Trojans knock off Mean Green

Published 10:59 pm Saturday, October 24, 2009

The temperature during Troy’s game against North Texas may have been frigid but that slow down the Trojans one bit.

The team gave the 20,000 plus fans at Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium a lot to cheer for during the school’s Homecoming game as the Trojan delivered the knock out punch to the Mean Green before the first of half play could conclude.

Troy beat North Texas 50-26, thanks to 17 unanswered points to start the game and another 17 points in the second quarter that gave the Trojans a 34-7 lead at the half.

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“This was a great Homecoming win today,” head coach Larry Blakeney said.

“This was a game we thought we could win. Our guys took it seriously and we got with it early.

“We were able to generate a lot of offense and play well on defense,” the coach added.

This was the Trojans fifth straight win, improving its record to 5-2 overall, 4-0 in Sun Belt play.

The loss drops North Texas to 1-6 overall and keeps them winless in conference play at 0-4.

The offense, as it has been during the winning streak, produced early and often for the Trojans.

Senior running back DuJuan Harris got things started off in the first quarter with two rushing touchdowns in a five-minute span, while kicker Michael Taylor added a field goal to end the quarter.

After Mean Green running back Lance Dunbar reached the end zone, the Trojans with consecutive possessions that resulted with points on the board.

Maurice Greer had a 1-yard run into the end zone, Levi Brown connected with Tebiarus Gill for a 20-yard touchdown completion and Taylor added another field goal to give the Trojans a 27-point lead after two.

“I feels great when everything is working,” Brown said. “It just makes my job a lot easier.”

Heading into the third quarter, the story remained the same.

The Trojans came out firing on both sides of the ball, scoring 16 more points in the quarter, including a safety – the first for the Trojans defense since 2005.

However, late in the third quarter, with a Trojan victory already secured thanks to a 50-13 lead, another story began to take form.

Senior quarterback Levi Brown was quickly approaching the schools all-time record for most passing yards in a single game.

“I saw the stat come up on the scoreboard and knew I needed just a few more yards to break the record,” Brown said.

At the time, the quarterback has 430 yards, just 24 yards shy of the record.

“I told coach [Neal] Brown about it and he didn’t respond,” Brown said with a laugh.

On Troy’s next possession, on second down, Brown hit wide receiver Austin Silvoy for a 39-yard pass over the middle of the field breaking Sim Byrd’s 41-year Trojan record for most passing yards in the game.

“It is a tremendous honor to have,” Brown said after the game about breaking the record.

For the game, Brown completed 27 of his 44 passes for 469 yards and one touchdown in just three quarters as he was taken out after breaking the record.

As a whole, the Trojan offense produced 697 yards of total offense and 29 first downs.

205 of those yards coming on the ground thanks to Harris who finished with 66 yards and two touchdowns on 12 carries and D.J. Taylor who had 52 yards on just six carries.

The defense allowed 395 yards to the Mean Green and 26 points, 13 of which were scored in the fourth quarter.

“I could definitely see a different story playing out, I wasn’t sure exactly what to expect from [North Texas] coming into the game,” Blakeney said.

“This was a game I think a lot of people expected us to win. We seized control of momentum early and held on to it for the rest of the game.

“It’s a great feeling to start to figure out a way to burn the rest of the clock out,” Blakeney said about having a double-digit lead in the second half. “We got some good work from everyone today.”

This was the Trojans 12 straight Homecoming wins and the win also improves the Troy’s record to 6-1 against North Texas.