Troy edges out Texas State, 17-14

The Sun Belt West Division lead was up grabs as Texas State traveled to Alabama to battle the Troy Trojans.

Not only was the division lead at stake but the Bobcats were looking to end a 10-game losing streak to the Trojans and nab their first victory at Troy in school history.

With both defenses playing at a high level, it was going to take one offensive opportunity to seal the win.

Unfortunately for the Bobcats, it was the Trojans who sealed the deal.

Trailing 14-10 early in the fourth quarter, Troy quarterback Jarrett Doege found RaJae Robinson for the 23 yard touchdown to take the lead and hold on to a 17-14 win over Texas State.

Being the opposite of an offensive shootout, head football coach Jake Spavital had an inkling it was going to be a challenge playing against the type of game the Trojans want to force their opponents in.

“We knew that it was going to be a low-scoring game,” head coach Jake Spavital said. “That’s the style of play that (Troy has). It’s going to be a ball-control type deal. They don’t beat teams by scoring points, they beat teams by managing the game. We all thought it was going to be 21-17 going into the fourth quarter. It’s going to be a low-scoring game anyway. And we needed to finish it off the right way.”

It was another standout performance by the Texas State defense which held the Trojans to just 17 points — the third lowest output by the Troy offense this season.

However it was the execution of the offense that hindered the Bobcats in the end and let Troy take advantage of the Texas State miscues that ultimately doomed the team.

“The defense put us in a lot of great positions throughout the game and we (didn’t) execute with five minutes to go and they ran the clock out with the four-minute drill,” Spavital said.  “That’s what I’m talking about with where we’re at. I don’t question the fight. I don’t question the effort, ever, with these guys. When we got to the end of the game, they made more plays than we did in those moments. It’s frustrating, but I’m always proud of their fight.”

One of the miscues came in Texas State’s final drive as they tried to retake the lead late in the fourth quarter.

Facing third down and five, quarterback Layne Hatcher threw the ball towards wide receiver Ashtyn Hawkins.

However, there appeared to be a miscommunication between the receiver and the quarterback as Hawkins didn’t see the ball coming leading to fourth down and a Bobcat punt.

The mistake proved to be Texas State’s undoing as the Bobcats didn’t touch the ball for the rest of the game as Troy held on to the ball for the final five minutes of the game to run the clock out.

“At the end of the day, they won a couple one-on-one battles, but we made too many mistakes and mental mistakes when it mattered,”  “Especially in the fourth quarter, especially in situational downs. You look at the stat book of everything, it was even across the board, but they made more plays when it mattered. That’s a test of them being a good football team, and we got to be better at that, especially in critical moments.”

Texas State looks to rebound from the loss to the friendly confines of San Marcos as it squares off against Southern Miss on homecoming.

Kickoff is at 6 p.m. Saturday night at Bobcat Stadium.