Ranking Every Battle for the Belt Game
While the rivalry between Troy and That Team in Mobile is still relatively young, many of the games have been nail-biters… definitely solidiying the Battle for the Belt as one of the best new rivalries in college football.
Twelve BFTBs have been played since 2012, pending the 2024 outcome. Troy has won 9 and The Mobilians have won only 3, which is notably less than the 9 Troy has won.
But how do the games themselves stack up? Let’s dig in.
#12) 2017 – 19-8 TSIM
The less said about this one the better. Joey Jones’ (and The Cats’) last win over Troy came at the worst possible time. The Trojans had just beaten #25 LSU and would finish a staggering 11-2, the best FBS season for the Trojans until 2022.
But it could’ve been so much more. Without the strange loss to the red, white, and blue school, Troy could’ve finished 11-1, the best season since 1995. Alas, they came out flat and played the worst game of the season against the rivals.
#11) 2014 – 27-13 Bad Guys
This one hurt twofold. First, it was the last BFTB for Troy’s legendary leader, Larry Blakeney. While the 2014 team did struggle throughout the year, the Belt should have been a game they fought hard for.
Sadly, one person’s nightmare is another’s dream.
Joey Jones earned his first win over Troy, ensuring that the rivalry wouldn’t be completely one-sided. While Troy was able to get a pair of Ryan Kay field goals and a B.J. Chitty touchdown via Dontreal Pruitt, the Ameri-cats led the entire game.
Troy never got closer than within 4 points of their opponents.
#10) 2015 – 24-18 Them
The second half of the only “streak” for the Mardi Gras revelers came in Neal Brown’s first season. This game was a much more back-and-forth affair in the beginning than the 2014 game. Troy took an 8-7 lead before SALA uncorked a 14-point run to go up 21-8.
Troy added a touchdown before the half, but would only add one second half Jed Solomon field goal to close the gap. While the result wasn’t what Trojan fans wanted, it was nice to see a more talented team compete with the rivals than the year before.
It was early proof that the Neal Brown experiment would pay dividends, but we wouldn’t have imagined all it would entail.
#9) 2021 – 31-24 Troy
Yeah, I’m not even going to sugarcoat this one. I have zero idea how Troy’s previous coach managed to go undefeated against the Felines. But this game is a microcosm of why he did not work out as Troy’s head coach.
South Al scored first, but then the Trojan offense woke up and unleashed the full might of The Mighty Trojan Death Machine, scoring 31 unanswered. Surely, the genius of the last guy’s offensive mind will hang 50 on them.
31-14
31-21
31-24
Troy held on, but didn’t score another point after the clock hit 4:55 left in the second quarter. Thus, the faults of the previous tenure were evident. An offense that could score points, but a plan that would falter quickly if the team didn’t score on nearly every drive.
#8) 2019 – 37-13 TROY
A tie game through the first quarter and into the second, Troy finally wrestled control from the Ratkillers. A couple of Tyler Sumpter field goals made it a 16-10 game at the half.
A Kaylon Geiger touchdown catch, a Will Sunderland interception return and a Trevon Woolfolk rushing TD allowed Troy to run away with the easy victory in the second half. This would be the Trojans’ biggest victory in the rivalry until the game that took our #3 spot.
#7) 2012 – 31-10 TROY
Every rivalry starts somewhere. This one began in Mobile as the Most Decrepit Stadium in America hosted the Trojans. Coach Blakeney showed why even in a down year, he was still one of the best coaches working.
Troy took a 10 point lead until the dying moments of the first quarter when the Floating Cat Heads pulled within three. Then the floodgates opened: two 2nd quarter Trojan TDs made it 24-10 at the half.
There was only one fourth quarter touchdown, giving Troy the final of 31-10. The score is even more surprising when you check out the stats and see that Troy committed 5 turnovers.
A 495-252 total yardage breakdown didn’t hurt either, setting the tone for the Battle for the Belt over the coming years.
#6) 2023 – 28-10 TROY
The 2023 iteration of The Battle for the Belt marked the sixth straight win over The Team With Multiple Decals. It was nothing like the 2022 version for Jon Sumrall’s squad. Where that was a defensive battle, this one was much more one sided.
Wideout Chris Lewis had four catches for 120 yards and two touchdowns. Lewis was actually the first Trojan to have three touchdown catches in a game since Eric Thomas in 2013 (more about that later). Quarterback Gunnar Watson went 19-27 for 271 yards, three touchdowns, and no interceptions.
The star of the night however was our Kingmani himself, Kimani Vidal. While Vidal’s 125 yards and 1 touchdown might seem like light work for the back, it was what that meant for him. He surpassed 1,000 rushing yards for the season, becoming only the second Trojan, along with DeWhitt Betterson, to have multiple 1,000 yard rushing seasons.
The final total yardage also put him at 3,468 yards for his career, giving him the most in program history, passing DeWhitt Betterson.
The defense clamped down on the Cats allowing them only 252 yards of offense. Their 155 passing yards was actually 133 yards under their season average. Their 10 points scored was 23.5 below their average for 2023 up to that point.
#5) 2018 – 38-17 TROY
Rivalry revenge is even sweeter than a regular rivalry win. This one was nothing but pure dominance by the Trojans. I can only assume that Neal Brown decided to bring in some of the points Troy didn’t get to score the year before.
It was 31-17 before the half. Just like the first-ever meeting, a late 4th quarter touchdown boosted the margin of victory to 21.
While only throwing for 158 yards, Sawyer Smith tossed three touchdowns (2 to Damion Willis and 1 to Deondre Douglas). B.J Smith ran for 170 yards, just missing a 200-yard game for his career.
#4) 2022 – 10-6 TROY
I don’t think anyone on either side of the Battle for the Belt will disagree with me saying that this was the most anticipated iteration of the game so far. Troy came into the game at 6-2 and SOAL was 5-1, in one of their best starts since they began playing real football.
Where other games had tons of offense, this became a backbreaking defensive match. DK Billingsley scored a short touchdown early in the 2nd quarter to finally get points on the board.
The Felines’ Diego Guajardo hit a field goal at the end of the half and another in the 4th quarter to close the gap. But the Mighty Trojan Death Machine shut down the opponent and a late Brooks Buce field goal gave Troy the 10-6 win in one of the closest games in years.
#3) 2020 – 29-0 TROY
What is worse than losing to your rival? Getting shut out by them.
What is worse than that? It leading to your coach getting fired.
Or maybe that’s actually better? Couldn’t tell ya.
Former Trojan player Steve Campbell was fired the day after his kitties got steamrolled 29-0 by his alma mater. This was the first shutout by either side in the BFTB and is the biggest margin of victory in the rivalry to date.
#2) 2016 – 28-21 TROY
This looked like a coronation for Troy on the season, until disaster struck. Jordan Chunn stepped out on what looked like a long touchdown pass and catch. On the next play, Deondre Douglas fought for more yardage and was stripped by Devon Earl who returned it 28 yards to the Troy 39.
From there, Southern Alabama would take a 14-0 lead. Troy clawed back to 14-10 in the second quarter before a Gerald Everett touchdown made it 21-10. Ryan Kay added another 3 at the end of the first half.
Crunch time started for the Trojans as neither team scored in the third quarter.
Troy scored on a Jordan Chunn run with 11 minutes left in the fourth. They would have been down 1, but Coach Neal Brown chose to go for two. A John Johnson reverse pass off of a jet sweep tied the game when Brandon Silvers caught the pass and dove in the endzone.
Jordan Chunn would put the nail in the Tomcats’ coffin with just 1:20 left in the game.
The air was electric. It’s still So. Bama’s second-highest attended game of all time, and the entire south end zone was filled with Troy fans, students and band members.
That was the night Mobile became Troy Territory.
#1) 2013 – 34-33 TROY
This is simply the game that made the Battle for the Belt a rivalry (though it wouldn’t fully form for a couple of years). After shellacking The Mobile Team at home the first year, Joey Jones’ squad brought the fight to the Trojans in their first trip to Troy.
Best of all, the game was Homecoming. Average attendance was down that year, but at the time it was Troy’s eighth-most attended home game of all time.
Both teams scored a touchdown in the first quarter, but Troy added 10 more in the second. The score was only 24-13 heading into the 4th.
Blue Bama closed the gap with a touchdown and Troy responded with a field goal, making it 27-19. Foosackly’s U added a touchdown at 2:51 left to make it 25-27 and again with what should’ve been a dagger for Troy: going for two and taking a 33-27 lead with only 48 seconds left.
The final drive started at the Troy 34. Corey Robinson threw a pass to Bryan Holmes for 11 yards, then another pass to Brandon Burks only netted Troy 7 yards.
This got the Trojans to their own 45.
Coach Larry Blakeney called a timeout with 25 seconds left. Robinson passed for 9 yards to Chris Williams and then again to Brandon Burks for 19 yards.
Troy set up at the SAlab 20 yard line.
Corey Robinson lofted a pass to the corner of the near-side of the north endzone with 7 seconds left.
Eric Thomas made one of the most spectacular grabs over two defenders… and sealed Troy’s win in the second meeting ever.
The crowd erupted. The home fans became ecstatic, the visitors felt heartbreak.
A rivalry was born.
Have a different order? Let me know in the comments or on Twitter/X (@BenOnSports) what changes you would make.