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Trojans' Bayou jinx
Published Sunday, November 16, 2008
Photo by Troy Athletics
A Troy player reaches for the goal line in the Trojans’ 40-31 loss to LSU in Death Valley Saturday night. The Trojans blew a 28-point lead to the Tigers in the game. LSU scored 30 points in the fourth quarter for the win.
BATON ROUGE, La — The Troy Trojans rolled up a 31-3 lead on the LSU Tigers in Death Valley on Saturday night. The Trojans seemingly had the game won. LSU fans filed out of the stadium by the multitudes, and they missed a game the Trojans wish they could have back.
LSU scored 37 unanswered points to down Troy 40-31 in come-from-behind fashion, The cardinal corner of the stadium was stunned.
“The game was basically a tale of two halves for us,” Trojans head coach Larry Blakeney said. “We had our way in the first half and the first drive of the third quarter. Someone woke (LSU) up.”
Troy forced the Tigers to a punt on their first possession.
The Trojans got the ball on their own 12-yard line, and Levi Brown moved the ball down field with ease.
Brown connected with Patrick Cherry for the first touchdown of the game.
LSU responded with a seven-play, 27-yard drive that ended with a 52-yard field goal from Tigers kicker Colt David.
The Trojans next drive was strikingly similar to the first.
Brown connected on a 35-yard pass to Austin Silvoy to set the Trojans up on the one-yard line, and Kennard Burton punched in the Trojans second touchdown of the night with four minutes left in the first quarter.
The Trojans led 14-3 in a silenced Death Valley.
The Trojans added a field goal with 10:08 left in the second quarter.
Sam Glusman hit from 23 yards away to put the Trojans up by two touchdowns.
Terence Moore picked off LSU quarterback Jarrett Lee and raced 22 yards for another Trojan score to increase the lead to 24-3 with 6:46 left in the half.
Brown led the Trojans on a 10-play, 79-yard drive and hit DuJuan Harris on an eight-yard strike for a score on the Trojans’ first drive of the second half.
The Trojans led 31-3 with 11:13 left in the third quarter.
A sea of purple and gold faded to silver as the aluminum of the seats began to shine the reflection of the stadium lights as the LSU faithful were filing out by the thousands.
The crowd may have dwindled, but LSU didn’t give up.
“It shocked me when I came back out of the locker room and about half of the people had left,” Blakeney said.
The Tigers marched down the field in 13 plays worth 66-yards and punched in a touchdown.
Quarterback Jordan Jefferson rushed for three-yards and the score.
The Tigers next possession lasted only 1:18, and the Tigers drove 86-yards in five plays to bring the game within two touchdowns.
LSU scored again after a failed attempt on fourth down for the Trojans.
The drive ended with a touchdown run from Tigers fullback Quinn Johnson with 10:33 left to play.
“It was just one of those things that wasn’t meant to be,” Trojans quarterback Levi Brown said. “LSU’s defense is one of the best in the nation. I knew they would make a run at some point.”
Colt David hit between the uprights from 27-yards to bring the score to 31-27 in favor of Troy.
The Trojans went three-and-out on their next possession, and Will Goggins was forced to punt the ball again.
The Tigers started their drive on the 50-yard line, and a touchdown would give them their first lead of the game.
LSU marched in another touchdown.
This time it was Charles Scott who scored for the Tigers.
The Trojans could do nothing the rest of the game
Quinn Johnson punched in the one-yard touchdown after Charles Scott set up the Tigers after rushing for gains of 30, two and one yards respectively.
The Trojans were scarred with dropped passes, and time ran out on a Trojans comeback.
“I think we earned a lot of respect in this game,” running back DeJaun Harris said. “We’re a really good team, but sometimes we shoot ourselves in the foot. If we would’ve come out with a win we would have gained even more respect.”
The Trojans will put the loss behind them quickly to focus on winning a Sun Belt title.
“We’re all on ULL now,” Jorrick Calvin said.
The Trojans rolled up 340 yards of total offense in the game. Brown was 34-of-72 attempts for 316 of the total yards.
LSU gained 340 total yards, and 221 came in the passing game.
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Comments
Posted by COOTER (anonymous) on November 16, 2008 at 8:40 p.m. (Suggest removal)
You need to stay on the porch, little dog.
Posted by Invictus (anonymous) on November 17, 2008 at 8:13 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Whatever, at least all of our furniture isn't on our porch.
Posted by muledeer (anonymous) on November 17, 2008 at 10:40 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Another blown opportunity in a big show for our program. I am afraid losing the way we did may do harm to our progress, however at this point we can simply hope that doesn't happen. The coaches and players now need to totally forget that blown opportunity and focus on the final two games. We blow one of them, and we are sending a message to others that we are at a stalemate in our program's progess.
I am going to reserve my comments regarding the debacle of the 4th quarter because I love Troy Football !
Posted by chase (anonymous) on November 18, 2008 at 7:14 a.m. (Suggest removal)
I wished we had been beat 49-0 rather than just quit. I guess the coaches started the victory party too early. Got to keep coaching them up. Sad day for Trojan football. Remember FSU everyone. When you start playing "not to lose" then you usually do. Problem with the spread, you do not have a lot of options to keep the clock moving. Love the Trojans but I hope someone sees a piece of the puzzle is missing.
Posted by boochie (anonymous) on November 19, 2008 at 4:04 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Larry, you do a great job. Ignore these other "fans". They are obviously sunny side of the street fans -- ONLY!
Posted by TroyAlumna (anonymous) on November 19, 2008 at 8:37 a.m. (Suggest removal)
Seriously, you would rather have them lose 49-0 then them losing only 40-31? Sure it's disappointing that the game turned out the way it did, especially after the head start...But think of it this way....we all know you schedule a "nobody" team for one's own homecoming. Troy almost beating LSU at home---at their own homecoming shows that we are progressing impressively. I bet LSU won't schedule us for their homecoming again!!
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