home

I died.