The Troy Trojans got exactly what it expected this past Saturday in Bowling Green, Ky. – a hard fought battle.

Despite playing a winless Western Kentucky team, which also has the longest losing streak in the Football Bowl Series (FBS), the Trojans needed to dig deep to pull out its seventh victory of the season, as the team won 41-20.

Troy led WKU by just one point at half time, 21-20, however thanks to a senior and a freshman the Trojans were able to pull away.

Freshman running back Shawn Southward played a huge role in the win, rushing for 139 yards on 19 carries and tied the school record with four touchdowns in a game in his first career start.

Senior defensive lineman Brandon Lang finished the game with 13 tackles and two sacks.

The win improved Troy to 7-2 overall and a perfect 6-0 in Sun Belt play, while the loss dropped the Hilltoppers to 0-9 on the season, extending its winless streak to 17 games.

“Always excited about getting a ‘W’,” head coach Larry Blakeney said at the team’s weekly press conference.

“We got the kind of game we thought we were going to get from [WKU]. I’m glad we got out of there with a win,” the coach added.

The win was the Trojans’ 10th straight conference win with its last defeat coming over a year ago to Louisiana-Monroe on Nov. 1, 2008.

The victory also improved Troy to 24-3 against Sun Belt opponents over the last three-plus seasons.

That .888 winning percentage against conference opponents ranks fourth best in the nation behind Boise State, BYU and Ohio State.

The Trojans will step out of conference play this weekend against SEC foe Arkansas with a scheduled kick off for 6:30 p.m.