The Trojans have fallen two games under .500 for the first time in four years, but despite their bowl fates hanging in the balance, Troy continue to stay positive.

The Trojans’ last-minute loss to Coastal Carolina was a gut punch that would have sent most teams to the mat. The Trojans however, needing to win three of their final four games to become bowl eligible, are still not hitting the panic button.

“We’re still together as a team, unified and just trying to go to work every day and improve and get better,” head coach Chip Lindsey said. “That’s really the only choice we have and there are no excuses. We just haven’t won the games when we could have. I think our team is led by older kids that have played some and continue to fight. I think that’s been the message: ‘Hey, let’s go back to work and finish this thing out the right way.’

The Trojans have played in their fair share of tight games this season. In three of their losses, the Trojans fell by seven points or less.

“Losing’s not fun for sure,” Lindsey said. “I think our guys are frustrated some. We’ve lost some close games, I think three by 12 points, which is unbelievable, but it’s one of those situations where no one is pointing the finger.”

“We’re 13 points away from being 6-2,” Trojans center Dylan Bradshaw said. “That’s the toughest part. The part, as a team right now, we’re trying to figure out is how to finish these close games. Every game we’ve lost in the fourth quarter, sometimes you win some, you lose some, but we’ve lost three of them this year.”

Despite falling in the standings, the Trojans still have games left to improve their chances of getting to a bowl game. Despite a tough schedule down the stretch, the Trojans believe it’s doable.

“We can beat anybody left on our schedule,” Bradshaw said. “When you’re a leader of a team as I am, it’s nice to see that your guys respond that way. They don’t respond in a pessimistic mood. You don’t want guys giving up at this point. Just because some of our goals that we put into place to begin the season are now out of reach, it does not mean that our season is deemed a failure.”

If nothing else, the Trojans hope to continue to build for the future, while at the same time playing for this year’s seniors.

“I think that this is, for the seniors right now, we want to send those guys out in a good way,” Bradshaw said. “We want to go to a bowl game for them. We want to finish the season right for them. We want to knock off some of our opponents who are higher ranked in the division.

“I do want to see how these guys fight. A lot of the morale that we leave this season with can be transcended into the offseason.”