What If? Changing the Outcome of One Game in Troy Football History
I saw a post by the Twitter account College Football Live which posed the question:
“If you could change the result of one game involving your team, what would you pick to change?”
Naturally, FBS games began racing through my head: 2004 LSU, 2006 FSU, 2008 LSU, 2009 Central Michigan, 2010 UAB, 2012 Mississippi State, 2016 Clemson and Arkansas State, 2017 South Alabama, 2023 JMU and Duke just to name a few.
While those games would’ve been huge in the context of a single season or the perception of Troy as a tough G5 program, one game from a bit earlier could’ve had bigger implications on perception and even potentially the trajectory of its move to FBS.
The 1990s were a boom period for the Trojans, carrying over some of the success from the Gailey/Rhoades years not lost during the Maddox tenure. The early 1990s were also a period of transition, both for the football team and the Athletics Department at large.
The football team hired Larry Blakeney, a former Auburn quarterback turned assistant coach to lead the Trojans into the new decade. You might have heard of him.
As for Troy Athletics, it was making the transition from Division II to Division I, meaning the football team would compete at the I-AA level (now FCS).
Blakeney and his Trojans took to it like a fish to water. In his first two seasons—Troy’s last two as a member of Division II—Blakeney doubled the win total from 5-6 in 1991 to 10-1 in 1992.
Blakeney’s Trojans kept up that consistency. Troy only missed the playoffs in one year of eligibility as a I-AA school.
Now if you are an older fan or someone who knows their history, thinking about this run you might have an inkling as to where the original question took me: 1995 Georgia Southern.
The Trojans were 11-0 going into the playoffs and looked poised to make a deep run, if not win it all. Sadly, Troy’s first undefeated season since 1912 was cut short when a GSU player intercepted a Jeremy Rowell pass with ten seconds to go.
Troy was down three, 24-21, and could’ve tied the game had the pass fallen to the turf. As such, the 14-seed Eagles bounced the 3-seed Trojans in the first round.
While this game hurts as a “What If?”, Montana was an absolute buzzsaw in 1995. It beat Eastern Kentucky 48-0 in the first round, blazed past Georgia Southern 45-0 in the quarterfinals and dismantled Stephen F. Austin 70-14 in the semis.
The Grizzlies edged Marshall 22-20 to take home the title. Simply put, if Troy didn’t lose to Georgia Southern, it probably would have lost to Montana, and I don’t like losing to Montana.
This thought process brought up another game which could’ve meant huge changes for Troy: 1996 Montana. If you clicked the link above, you know why this game stuck out.
The Trojans entered the playoffs at 10-1, only dropping the game against #7 Stephen F. Austin 13-10 in Nacogdoches. Troy was ranked #3 in the country going into that game and dropped to #9.
#4-seed Troy took down #12 FAMU 29-25 in the first round and obliterated #5 Murray State 31-3. Then they travelled up to Missoula and suffered the worst defeat in modern Troy history, 70-7.
The less said about it, the better.
Even if we changed this game, Troy still would’ve faced Marshall in the final—specifically Chad Pennington and freshman Randy Moss Marshall.
They were wire-to-wire #1. Going into the final, they outscored opponents 43.5-12.9. The most they allowed all season was 27 points vs Howard.
Their closest game all season was a 24-10 victory over #20 App State. Beating Montana would’ve felt nice, but beating that Marshall team would’ve been an even larger challenge.
That all leads me to my final choice, which takes us back to 1993 and a semifinal loss to Marshall. Troy’s first foray into I-AA football proved to be one of its most successful.
Furthermore, it proved that the faith in moving up a division was well-founded. Troy carried the success of its 10-1 1992 season into 1993.
Blakeney’s team started the year at #12 in the polls, before a steady climb with every win. The UAB win vaulted Troy to #9. The Northwestern State win pushed it to #8.
A win at Nicholls State pushed the Trojans to five, and Charleston Southern bumped the Trojans to #3. Snuffing the Liberty Flames put the Trojans at #2 in the polls… then a 21-21 tie with Central State dropped them back to #5.
Three straight ranked wins over #6 UCF, #24 WKU, and #15 Alcorn State (whose quarterback was some guy named Steve McNair) pushed Troy from fifth to fourth to first in the country.
A 52-24 drubbing of Samford completed the unbeaten season at 10-0-1 and secured Troy’s spot in the I-AA Playoffs. Though Troy was #1 in The Sports Network Poll, the #1 seed was given to 10-2 Georgia Southern Eagles.
The #2 seed was the 10-2 Montana Grizzles.
The #3 seed was 10-2 McNeese State.
The 11-0 Boston University Terriers took the #4 seed.
Georgia Southern beat WKU by two points before losing 34-14 to Youngstown State in the quarterfinals.
Montana lost to 8-3 Delaware in a shock first round upset, 49-48. Delaware then lost 34-31 to Marshall.
Boston beat Northern Iowa 27-21 in overtime to reach the quarterfinals before falling to Idaho in the Kibbie Dome 21-14. (Troy has never lost to Idaho in the Kibbie Dome, just saying.)
#3 seed McNeese State took down William & Mary 34-28 in the first round. In the quarterfinals, they met a tough Trojan squad who beat Stephen F. Austin 42-20.
Troy won the quarterfinal matchup against McNeese 35-28, moving on to a game with Marshall in the semifinals. This was not the Marshall of the late 1990s, but it was still a good team who came into 1993 as defending national champions.
From the outset, the game did not appear to go the way of the Trojans. Kelvin Simmons fumbled during the first series of the game at Troy’s 27 and Marshall punched it in five plays later.
A field goal extended the lead to 10-0 until a special teams miscue cost the Trojans.
Marshall’s Albert Barber blocked Brad Stevens’ punt and the ball was returned five yards by Leron Chapman for the score with 1:49 left in the first quarter. Marshall opened up a seemingly insurmountable 17-0 margin.
That didn’t matter to Kelvin Simmons. He threw two touchdowns to Stan Davis and Robert Kilow to cut the lead to 17-14. Ollie Quass tried a 30-yard field goal that would’ve tied the game at 17 all, but the wind caused the kick to miss.
Marshall only scored 7 in the second quarter and Troy running back Jimmy Godwin punched in the final score of the half for Troy. Marshall went into the break up 24-21.
The score stayed there, as temperatures dropped into the 20s and the strong winds kept both teams from scoring any points in the second half.
Winning the Marshall game would’ve put 12-0-1 Troy into the title game against 13-2 Youngstown State, the 1991 winner and 1992 runner-up. The Penguins played Marshall both times and beat Marshall in Huntington 17-5 to win the title.
Going into their semifinal matchup with Idaho, Youngstown was beating teams by an average of 30.46-15.46. Troy on the other hand was scoring 37.23 points per game and allowing 15.61.
I am certain that if Troy beat Marshall, it would have kept Jim Tressel from winning his second National Championship with the Penguins.
A I-AA National Championship would have solidified Troy’s position as the poster child of moving up divisions. Troy would have accomplished something that no other schools have: a national championship at every level.
When Delaware joins the FBS this season, it will be the first team that can make the claim. The Hens won five D-II titles and the 2003 FCS championship.
Sam Houston is the just the second NAIA team to reach the FBS level. While the Bearkats missed out on D-II titles, they tied in the 1964 NAIA title game and won the 2020 I-AA title outright.
Boise is the only other FBS team with titles at multiple levels, winning the 1958 JUCO title and the 1980 I-AA title. Louisiana Tech came close, with three Division II titles and a 1984 title game loss to Montana State.
Troy, Boise, Delaware and Sam Houston make an elite club, but winning the 1993 I-AA title would have put Troy in a class all by itself.
That is just my opinion on which game I would change. I’m sure you have a different idea so let me know in the comments or @BenOnSports on Twitter.