Getting your Trinity Audio player ready...

It was a long night for the Troy Trojans (1-5, 0-2) on Thursday, Oct. 3, falling to the Texas State Bobcats (2-2, 1-0) by a score of 38-17 in a Sun Belt Conference game airing nationally on ESPN2.

The loss was Troy’s first to Texas State since 1997 and just the second loss to the Bobcats in school history. Troy’s 1-5 start to the season is the Trojans’ worst start since going 1-5 in the first six games in 2015, Neal Brown’s first season at the helm.

Troy came in to the game banged up, missing a number of starters. Quarterback Goose Crowder, defensive tackle Luis Medina, tight end Ethan Conner, spear Devin Lafayette and cornerback LJ Green were all inactive for the Thursday night matchup due to injury. The Trojans also suffered a number of other injuries throughout the contest.

Brantley native Tucker Kilcrease earned his first career start at quarterback for the Trojans but he and Mathew Caldwell alternated drives for much of the first half.

Texas State, though, wasted no time getting on the scoreboard as running back Ismail Mahdi scored on a 1-yard run on the first drive of the game to put the Bobcats up 7-0 early. Texas State went up 14-0 after quarterback Jordan McCloud threw a 10-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Williams with 2:05 left in the period. Kilcrease coughed up a fumble on Troy’s third drive leading to the second Bobcat score.

In the second quarter, Kilcrease started to move the ball with the Trojan offense and put Troy on the scoreboard with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Mojo Dortch with 10:52 left in the half. The score was Dortch’s first touchdown as a Trojan and came after a 33-yard pass to Landon Parker earlier in the drive. The touchdown cut Texas State’s lead to 14-7. Kilcrease remained at quarterback of the remainder of the game.

Texas State answered, however, with a 51-yard touchdown pass from McCloud to a wide open Kole Wilson to extend the lead to 21-7. Troy’s Scott Taylor Renfroe booted a 42-yard field goal late in the half to cut the lead to 21-10 at halftime. Troy also had a prospective drive late in the half inside the Bobcat 10-yard line but a Peyton Higgins fumble ended that scoring opportunity.

In the third quarter, Texas State added a 28-yard touchdown pass from McCloud to Joey Hobert and a 53-yard field goal to take a 31-10 lead. Late in the third, the Bobcats scored again on a 42-yard run from McCloud to take a 38-10 lead into halftime.

Troy got back on the scoreboard with a 19-yard pass from Kilcrease to Devonte Ross with 3:28 left in the third quarter to cut the lead to 38-17. That was as close as Troy would get the score, however.

Troy managed 331 yards of offense, while Texas State rolled up 467 yards including 215 yards on the ground. Troy also turned the ball over twice.

In his first career start, Kilcrease completed 17-of-28 passes for 249 yards and two touchdowns. Parker caught five passes for 83 yards and Higgins caught five passes for 76 yards. Zeriah Beason also grabbed three catches for 54 yards. Damien Taylor rushed for 63 yards on 11 caries.

Jordan Stringer led the Troy defense with 10 tackles and an interception. Trent Henry recorded seven tackles and a fumble recovery late in the fourth quarter. LJ Green also recorded an interception for the Troy defense. Troy came into the game with just one turnover all season and forced three against Texas State.

McCloud was 20-of-29 passing for Texas State with 252 yards, three touchdowns and two interceptions. He also rushed for 72 yards and a score on seven carries.

Troy will be off next week and then hit the road to face rival South Alabama in the Battle for the Belt on Tuesday, Oct. 15.