Beware the Havoc of Troy: The Trojans’ Biggest Blowouts
Since sometime in the late 1990s or early 2000s, the battle cry of “Cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war” has rang out through Veterans Memorial Stadium during the Sound of the South’s pregame show. The phrase was coined by William Shakespeare in his 1599 play Julius Caesar.
Marc Antony utters the phrase, calling on the people of Rome to fight for revenge after Caesar was killed March 15th, or the Ides of March. Historically, the phrase was meant to tell soldiers that they were free to cause chaos and fight as hard as they could to defeat the enemy as soundly as possible.
In the classical sense, the Troy-Rome connection is only made through the Aeneid, but there have been several examples when the Trojans of Troy University truly let slip the dogs of war.
I looked for the examples of Troy’s biggest beatdowns on opponents. The easiest way to look at it was counting margin of victory. By this metric, there were 44 games throughout Troy football history where Havoc was the game plan.
The greatest Havoc Game belongs in a category all to itself. The largest margin of victory in Troy’s history came on November 16, 1968 when Troy beat the absolute brakes off of Concord. Sim Byrd and company let loose for a 76-0 win, setting numerous offensive records.
The next category of Havoc is the five 60+ point games.
Back in 1927, the Normals beat Maxwell Field 68-0, an outing in 2008 saw the Trojans torch Alcorn State 65-0, and the Trojans demolished West Alabama 64-0 in 1979. Poor hapless Savannah State came to the Wiregrass in 2013, leaving with a 66-3 loss and a paycheck.
The final 60+ point margin of victory came back in 1932 when Troy Normal beat Southern Union 62-0.
Troy’s twelve 50+ margins of victory ran the gamut through the decades, starting in 1922… the first big win in Troy history and ending with the only 50+ win of the Chip Lindsey era.
The final 25 of Troy’s 44 Havoc Games were all decided by a 40+ point margin of victory, that is from 40-49 points. The first 40+ point win happened all the way back in 1923 and the last was in 2016.
Troy has had at least one Havoc Game in every decade since the 1920s. In the 1950s, Troy only had one. There has only been one Havoc game so far in the 2020s, but I have a feeling that will change under Coach Sumrall.
This should serve as evidence to all opponents to beware Troy or we will cry Havoc, and let slip the dogs of war.