Troy blasts Alcorn State

TROY — There was no rust from Troy after the 16-day wait, only a red-faced Alcorn State team after the Trojans absolutely manhandled the visitors 65-0 Saturday at Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium.

Troy led 52-0 by halftime and rolled up a school-record 736 yards of total offense — 522 yards by halftime — in improving to 2-0 with a trip to Ohio State ahead next Saturday.

Troy had not played since its opener on Aug. 28 due to the game at LSU being postponed last week due to the affects of Hurricane Gustav.

The 52 points tied a school record for points in a half, set by the 1968 national championship team. Ironically, members of that team were honored at halftime of Saturday’s game.

“It was a game in which we knew we should win,” Troy coach Larry Blakeney said. “We knew we didn’t want to mess around.

“We wanted to make a statement early.”

The Trojans certainly didn’t waste any time.

It only took 1:06 for the Trojans to march down the field on the first drive of the game, scoring when Jerrel Jernigan caught a 10-yard touchdown strike from Jamie Hampton to culminate a 4-play, 63-yard drive.

Playing just the first half, Hampton completed 26-of-37 passes for 323 yards and four touchdowns. He did have two interceptions.

Hampton’s final throw of the game was perhaps his most impressive as he connected with Mykeal Terry on a 38-yard touchdown pass with just 19 seconds left in the first half.

“We had been working on that all week and I had been throwing it short,” Hampton said. “I just let it go and let him run under it.”

Terry also caught a 15-yard touchdown pass from Hampton early in the second quarter.

Blakeney was happy to see his quarterback unload the nice throw to end the half.

“I was really proud of the last throw at the half that Jamie made,” Blakeney said. “That was a great rundown by 81 — Terry. He wouldn’t give up on it.”

Besides the two TD passes to Terry and one to Jernigan, Hampton also connected with Austin Silvoy on a 9-yard scoring pass.

Back-up quarterbacks Tanner Jones and Levi Brown saw their first action of the year, splitting duties in the second half. Jones was 5-of-10 passing for 42 yards, and Brown was 6-of-10 for 56 yards.

Placekicker Sam Glusman was one of the busiest men of the night. He set a school record for points by a kicker in a game with 17 — three field goals (23, 48 and 41 yards) to go along with eight extra points.

And free safety Sherrod Martin tied a single-game school record with three interceptions — all coming in the second quarter. It tied him with four others: Chris Archie (1999), Jerome Crowe (1977), Tyrone Ferguson (1968) and Ronnie Shelley (1968).

“I had it easy,” Martin said. “All I had to do is catch the ball.”

The Trojans picked off six passes in the game, which also tied a school record. Besides Martin’s two pickoffs, Terence Moore intercepted two and KeJuan Phillips had one.

The Troy defense held Alcorn State to 120 yards — 72 rushing and 48 passing. In the first half, the Braves only managed 28 net yards (34 passing, minus-6 rushing).

“We were able to take control in the early stages of the game, especially on defense,” Blakeney said. “We were physical and fast and made a lot of plays.”

A 60-yard touchdown run by backup running back Maurice Greer was a highlight. He was the leading rusher in the game with 113 yards on nine carries.

“It felt good,” Greer said of the effort. “We had been practicing for 16 days and were tired of playing against each other.

“I wasn’t satisfied with how I played against Middle Tennessee. I just felt more relaxed tonight.”

Enterprise native Fernandus Edwards, a junior walk-on, followed with 79 yards on 12 carries, which included a 35-yard touchdown run at the end of the third quarter. He also caught three passes for 19 yards.

DuJuan Harris, the star at running back for Troy in the opener with 151 yards, ran for 39 yards on nine carries and scored on a 3-yard run midway through the first quarter.

Safety Daniel Sheffield and linebacker Xavier Lamb led the team in tackles with five each.

Starter Bear Woods, who had 24 tackles in the opener, was held out with a foot injury. Donnell Golden started in his place and recorded four tackles.

Scoring summary
First quarter
13:54 Troy 7, ASU 0: Jerrel Jernigan 10-yard catch from Jamie Hampton (Sam Glusman kick). 4 plays, 63 yards, 1:06. Key plays: DuJan Harris 22-yard run and Jernigan 22-yard catch.

7:31 Troy 14, ASU 0: DuJuan Harris 3-yard run (Glusman kick). 8 plays, 59 yards, 2:34. Key play: Hampton 20-yard run to 17.

Second quarter
13:38 Troy 17, ASU 0: Glusman 23-yard field goal. 9 plays, 25 yards, 2:39. Key play: Jernigan 14-yard catch to 7.

10:02 Troy 24, ASU 0: Mykeal Terry 15-yard catch from Hampton (Glusman kick). 7 plays, 70 yards, 2:01. Key play: Patrick Cherry 14-yard catch to 21.

3:18 Troy 31, ASU 0: Hampton 1-yard run (Glusman kick). 6 plays, 30 yards, 1:56. Key play: Sherrod Martin interception return to the 30.

1:34 Troy 38, ASU 0: Maurice Greer 60-yard run (Glusman kick). 1 play, 60 yards, 13 seconds.Key play: Greer’s run was the only play of the drive.

:35 Troy 45, ASU 0: Austin Silvoy 9-yard catch from Hampton (Glusman kick). 4 plays, 27 yards, 42 seconds. Key play: Terrence Moore intercepted a pass, fumbled, and Donnell Golden got the loose ball for Troy to set up the drive.

:19 Troy 52, ASU 0: Terry 38-yard catch from Hampton (Glusman kick). 1 play, 38 yards, 16 seconds. Key play: Troy recovered a fumble on the kickoff at the 38.

Third quarter
8:45 Troy 55, ASU 0: Glusman 48-yard field goal. 7 plays, 14 yards, 2:20. Key play: Tanner Jones completed a 7-yard pass to Fernandus Edwards to the Alcorn 25.

4:23 Troy 58, ASU 0: Glusman 41-yard field goal. 6 plays, 9 yards, 2:11. Key play: Alcorn was stopped on a fourth-and-6 when Sam Sellers recorded a tackle in the backfield for a 6-yard loss to give Troy the ball at the Alcorn 33.

:11 Troy 65, ASU 0: Fernandus Edwards 35-yard run (Glusman kick).9 plays, 53 yards, 2:57. Key play: On fourth-and-1 from the Alcorn 33, Jones rushed for three yards.