Troy loses to Central Michigan

MOBILE — Levi Brown, DuJuan Harris, Jerrel Jernigan and the rest of the Troy Trojans put up a performance to remember in Wednesday’s GMAC Bowl, but Central Michigan and Dan LeFevour were just a blocked kick better.

CMU’s Vince Agnew blocked a field goal attempt by Troy’s Michael Taylor at the start of the second overtime, then Andrew Aguila nailed a 37-yarder to give the Chippewas a 44-41 win in a memorable GMAC Bowl at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

Brown topped the 4,000-yard mark passing with 386 yards, Jernigan went over 1,000 receiving yards with 154 yards receiving and Harris had the best game of his season with a 112-yard rushing effort and three total touchdowns.

Taylor, just a sophomore, drilled a GMAC Bowl record 46-yarder with 31 seconds left to send the game to overtime after the Trojans had blown a 12-point lead in the fourth quarter, but it wasn’t enough.

Troy lost its second straight bowl game in basically the same fashion — a blocked field goal in overtime after a double-digit lead. Last year in the New Orleans Bowl, Troy had the last shot to tie, but Sam Glusman’s kick was blocked by Southern Miss in a 30-27 loss. Troy led by 10 in the fourth quarter of that game.

The Trojans finished the year at 9-4, just missing out on an elusive 10-win season and a possible top-25 ranking. CMU finished 12-2.

“Right now, we’re hurting,” Troy linebacker Bear Woods said. “We had goals just like everyone does. We swept the conference, and that’s huge for us as a program. We wanted this win bad, but when we look back, we set I don’t know how many historical marks as a program.”

It was the first win by a Mid-American Conference team in a bowl in 14 tries. The Trojans led 31-19 after Harris’ 1-yard run with 8:01 left and looked to have the game in control, but CMU’s Antonio Brown returned the kickoff 95 yards for a score.

CMU got the ball back and scored on a 4-yard pass from the game’s most valuable player, Dan LeFevour, to Bryan Anderson with 1:17 left, taking a 3-point lead. But the Trojans drove and sent it to overtime on Taylor’s field goal.

“I had seen Mikey kick that all the time in practice,” Woods said. “I had all the faith in the world he would make it.”

The teams swapped touchdowns in the first overtime, as LeFevour scored on a 13-yard run and Shawn Southward scored on a 1-yard run for Troy.

After Agnew, the game’s defensive MVP, blocked the kick, Aguila, the game’s special teams MVP, hit his fifth field goal of the night for the win.

Antonio Brown had 403 all-purpose yards for CMU, including 178 yards off 13 receptions. LeFevour, one of college football’s most prolific quarterbacks ever, hit 33-of-55 passes for 395 yards with a score and an interception, which Troy safety Bryant McKissic picked off.

But Troy kept him in check until the third quarter, when the Chippewas scored their first touchdown at the 2:46 mark on a Brown 7-yard run, giving CMU its first lead at 19-17.

From there, it was all offense.

“I think Dan was a little uncomfortable most of the game, but he found a way to scramble and made plays,” Troy head coach Larry Blakeney said. “That’s a tribute to him and their offensive unit.”

Troy’s Levi Brown finished the season with 4,254 yards passing, Troy and Sun Belt records.

“It doesn’t mean anything at all because we lost,” Levi Brown said. “Not once did it enter my mind. I had no idea when or that I broke it.”

Jernigan, a Eufaula native, finished the year with 1,101 yards receiving.

The Trojans were the first Sun Belt team to go 8-0 in league play, but they defeated only UAB in non-conference games.

“We lost it in a way that’s not very fun to lose it,” Levi Brown said. “At the same time, I’m proud of our guys and proud of our team. I think we accomplished a lot this year. It stinks ending on a loss, but I don’t think it takes away from this season considering how we played tonight. Even though we lost, I think we played really hard and really well.”

First quarter
3:52 Troy 7, CMU 0: DuJuan Harris 9 pass from Levi Brown (Michael Taylor PAT). 7 plays, 71 yards, 2:57. Key play: Jerrel Jernigan with a 48-yard catch and run to the CMU 22 on 3rd and 9.

0:10 Troy 7, CMU 3: Andrew Aguila 28 FG. 10 plays, 48 yards, 3:48. Key play: A drop in the end zone by CMU’s Kito Poblah.

Second quarter
8:45 Troy 7, CMU 6: Andrew Aguila 35 FG. 10 plays, 80 yards, 2:59. Key play: A 41-yard pass to Kito Poblah to the Troy 16.

3:59 Troy 10, CMU 6: Michael Taylor 22 FG. 13 plays, 68 yards, 4:46. Key play: A double pass from WR Cornelius Williams to QB Levi Brown to the 7. The original call was an illegal forward pass, but Troy challenged it and won the review. It was a 17-yard gain.

1:20 Troy 10, CMU 9: Aguila 44 FG. 9 plays, 50 yards, 2:31. Key play: Antonio Brown with a 37-yard reception to the Troy 25.

Third quarter
13:10 Troy 17, CMU 9: Shawn Southward 1-yard run (Taylor PAT). 5 plays, 41 yards, 0:53. Key play: Troy’s Bryant McKissic intercepted a pass at the CMU 41 and DuJuan Harris took the carry to the 16.

9:47 Troy 17, CMU 12: Aguila 42 FG. 10 plays, 52 yards, 3:23. Key play: A 3rd down screen pass to Carl Volny gained 17 to the Troy 41.

2:46 CMU 19, Troy 17: Antonio Brown 7 run (Aguila PAT). 9 plays, 79 yards, 3:09. Key play: Cody Wilson with a 22-yard reception to the Troy 16.

0:23 Troy 24, CMU 19: Harris 6 run (Taylor PAT). 9 plays, 72 yards, 2:17. Key play: Jernigan with a 13-yard reception on 3rd down to the CMU 7 and Bruce’s 29-yard reception on 3rd and long earlier in the drive.

Fourth quarter
8:01 Troy 31, CMU 19: Harris 1 run (Taylor PAT). 13 plays, 85 yards, 5:02. Key play: Jernigan with a 23-yard reception on 3rd down to the CMU 13.

7:47 Troy 31, CMU 26: Antonio Brown 95 kickoff return (Aguila PAT).

1:17 CMU 34, Troy 31: Anderson 4 pass from LeFevour (Poblah reception on 2-point play). 11 plays, 85 yards, 3:05. Key play: Brown’s 30-yard reception to the 4.

0:31 CMU 34, Troy 34: Taylor 46 FG. 6 plays, 34 yards, 0:46. Key play: Jernigan’s 23-yard reception to the CMU 40.

Overtime
CMU 41, Troy 34: LeFevour 13 run (Aguila PAT). 3 plays, 25 yards. Key play: The TD

CMU 41, Troy 41: Southward 1 run (Taylor PAT). 5 plays, 25 yards. Key play: Jason Bruce’s 18-yard reception to the CMU 2.

CMU 44, Troy 41: Aguilar 37 FG. 4 plays, 6 yards.