Tyler Sumpter made four field goals and the Troy Trojans held on to knock off Texas State 12-7 on Saturday night.

The win for the Trojans improves their overall record to 9-2 overall and 7-0 in Sun Belt Conference play.

“Survive and advance,” said head coach Neal Brown. “It was not a thing of beauty, but it’s going to count exactly the same as the one the week prior.”

The Trojans finished with 220 yards, only 79 of which came through the air.

Quarterback Sawyer Smith completed 13 of his 27 passes for 79 yards. B.J. led the Trojans in rushing with 94 yards on 24 carries. He became the 10th Trojan to rush for more than 1,000 yards in a season.

“I can give you a bunch of excuses, but here is the deal, we just have to coach better,” Brown said. “We have to give our guys better opportunities.”

Sumpter converted on all three of his kicks in the opening half to give Troy a 9-0 lead that would last until halftime.

The Troy defense forced five turnovers in the first half. They finished the game with six, the most since they turned ULM over six times in 2015.

“I just think we have good players,” Brown said. “We are covering much better in the secondary as we move through the year. A lot of credit to our guys.”

Senior Cedarius Rookard picked up two interceptions and forced a fumble. Tyler Murry also had an interception and recovered a fumble.

After Blace Brown picked off a pass, Tyler Sumpter tied his own record when he made his fourth field goal of the game to extend Troy’s lead to 12-0 early in the fourth quarter.

Sumpter’s fourth field goal tied his own record with four field goals in a game.

“He spends a lot of time on his craft,” Brown said. “We have had to kick more than I would have like, but he has come up clutch for us.”

The Bobcats had an opportunity to go down the field and take the lead in the final minutes, but a sack by Jarvis Hayes ad Travis Sailo brought the drive to an end. With all three timeouts remaining, The Bobcats elected to punt the ball away with just over 2:20 remaining.

They wouldn’t see the ball again as the Trojans ran out the clock to seal the win.

The Trojans will have the opportunity to play Appalachian State next Saturday with Eastern Division championship on the line.

“We have to get some guys healthy and we have to figure out a way to give us a chance next week,” Brown said. “We have a one-game season. It will not define our season. We’ve had a successful season. We have an opportunity to play for a championship. Thanksgiving week football. It’s one of my favorite weeks of the year. “

Kickoff is scheduled for 1:30 p.m.