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The final score doesn’t signify it but the Troy Trojans (0-3) put a scare in the Big 10’s Iowa Hawkeyes (2-1) before ultimately falling 31-21 on Saturday, Sept. 14.

Troy struggled to move the ball at times but hung tough with Iowa for the majority of the game – even leading at halftime – before the Hawkeyes pulled away in the fourth quarter. Troy played without starting quarterback Goose Crowder and center Eli Russ again this week and a number of other Trojans were banged up in the game, including starting cornerback LJ Green.

After a scoreless first quarter, Iowa got on the scoreboard first when Kaleb Johnson scored on a 4-yard run with 11:12 left in the second quarter to give the Hawkeyes a 7-0 lead. Troy answered when Matthew Caldwell heaved a 63-yard touchdown pass to a wide-open Devonte Ross to tie things up 7-7 with 9:08 left in the first half.

Iowa retook the lead on a 42-yard field goal with 6:24 left in the half. The Trojans, however, struck once again just before the halftime break when Ross took a punt 77 yards for a score with 1:00 left in the second quarter. Troy would take the 14-10 lead into halftime.

Iowa retook the lead again with a 2-yard touchdown pass from Brendan Sullivan to Addison Ostrenga with 6:44 left in the third quarter to go up 17-10. On Troy’s next possession, Caldwell threw an interception on the first pass and it was returned 28 yards for a touchdown to stretch the Iowa lead to 24-10 with 2:30 left in the third quarter. Caldwell was also seemingly shaken up on the play.

Brantley native Tucker Kilcrease took over at quarterback on the next drive and heaved a 62-yard touchdown pass to Ross to cut the lead back down to 24-17 with 58 seconds left in the third quarter.

Iowa took over in the fourth quarter, however. Johnson added a 33-yard touchdown run with 12:05 left in the fourth quarter and Jaziun Patterson scored on a 39-yard touchdown run with 6:01 left in the game.

Troy managed just 24 yards rushing in the loss, averaging 1.1 yards per carry. Troy totaled 253 yards, while Iowa rolled up 462 yards with 283 yards on the ground. Troy was also penalized six times for 39 yards, while Iowa was shockingly not penalized a single time. Troy converted 4-of-12 third downs, while Iowa converted 7-of-13 third downs.

Caldwell completed 14-of-21 passes for 156 yards, one score and one interception, while Kilcrease completed 2-of-5 passes for 73 yards and a touchdown. Ethan Conner caught six passes for 50 yards. Ross caught five passes for 142 yards and two touchdowns along with punt return for a score, which was Troy’s first such touchdown since 2018. Ross amassed 219 all purpose yards and three touchdowns.

Jordan Stringer led the Troy defense with 12 tackles, one tackle-for-loss and one sack, while Brendan Jackson, Demaje Yancey and Ian Conerly-Goodley each recorded six tackles. Jackson and Yancey also earned a tackle-for-loss each.

For Iowa, Johnson rushed for 173 yards and two touchdowns on 25 carries, while Patterson rushed for 72 yards and a score on eight carries.

Troy is back at home next Saturday, Sept. 21, against Florida A&M at 6 p.m.