MOBILE, Ala. - When everything is on the line on a football championship, Brandon Silvers stepped up and made a pass that resulted in a career-high 395 yards and rallied the Trojans with the final 18 points to beat South Alabama.
Brandon Silvers delivered the vital key strike on a 42-yard pass to running back Sidney Davis that moved his team towards a record of 6-1 overall and 4-0 during the Sun Belt Conference to the 1 with 1:22 left.
The South Alabama defense then allowed Jordan Chunn a free course into the finish zone, conceding the go-ahead score to preserve some time for a response and finally grabbed the championship title.
South Alabama coach Joey Jones said in the post conference that this final game was one heck of a college football game. He thought that his boys played really hard. A lot of good things happened on both sides but Troy was able to finish with a long drive at the end to win the ball game.
South Alabama led the score 14-0 early and 21-10 in the second quarter but could not hold on. The Jaguars crossed midfield two times during the second half, with the quarterback Dallas Davis sacked over six times.
They had a chance to win in the fourth quarter, after Randy Allen recovered a Troy shuffle at the USA 40. But after the Jaguars went 3-and-out, Troy drove for the winning score.
The victory also held bowl eligibility for Troy in the second year under Coach Neal Brown. The Trojans went with a combined 7-17 in year 2014 and 2015 but haven't been to a bowl since year 2010.
Coach Brown said that was really a big win. He also stated that there was a different flow at different times in the game and the students and the band did a tremendous job.
Attendance on Thursday was over 30,837 fans and it's the second-largest home crowd turnout in South Alabama program history.
