Troy Closes Season in Dominant Fashion – Troy University Athletics

 
TROY, Ala. – Troy’s dynamic rushing attack was put on display Saturday afternoon as the Trojans closed their season with a dominant 52-20 win over Southern Miss at The Vet in Sun Belt action. The Trojans closed the season winning three of their final four games.
 
Troy (4-8, 3-5 SBC) finished the game with 266 rushing yards, its second-highest total of the season, which included a 166-yard, 3-touchdown performance from Damien Taylor. 
 
Taylor surpassed 1,000 rushing yards on the season in the fourth quarter, finishing with 1,010, while Devonte Ross exceeded the 1,000-yard receiving mark on the opening drive of the second half. Ross had five receptions for 70 yards in the game and finished his junior campaign with 1,043 receiving yards, the fourth most all-time in Troy history.
 
Taylor and Ross are the first duo to top the 1,000-yard rushing and receiving mark in the same season since Shawn Southward (1,012 rushing) and Chip Reeves (1,050 receiving) did so in 2012. It is just the third time in program history that Troy has had a 1,000-yard rusher and receiver in the same season.
 
On the defensive side, Troy shut down the Southern Miss running game, as it held the Golden Eagles to 31 yards and 1.0 yards per carry, which were both season bests for the Trojans. Tate Rodemaker passed for 234 yards with a pair of touchdowns for the Golden Eagles, but Troy picked him off twice in the fourth quarter as Ian Conerly-Goodly got his first interception as a Trojan on a 31-yard pick-6 while L.J. Green snagged the first interception of his career.
 
Southern Miss struck first with a 1-yard rushing touchdown by Kenyon Clay and a 2-point conversion reception by Kyirin Heath following a muffed punt by the Trojans, but Troy responded with 24 unanswered points to take a commanding 24-8 lead.
 
The Trojans put up 10 in the first quarter with a 6-yard rushing touchdown by Taylor and a 50-yard field goal by Scott Taylor Renfroe, the longest of his career. Matthew Caldwell passed for 187 yards and found the end zone on the ground with a 15-yard scramble in the second quarter. 
 
Taylor burst through the middle of the Golden Eagle defense for a 56-yard touchdown in the third quarter, while Southern Miss got back on the board with a 75-yard receiving touchdown by Larry Simmons. Troy killed the Southern Miss momentum on its next drive as Caldwell hit Trae Swartz for a 10-yard touchdown. 
 
Southern Miss found the end zone to start the fourth quarter with a 4-yard touchdown grab by Tiaquelin Mims, but Troy finished the game with three consecutive scores. 
 
The Damien Taylor show continued as he broke off a 35-yard score before Conerly-Goodly’s pick-six. After Green’s interception, Jordan Lovett scored the first touchdown of his career from five yards out.
 
Quotable – Head Coach Gerad Parker 
“Our players stuck behind us and kept an open heart and found a way to keep fighting and keep practicing. I said all season – if you saw the way these guys have been practicing, you would not believe that we have a losing culture. That showed itself the last five weeks of the season, especially in results, and that’s a testament to our senior leadership, our staff, and our upperclassmen leaders. I couldn’t be more happy with how it’s finished, winning three of our last four. That will build momentum for our current roster as well as in recruiting, and we’re going to fight to keep that going.”
 
Notable
• Troy improved to 6-8 all-time against Southern Miss. The Trojans have won four straight against the Golden Eagles and five of the last six. Five of USM’s eight wins in the series came between 1936-40.
 
• Troy improved to 42-4 since 2015 when rushing for more than 150 yards after tallying 266 rushing yards. 
 
• Troy finished the game with 52 points, its the highest scoring game of the season and most points against a Sun Belt or FBS opponent since Texas State in 2019 (63). 
 
• Troy rushed for five touchdowns in the game; it marked the fourth time in the last five games and the sixth time this season that Troy had multiple rushing touchdowns in a game. It was a season-high for rushing touchdowns; the Trojans had just 12 all season entering the weekend. It was the most by a Troy team since it had five against App State (all by Kimani Vidal) in the 2022 Sun Belt Championship Game.
 
• With an 11-yard gain on the opening drive of the second half, Devonte Ross became the sixth player in program history to reach the 1,000-yard mark. 
 
• Devonte Ross finished the season with 1,043 receiving yards, the fourth most in program history. His 76 catches rank as the fifth-most in a season in Troy history.
 
• Devonte Ross finished with five catches for 70 yards; he has five or more receptions in five of the last six games.
 
• Devonte Ross (receiving) and Damien Taylor (rushing) became the first Troy duo to top the 1,000-yard mark in the same since season 2012 (Chip Reeves, 1,050 receiving yards and Shawn Southward, 1,012 rushing yards). It’s just the third time in program history (1984).
 
• Damien Taylor scored his second touchdown of the game and sixth of his career after breaking out on a 56-yard gain.  
 
• Damien Taylor became the 11th player in program history to top the 1,000-yard rushing mark; it was Troy’s 13th 1,000-yard rushing season (Kimani Vidal and DeWhitt Betterson both did so twice). 
 
• Damien Taylor finished the season with 1,010 rushing yards, the 12th most in a season in program history.
 
• Damien Taylor rushed for 169 yards and three touchdowns on 23 carries; it was his fourth 100-yard game this season. Both his yardage and touchdowns were new career-highs, as was his 56-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
 
• Matthew Caldwell rushed for his fifth touchdown of the season to give Troy a 17-8 lead in the second quarter; his five rushing TDs are the most by a Troy quarterback since Brandon Silvers rushed for five in 2017.
 
• Troy ran 71 offensive plays; the Trojans have topped the 70 plays in five straight games; the Trojans had run 58 or fewer plays in four of the previous six games.
 
• Troy scored 14 points in the third quarter and 21 points in the fourth quarter; the Trojans have scored at least 14 points in a quarter in five straight games.
 
• Trae Swartz caught a 10-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter, the second of his career. Troy tight ends have a touchdown reception in four of the last five games.
 
• Troy held Southern Miss to 31 rushing yards and 1.0 yards per carry, which were both season bests. It marked the third straight game that Troy has held an opponent to less than 100 yards rushing.
 
• Troy recorded three sacks in the game; the 26th time over the last three seasons its had multiple sacks in a game. The Trojans entered the week ranked eighth nationally in the sacks. 
 
• Troy forced Southern Miss into five three-and-outs; the Trojans have now forced four or more three-and-outs in five of the last six games.
 
• Ian Conerly-Goodly intercepted Tate Rodemaker in the fourth quarter, marking his first interception as a Trojan and the second of his career. He returned it 31 yards for a touchdown, Troy’s first defensive score of the game. It marked the eighth straight season Troy had a defensive score.
 
• Troy moved to 66-6 when allowing less than 100 rushing yards after holding Southern Miss to 31 rushing yards. 
 
• Troy held Southern Miss to 290 yards of total offense; Troy has held 29 of its last 35 opponents to less than 400 yards. Troy has held 17 opponents to fewer than 300 yards since the start of the 2022 season.
 
• Scott Taylor Renfroe’s 50-yard field goal in the first quarter was a new career long; he made a 49-yard kick earlier this year against ULM. It was his first attempt from 50-plus yards in his career. It was the longest field goal by a Trojan since a 51-yard field goal by Brooks Buce at South Alabama on Oct. 20, 2022.
 
• Scott Taylor Renfroe scored nine points to move into 15th place all-time in Troy history with 174 career points scored.