Pursuit of Troy Football Destiny: 13 Moments That Made 2022
2022 was undoubtedly a very special and much needed season for Trojan Nation. I think it is safe to say that this season ended in a way that was far, far above fan expectations.
Like all things in life, a little retrospection is necessary to make sense of all that came before. With that in mind, let’s look at the big or small moments that made 2022 a season to remember.
Note: these are in chronological order, they are not ranked.
#1 – Dec. 2, 2021: The Hiring of Jon Sumrall
2022 doesn’t happen unless Jon Sumrall is hired. Ask any Trojan fan and we knew a new coach would be able to have a winning 2022 with the roster talent left over from the previous regime, but only Jon Sumrall could galvanize the players, fans, and community of Troy in the way that he did.
Troy responded with an intensity that matched the new head coach. Without a competent leader at the helm, this season for the Trojans would have been a lot different.
#2 – Second Half Adjustments vs Ole Miss
Week 1 was set up to be a challenge from the outset. A trip to Oxford, Mississippi to face the #21 Ole Miss Rebels set a tough task for the upstart Trojans.
A first half field goal and a garbage time touchdown were the only scores for the Trojans, but that’s not where the focus needs to be for this game.
In what would have been a blowout for Troy teams of the past, Coach Sumrall’s staff went to work making adjustments at halftime.
Troy only allowed 169 yards and seven points in the second half. The defense even recovered a fumble and made an interception to stifle two Rebel drives.
This second half defensive shellacking of Ole Miss would set the tone for the season. The Mighty Trojan Death Machine would only allow one team all season to score 30 points.
#3 Miracle on the Mountain
This has to be one of the craziest moments in Trojan history. It hurt.
It really hurt to dominate App for the whole game, only to have victory literally snatched from us.
From beating Texas A&M to getting Gameday to winning on a last second Hail Mary, Trojans should’ve been prepared for a loss, if we are being honest. It was a storybook day for the Mountaineers and fate wasn’t going to let Troy mess it up.
Like most Trojans, I was initially mad about this one, but as the weeks went on, the Trojans got better and App got worse, the loss began to take a new shape. The loss seemed to have brought a renewed focus to the Trojan locker room.
Coach Sumrall has on many occasions late in the season cited this game as one of the most important, saying if Troy won, the team might not have learned how to better close out games later in the season.
Without the loss to App, Troy might not be 11-2 Sun Belt Conference Champions.
#4 Buddha Jones’ Scoop and Score vs Marshall
A 16-7 score sounds more like an out of control baseball game than it does the final score to a game of college football. But that was the game that Troy found itself in when the Thundering Herd came back to The Vet for the first time since 2003.
Had this game happened later in the year, when both Troy’s and Marshall’s offenses were a little more complete, this might have been a different type of game.
Defensive struggle doesn’t do this game justice. Discounting Troy’s two end of half drives, Troy and Marshall had a combined 24 possessions.
Troy only made it in the Herd red zone four times. Marshall was in Trojan territory twice.
Troy had three turnovers and Marshall had one, very big turnover.
Buddha Jones made a quick impact on the game. Troy had driven nearly 50 yards to start the game when the offense stalled out. Five plays layer, T.J. Jackson hit Henry Colombi at the Marshall 30 yard line, causing him to fumble the ball backwards.
Buddha Jones followed the play and picked the ball up at the 23 yard line. He ran untouched into the end zone and gave Troy the early lead.
Without this play, Troy’s defense might not have had the confidence to outlast Marshall, or at the very least go toe to toe with them.
One last point, Marshall ended the season ranked 7th in the nation in scoring defense, allowing only 16.17 points. Troy was right behind them in 8th, allowing only 17.54.
#5 Doege’s Debut vs WKU
Steve Spurrier once said, “If you have two quarterbacks, you have none.” Ever since my experience during the Carl Meadows/Julian Foster debacle in 2005, I’ve been especially cognizant of this through the years.
Thankfully for Troy, most of the quarterback battles since then have worked out, without especially bad results.
Coming into 2022, we knew something would be going on with the quarterback position with the return of Gunnar Watson and the arrival of Utah transfer Peter Costelli. But the arrival of Jarrett Doege seemed to excite Trojan fans, especially noting the type of player Jon Sumrall could recruit.
The fact that he was the active leader in passing yards and touchdowns didn’t hurt either.
To say Jarrett Doege had a normal college career wouldn’t be fair to the journeyman quarterback. He played two years at Bowling Green before transferring to West Virginia, redshirting in 2019.
He played in 2020 and 2021 for Neal Brown. He transferred to Western Kentucky to compete for the starting job there, but lost out to former UWF Argonaut Austin Reed.
From there, he arrived in the Wiregrass only a couple of weeks before the start of play.
Gunnar won the starting job for the Trojans and it didn’t look like he would relinquish it until Troy visited former Sun Belt opponent Western Kentucky, Doege’s previous stop. Gunnar went down with an injury in the third quarter and in came Jarrett.
Cliche as it may sound, the ending was straight out of a fairy tale. The score was tied at 20 and the Trojans needed to rally to get out of Bowling Green (Kentucky) with a win.
Doege threw accurately against the team that didn’t see him as a starter. He went 7/8 for 71 yards and 2 touchdowns to close out the 34-27 win for Troy.
#6 Running Out the Clock vs Texas State
There have been numerous times (2008 LSU comes to mind) when Troy had the win in hand, but failed to close out the game. Sometimes Troy starts playing too conservatively, and other times it plays too aggressively.
But this team has had a different makeup about them. Because of the second half adjustments throughout the year, closing out games became less of a hair-pulling struggle as in the past.
For a team that has only beaten Troy once ever, Texas State finds a way to have the Trojans’ number every so often.
The most notorious of these was the 2018 12-7 game. I shouldn’t (and won’t) say more about it, but the 2022 edition definitely gave me flashbacks.
After going up 10-0, Troy found itself down 14-10 in the fourth quarter. A Doege DimeTM to RaJae’ Johnson gave the Trojans the lead, but with 11:45 left in the game.
Plenty of time, it seemed, for the Bobcats.
Texas State took over after the touchdown and drove for 3 minutes before punting. The teams traded a couple of punts and 1 minute drives before the Trojans took over with 5:28 left in the game.
Sumrall’s team only gained 31 yards over 10 plays, but thankfully, the clock ran out. It preserved the Troy win, a 5-2 record, and most importantly, a 3-1 Sun Belt Conference record.
#7 Defense Wins Championships vs That School in Mobile
We always knew this game would be a challenge and one that would go a long way to determining the Sun Belt West Champion. Taking place in Troy’s Second City, the 8th Battle for the Belt ended up being the second closest game in series history, after the 34-33 Trojan win in 2013.
South Alabama’s Carter Bradley threw for 225 yards, but the Jaguars couldn’t find a way to pierce the Trojan defense. The Jags punted 7 times and only got into the Trojan red zone ONCE.
It was their second field goal of the game; the drive stalled at the Troy 14 in the fourth quarter. Their first field goal, which ended the second half, came from the Troy 23.
Credit to South though, the teams played about as even a game as could be expected from two stellar defenses. The difference happened to be the one time the defense broke down for either team.
After driving for 57 yards, DK Billingsley broke into the South end zone, scoring a touchdown on the first play of the second quarter.
That was all she wrote, and the Belt stayed with the good guys.
#8 The Comeback in Cajun Country
Even with the departure of Coach Billy Napier (and roughly half of the Cajuns’ roster), most people would’ve agreed preseason that the West was the Cajuns’ title to lose.
They won it every year from 2018 until 2022. Troy and South were considered dark horses at best in the division.
By the time, the Troy-UL game rolled around though, the roles had reversed.
Troy was riding a 7-2 record down to the swamp and Louisiana was playing to get back to .500. One would’ve expected the Trojans to make light work of the boys from Lafayette and head on back to The Wiregrass.
Yet again, expected results didn’t come to fruition.
By the time the third quarter began, the Trojans were down 10-0 and were shortly down 17-0. This was easily Troy’s biggest deficit of the season since Ole Miss when up 21-3 in game one.
But one of the constants of 2022 was Jon Sumrall and his staff’s ability to make second half adjustments. In the blink of an eye, the tone of the game—and its outcome—changed.
At the end of the third quarter, the rally began when Michael Vice caught a 3-yard touchdown pass from Gunnar Watson. With 12 minutes left in the game, Deyunkrea Lewis scored on a 35-yard pass from Watson.
Brooks Buce tied the game with a 37-yard kick of his own. Then the magic happened.
Troy was in the midst of what would end up being an 8-play, 65-yard drive, when it got to the Cajun 22.
It was 1st and 10 with 10 seconds left.
Super Kimani made a Vidal run for 22 yards, seemingly scoring as he knocked over the pylon on the far side of the field. The referee instead waved his hands over his head, calling Kimani down a yard or so short of the goal line.
But the crew called for a review of the play.
After what felt like a lifetime, the head referee returned to the field.
“After review, it was deemed that the runner was in bounds, in control when he hit the pylon,” he said. “Therefore, touchdown, Troy.”
15 minutes. 23 points. The Trojans took the lead for the first time that day with just two ticks left on the clock.
The PAT was blocked, but the Trojans stifled the final play to escape Louisiana with a win.
#9 All Hail the Tackle King, Baby! vs Army
Coming into the Army game, Carlton Martial only needed 20 tackles to break the FBS mark for most in a career.
The Mean Machine himself has had big tackle games before, but not many have been as big as this.
Many Trojans, including myself, circled this game as one that could definitely help Carlton get closer to breaking the record; the Black Knights’ option offense was the prime candidate for domination by this run defense.
We certainly didn’t think he’d break the whole thing in the Military Appreciation Game though.
Carlton unlocked another level as he played his typical style of fast and ferocious defense. He was all over the field against Army and found ways to stifle their defense and maintain pursuit late in plays.
He uncorked 22 total tackles during the game. This broke the FBS record (obviously), set a single-game personal best for Martial, and was one tackle shy of tying Anthony Rabb’s 23-tackle performance in 1999.
My favorite part of this chase was that even breaking the FBS record, Carlton was still 20 or so tackles short of breaking Troy’s school record (more on that later).
This was only Carlton’s second 20-tackle game in his illustrious career; the first was the 2020 Coastal game (21 tackles). The only other Trojan to have 20 tackles in one game is Brynden Trawick, a Troy legend in his own right.
To say Trojans have been lucky to watch Carlton is an understatement.
#10 Kimani Vidal Nearly Makes History vs ULM
Historically, Troy offenses have been known for their explosiveness, but for the most part, they have been dominated by the passing game.
The most recognizable names—Sim Byrd, Mike Turk, Omar Haugabook, Corey Robinson, Levi Brown, Brandon Silvers, Kaleb Barker—were all quarterbacks, and most accomplished their greatest feats through the air.
That’s not to say the Troy run game hasn’t gotten a chance to shine. DeWhitt Betterson, Eddie Brundidge, Jordan Chunn, Ted Horstead and many more all carried the ball well for the Trojans.
But for the most part, the stats never popped like they did for passers. Only five Troy backs ever ran for 200 yards in a game, and only one did it twice.
Then Kimani Vidal got the ball 29 times against ULM.
He ran for 238 yards and a pair of scores against the Warhawks, when the Trojans got the ball with three minutes left in the game.
Six yards would tie the single-game record, seven would break it.
First play, Kimani gets five yards. Just two yards would break the record.
Second play, Kimani gets ten yards! He breaks the record! But a holding penalty moves the ball back.
Third play, Kimani loses a yard. Three to go now.
Fourth play, Kimani gets eight yards! He did it! But an illegal shift kills the play.
That brings up fourth down, and the Trojans have to punt. Kimani Vidal ends the day with 242 yards, just two yards shy of the record.
That’s not to take away from Kimani’s impressive performance, though. Only one other Trojan ever ran for more yards in a game, and Kimani was now the sixth member of the 200-yard club.
Thing is, Eddie Brundidge ran for 200 yards in back-to-back weeks. There’s no way that could happen again, right?
#11 The 34-Point Fourth Quarter vs Arkansas State
If any Trojan fan tells you that they weren’t nervous going into the fourth quarter, then they are lying. Down 19-14, home field advantage for the Sun Belt Championship Game looked to be slipping away from Troy.
But one thing we learned throughout the 2022 season is that this group of players didn’t have any quit in them.
Kimani Vidal sparked the explosion when he scored a 7-yard run to cap a 75-yard drive, his second touchdown of the day. The 2-point conversion failed, putting the score at the heart-attack-inducing 20-19.
Less than two minutes later, The Mighty Trojan Death Machine responded when Reddy Steward lived up to his name and returned an errant pass 67 yards for a Trojan score.
Kimani added another touchdown with just over 8 minutes left in the game on a 12-yard scamper, putting the score at 34-19. Nearly four minutes later, Vidal scored again, this time on a 39-yard run. The score was now 41-19.
The final score of the game came with a minute left; Damien Taylor ran in for a 3-yard score, giving Troy the 48-19 win.
Kimani’s four touchdowns sealed the game for Troy and tied the record for most rushing touchdowns in a game by a Troy running back. Oh, and he ran for 208 yards, becoming just the second Troy player to ever hit the 200-yard mark.
Kimani missed out on history the week before, but in Jonesboro, he carved out his own spot in the history books.
While I do love winning and setting school records in The Vet, there’s not much like clinching titles and divisions in The Vault.
#12 Trojan Explosion vs Coastal Carolina
All season long, two things were constants
- Troy was a second half team.
- Troy’s defense was the cornerstone of the team.
During the Sun Belt Championship “Neutral Site Totally Not In Troy” Game, neither of those things were the case.
Outside of the 21-point first quarter vs App State, the Troy offense had not had a first-half showing like this all year long. Everything went the Trojans’ way (even in the rain) and Troy opened up a 31-0 lead on the Eastern Division Co-Champions.
The lead was built on the backs of DK Billingsley, who scored two rushing touchdowns; the hands of RaJae’ Johnson and Deshon Stoudamire, who caught touchdown passes, and the leg of Brooks Buce.
Coastal would score two touchdowns to bookend halftime, closing the gap to 31-13. Billingsley and Johnson added two more touchdowns to put the lead at 45-13.
Grayson McCall and Coastal added two garbage time touchdowns, giving us the final score of 45-26 in a game that was anything but close.
The Trojans broke their own record for most conference titles by whooping a braggadocious team that earned its spot in the title game on a technicality.
I can tell you firsthand the victory celebration after the game was unlike anything I’ve ever experienced in The Vet.
#13 Dell Pettus Done Killed That Man!!!!! vs UTSA
We could talk about the fumbleception.
We could talk the 18 unanswered points to end the game.
We could talk about the 12th win of 2022.
But I don’t want to talk about those things.
I want to talk about Dell Pettus figuratively murdering a man on national television.
The incident occurred in the third quarter when the Trojans were down 12-7. The Roadrunners were driving from their own 26 and looking to add to their lead.
UTSA made it all the way to the Troy 9-yard line when KJ “The Model” Robertson intercepted Frank Harris’s pass. As Cupcake ran down the sideline, a convoy of blockers converged ahead of him.
This was the type of blocking that defensive coaches pray for. Trojan defenders set up a…Trojan Wall…to block for KJ down the sideline.
Dell Pettus ran KJ down from about 10 yards behind him to lay out a UTSA offensive lineman at the 50, clearing the way for KJ to continue his return for another 12 yards.
Dell’s hit was national news during this game. Cole Cubelic praised The Mighty Trojan Death Machine for their ability to switch from defense to “heat seeking missle blockers.”
Rosie Langello with WSFA caught another angle of the hit.
We can’t stop watching either, Rosie.
In a way, this one moment encapsulates the season itself. The play was the catalyst for Troy’s comeback, and Pettus himself put in the hustle and effort to keep the play alive.
Troy won this huge game, and 11 others because all of these things came together: a coach who motivated his players, players who never gave up, and a gameplan that adapted to give Troy the best advantage.
Those factors played a part in each of these 13 moments, too.
These moments will be discussed for years in Troy circles. 2022 was a truly special season and I think I can speak for all of Trojan Nation when I saw that we can’t wait to see what 2023 brings us.