2017 New Orleans Bowl

2017

TROY SLAMS NORTH TEXAS IN NEW ORLEANS BOWL

NEW ORLEANS – Brandon Silvers accounted for five touchdowns and Troy’s defense recorded six sacks as the Trojans systematically dismantled North Texas, 50-30, at the Mercedes-Super Dome in the R&L Carriers New Orleans Bowl.

Troy set the New Orleans Bowl record and the school’s bowl record for points in a game against their former conference foe. The Trojans have now won nine of the 11 meetings between the two schools all-time.

Silvers was named the New Orleans Bowl MVP after completing 24-of-31 passes for 305 yards and four touchdowns, while rushing for another score. Silvers became the school’s all-time leader in career touchdowns responsible for with 87 as he passed Corey Robinson’s 84.

Troy (11-2) finished the season with 11 wins for just the eighth time in school history and the first at the FBS level. The Trojans have now won 22 of their last 27 games dating back to the 2015 season and are one of just 10 schools in the country with at least 21 wins over the past two seasons.

The Trojans, who were playing without eight normal players on its two-deep, wasted no time showing the Mean Green (9-5), the C-USA West Division champions, what they were in for.

Silvers completed his first 10 pass attempts of the game and Josh Anderson scored twice on the ground in the game’s first five minutes and 39 seconds. Anderson finished with a career-best 113 yards on 22 carries in the game. Damion Willis set a Troy bowl record with 11 catches while his 135 receiving yards were the second most in a bowl game in school history.

His second score followed one of three fumbles recovered by the Trojan defense. Jamal Stadom dropped Mason Fine for a loss 10 yards behind the line of scrimmage and Sam Lebbie fell on the loose ball.

Troy held North Texas to -8 yards rushing in the game thanks to the six sacks and 11 tackles for loss – the Trojans finished the season with 112 tackles for loss, a new school record. It marked the eighth time this season that Troy held an opponent under 100 yards rushing, a new FBS record.

Scoring Summary

TROY – Anderson 1-yard run (Sumpter kick), 10:55, 1st TROY – Anderson 2-yard run (Johnson pass from Silvers), 9:21, 1st UNT – Bussey 12-yard pass from Fine (Moore kick), 0:55, 1st TROY – Willis 7-yard pass from Silvers (Sumpter kick), 14:24, 2nd UNT – McDonald 56-yard fumble return (Fine rush fail), 5:49, 2nd UNT – Lawrence 13-yard pass from Fine (Moore kick), 0:49, 2nd

0-7 0-15 7-15 22-7 22-13 22-20 TROY – Silvers 2-yard run (Sumpter kick), 13:33, 3rd 29-20 TROY – McCormick 59-yard pass from Silvers (Sumpter kick), 10:28, 3rd 36-20 UNT – Moore 24-yard field goal, 4:26, 3rd 36-23 TROY – Johnson 20-yard pass from Silvers (Sumpter kick), 2:02, 3rd 43-23 TROY – Willis 10-yard pass from Silvers (Sumpter kick), 4:07, 4th 50-23 UNT – Smiley 17-yard pass from Fine (Moore kick), 0:28, 4th 50-30

Team Statistics

First Downs Rushes-Yards Passing Yards Passes Att-Comp-Int Total Offense Plays-Yards

NORTH TEXAS

22 25-(-3) 303 54-30-2 79-300

TROY

21 38-130 305 31-24-1 69-435

RUSHING - (UNT) Johnson 6-26, Smith 6-19, Tucker 4-10, Fine 8-(-58); (TROY) Anderson 22-113 (2 TD), Henderson 5-25, Barker 1-6, McCormick 1-5, Smith 1-4, Silvers 5-1 (TD)

PASSING - (UNT) Fine 30-54-2-303 (3 TD); (TROY) Silvers 24-31-1-305 (4 TD)

RECEIVING - (UNT) Lawrence 6-70 (TD), Bussey 4-64 (TD), Smiley 4-48 (TD), Johnson 4-31, Tucker 4-28, Smith, K. 3-22, Pirtle 2-18, Guyton 1-11, Jackson 1-6, Smith, N. 1-5; (TROY) Willis 11-135 (2 TD), McCormick 5-107 (TD), Johnson 4-39 (TD), Letton 3-18, Anderson 1-6