Troy takes control of Sun Belt

TROY — Jerrel Jernigan could only watch last year’s loss at UL-Monroe in the training room in Troy, rehabbing the knee he injured just the week before.
Saturday, he let the Warhawks know what they missed.

Jernigan set career highs in receptions and yardage as Troy knocked off ULM 42-21 to take sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt. Troy has won six in a row after two losses to start the year and is 5-0 in league play. ULM is 4-4, 3-1.

Jernigan, a junior from Eufaula, caught 13 passes for 203 yards and a 41-yard touchdown pass in the third quarter that bounced off a ULM defender’s helmet. He had already passed the 100-yard mark in Troy’s first two series.

“We had to win the man-to-man matchups, and that’s exactly what we did,” Jernigan said. “We won on some big plays. When I see a linebacker over me, I know I’m faster than him, so I give him a jab step and get out of the way.”

Jernigan’s 41-yard touchdown pass put Troy up 35-14 in the third quarter. It was the fourth touchdown pass of the day from Levi Brown, which was a career high, but that was the play of the day offensively because of the way it unfolded.

“If they wouldn’t have touched it, it would have been a touchdown anyway because nobody was in the middle of the field,” Jernigan said. “When the guy touched it, I saw it in the air, so my reaction was to go up and go get it.”

Brown had another stellar day, throwing for 378 yards on 28 of 41 passes. He didn’t throw an interception and has thrown 225 straight passes without an interception, the second-longest active streak behind Utah State’s Diondre Borel (226). The NCAA record is 379 from North Carolina State’s Russell Wilson.

Brown also threw touchdown passes to Josh Jarboe (16), Chip Reeves (33) and Andrew Davis. After Jarboe’s score and a 2-yard run from DuJuan Harris, Troy had a 14-0 lead after its first two drives.

The performance in the pass game was especially big because ULM wouldn’t let Troy get anything going on the ground, holding the Trojans to 50 yards on 26 carries.

“I know some teams already this season have had success throwing the ball on them, but not a lot of success running,” Brown said. “That pattern repeated itself tonight. Obviously we didn’t run the ball real well, but luckily we were able to throw it.”

Jernigan could get the Sun Belt’s award for Offensive Player of the Week, which is voted on by league media. Brown has won the award three times.

“I hope he gets it,” Brown said. “He hasn’t gotten one this year, so I’d say he deserves it. He’s got my vote.”

ULM handed Troy a 31-30 loss last year for the Trojans’ only conference loss. Jernigan and star linebacker Bear Woods were absent from that game because of injuries. Woods had eight tackles and 1.5 tackles for loss and was in on a sack.

“They were a target on our schedule because of what happened last year,” Troy head coach Larry Blakeney said. “A couple of guys that didn’t show up last year showed up tonight. Bear Woods and Jerrel Jernigan made a difference.”

Troy was in control for the game, though ULM cut the lead to 14-7 in the second quarter before Reeves’ touchdown came on a flea flicker. A special teams miscue, where punter Will Goggans bobbled a snap and gave ULM the ball at the Troy 33, resulted in a 3-yard touchdown pass from Cody Wells to Alvin Jordan to cut the halftime lead to 21-14, but the Trojans scored twice in the third quarter on the touchdown passes to Davis and Jernigan to extend the lead.

After a late third-quarter ULM score, Troy linebacker Boris Lee ran back an interception 30 yards for a score with 1:20 left in the game. Cornerback Bryan Willis and linebacker Donnell Golden also had interceptions for Troy.

Wells, a redshirt freshman from Hoover, hit 23-of-36 passes for 279 yards and three touchdowns, but he threw the three interceptions and lost a fumble. He was on the way to the training room on the second floor of Movie Gallery Stadium after the game.

“When we get in the passing situations, (the front four) is coming,” Woods said. “It’s awesome.”

Troy is at winless Western Kentucky next Saturday for a 4 p.m. game.

First quarter
12:48 Troy 7, ULM 0: DuJuan Harris 2 run (Michael Taylor PAT). 7 plays, 60 yards, 2:12. Key play: Jerrel Jernigan with a 13-yard reception on 3rd and long to the ULM 3.

7:48 Troy 14, ULM 0: Josh Jarboe 16 pass from Levi Brown (Taylor PAT). 8 plays, 66 yards, 2:52. Key play: Jernigan with an 18-yard reception on 4th and 5 to the ULM 16.

Second quarter
7:59 Troy 14, ULM 7: Darrell McNeal 7 pass from Cody Wells (Radi Jabour PAT). 4 plays, 49 yards, 1:55. Key play: Frank Goodin ran for 37 yards to the Troy 12 on the first play.

6:56 Troy 21, ULM 7: Chip Reeves 33 pass from Brown (Taylor PAT). 3 plays, 49 yards, 1:03. Key play: Jernigan returned the kickoff 41 yards to the ULM 49.

0:07 Troy 21, ULM 14: Alvin Jordan 3 pass from Wells (Jabour PAT). 5 plays, 33 yards, 0:29. Key play: ULM took over at the Troy 33 after a botched snap on a punt.

Third quarter
9:09 Troy 28, ULM 14: Andrew Davis 22 pass from Brown (Taylor PAT). 7 plays, 87 yards, 2:29. Key play: Dantavious Parker’s 11-yard run on 3rd down to the ULM 22.

2:35 Troy 35, ULM 14: Jernigan 41 pass from Brown (Taylor PAT). 6 plays, 82 yards, 1:49. Key play: The touchdown, which came on a deflected pass.

0:00 Troy 35, ULM 21: McNeal 26 pass from Wells (Jabour PAT). 6 plays, 78 yards, 2:35. Key play: A 21-yard pass to Alvin Jordan was ruled incomplete but changed to complete after a review.

Fourth quarter
1:20 Troy 42, ULM 21: Boris Lee 30 yard INT return (Taylor PAT)