The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Eagles find right moves in finale
Georgia Southern denies Troy share of Sun Belt title.
STATESBORO — Georgia Southern’s seniors had one more game left in them, and at the end they got to dance inside their locker room.
The Eagles returned to what had been working all of last season and looked like the team many thought would contend for a Sun Belt Conference title.
There was little doubting the Eagles had that kind of potential Saturday at Paulson Stadium as they knocked off a Troy team that was hoping to claim a share of a Sun Belt title.
Quarterback Kevin Ellison played one of the best games of his career, wide receiver BJ Johnson made several game-changing plays, and the defense kept a prolific Troy offense in check, making a red-zone stand on the final two plays for a 28-24 win. So the obvious question after the game was, where has this team been all season?
“Days like today don’t happen, games like this today against good football teams don’t happen, unless the belief has been there every day,” said Eagles first-year coach Tyson Summers. “It’s not just something that magically happens in one day. Today is a good example of the seniors, when it could have been easy to go the other way, they didn’t.”
Georgia Southern’s defense kept the Eagles (5-7, 4-4 Sun Belt) in it early as the Trojans (9-3, 6-2) led just 10-7 at halftime. Ellison threw his first of two touchdown passes to Johnson, a 12-yard strike to the left corner of the end zone as Johnson won his battle against man-toman coverage.
The Trojans answered immediately with a nineplay, 82-yard drive that ended in a 3-yard touchdown run by Jordan Chunn, who scored twice and tied a school record for career touchdowns at 45.
The Eagles started the second half in an offensive rhythm that has eluded them all season. They drove 75 yards in seven plays, with Ellison breaking off a 23-yard run before keeping on an option and scampering 24 yards for a go-ahead touchdown.
After a Trojans three-andout, Ellison bounced wide right on the option, found the seam and sprinted 54 yards to the end zone, putting the Eagles ahead 21-10. Later in the quarter, the Eagles went for the kill, running a reverse pass that Johnson completed to Mike Jackson for a big gain that would have set the Eagles up deep into Troy territory, but the play was negated by a an illegal man down field penalty.
Georgia Southern punted, and Troy started its rally from there as Brandon Silvers threw a 16-yard touchdown pass to Tevaris McCormick to make it 21-17.