By Sean Holohan

Going into Thursday night’s game against an offensive powerhouse in Georgia Southern, Troy University knew they had to get out to a fast start.

And what better way to do so than behind the kick return abilities of Trojan wide receiver Chandler Worthy.

But on the game’s opening kickoff, Worthy — who tried to spin his way out of the arms of a tackler — fumbled the ball off of his own knee, handing possession over to the Eagles at the Trojan 15-yard line.

And it was Georgia Southern who got out to the fast start, scoring on the game’s third play to go up 7-0.

And the points kept coming from Georgia Southern Thursday, as they handed Troy their eighth loss of the season with a 42-10 victory.

Georgia Southern amassed 208 rushing yards in the first half, mostly behind the legs of quarterback Kevin Ellison and running back Matt Breida.

Ellison was responsible for three of the Eagles’ first four scores of the game Friday night.

Quarterback scrambles killed the Trojan defense, which had done a good job of defending the pass in the game, limiting the Eagles to just 40 yards through the air, but Ellison found several rushing lanes even when his receivers were well covered.

On the game’s second score, Ellison displayed his athleticism with a scramble for a touchdown after his attempted jump pass at the goal line was covered, putting the Eagles up 14-0.

Georgia Southern did not punt the ball in the first half.

The only non-scoring drive from the Eagles came on a fumble in Troy territory, but the Trojans had to settle for a Ryan Kay field goal, narrowing the score to 14-3.

Quarterback Brandon Silvers, who finished the game 3-of-7 for 10 yards passing, left the game in the second half with a lingering back injury, making way for backup Dontreal Pruitt to finish the game for the Trojans.

The Troy offense enjoyed early success on the ground, led by running back Khary Franklin who finished the game with 62 yards on the ground. Franklin scored the Trojans’ only TD late in the fourth quarter.

But the Eagles’ defense clamped down in the second half, and the Trojans finished the night with just 154 yards of total offense with just 13 of those yards through the air.