Troy shuts down Herd offense, 16-7

Published 10:23 am Sunday, September 25, 2022

TROY, Ala. (AP) — Buddha Jones returned a fumble 23 yards for Troy’s only touchdown, Brooks Buce kicked three field goals and Troy defeated Marshall 16-7 on Saturday night.

Troy’s Gunnar Watson threw for 321 yards to go over 5,000 for his career. Tez Johnson and Jabre Barber both had over 100 yards receiving with each setting up fourth-quarter field goals with big gains after receptions.

Jones’ touchdown came after T.J. Jackson strip-sacked Henry Colombi for a 7-0 lead and Buce added a field goal in the first quarter which came on a drive that included a 63-yard Johnson reception, 51 yards coming after the catch.

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Khalan Laborn had 113 yards, his fourth straight game over 100, and scored on a 14-yard run in the third quarter, the only touchdown for the Thundering Herd (2-2, 0-1 Sun Belt).

Johnson had 39 yards after the catch for a 58-yard reception and Barber went 40 yards after a reception in the final quarter to set up Buce. Johnson had 121 yards on just two receptions and Barber 101 on four. Of Watson’s 321 yards passing, 233 came on yards after the catch.

Carlton Martial of Troy (2-2, 1-1) had 17 tackles — four solo — giving him 474 to become the Sun Belt’s all-time leader

Marshall didn’t go over 100 yards either passing or rushing and was outgained 418-169. The Herd came in with the nation’s sixth-ranked rushing offense at 263.3 per game.

Marshall 0 0 7 0 7
Troy 10 0 0 6 16

First Quarter

TROY_B.Jones 23 fumble return (Buce kick), 10:51.

TROY_FG Buce 40, 5:31.

Third Quarter

MRSH_Laborn 14 run (Verhoff kick), 4:25.

Fourth Quarter

TROY_FG Buce 25, 7:43.

TROY_FG Buce 28, 3:18.

A_27,514.

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MRSH TROY
First downs 15 13
Total Net Yards 174 421
Rushes-yards 48-96 31-100
Passing 78 321
Punt Returns 2-6 1-7
Kickoff Returns 2-37 0-0
Interceptions Ret. 1-0 0-0
Comp-Att-Int 11-21-0 15-25-1
Sacked-Yards Lost 5-51 3-18
Punts 9-40.556 4-35.5
Fumbles-Lost 1-1 2-2
Penalties-Yards 7-64 8-69
Time of Possession 30:56 29:04

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INDIVIDUAL STATISTICS

RUSHING_Marshall, Laborn 30-118, Turner 2-10, E.Horton 1-3, E.Payne 2-0, Fancher 7-(minus 3), Colombi 6-(minus 32). Troy, Billingsley 14-85, Vidal 9-34, Ja.Woods 3-0, (Team) 1-(minus 1), Watson 4-(minus 18).

PASSING_Marshall, Colombi 8-13-0-49, Fancher 3-7-0-29, (Team) 0-1-0-0. Troy, Watson 15-25-1-321.

RECEIVING_Marshall, McMillan 3-37, Keaton 2-18, Laborn 2-15, J.Harrison 2-3, Ahmed 1-5, Gammage 1-0. Troy, Vidal 5-40, Barber 4-101, T.Johnson 2-121, Stoudemire 2-5, Rogers 1-50, R.Johnson 1-4.

MISSED FIELD GOALS_Marshall, Verhoff 34.