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It was a tale of two halves as the Troy Trojans (1-7, 0-4) came back from a 23-3 halftime deficit to the Arkansas State Red Wolves (6-3, 4-1) only to have a chance at winning with 10 seconds remaining before losing by a score of 34-31.

The loss marks Troy’s fourth straight and is just the sixth time that has occured since the Trojans’ moved up to Division I. In the first half, though, it looked as if Arkansas State would run away with the game.

The Red Wolves completely dominated the Trojans in the first half, out gaining Troy 321 yards to 135 with Arkansas State forcing three turnovers and leading 23-3 at halftime. Troy’s only first half points came on a 38-yard field goal from Troy native Scott Taylor Renfroe.

The third quarter was all Troy, though. Troy found the end zone for the first time on a 1-yard run from Damien Taylor that capped off an 11-play drive to cut the lead to 23-10. Troy came right back with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Matt Caldwell to Brody Dalton to cut the Red Wolf lead to 23-17 with 6:00 left in the period. That score was set up by a jaw-dropping play that saw Caldwell’s pass tipped by an ASU defender, then bounce off Troy native Jywon Boyd’s foot and into the hands of Devonte Ross on the sideline.

Troy took its first lead of the game on a 1-yard pass from Caldwell to Peyton Higgins with 3:34 left in the third quarter. Troy scored 21 unanswered points before Arkansas State retook the lead 26-24 on a 46-yard field goal as the third quarter came to an end.

Arkansas State drove deep into Troy territory with under three minutes remaining but as Red Wolf quarterback Jaylon Raynor scrambled down to the 1-yard line, Troy’s Brenden Jackson popped the ball loose. The ball then bounced off the pylon, resulting in a touchback.

Caldwell led Troy right back down the field and Gerald Green scored on a 2-yard run with just 1:45 left to give Troy the lead 31-26.

There was still too much time on the clock, though. After two Troy penalties in the end zone, Zach Wallace scored on a 1-yard run to give Arkansas State the 32-31 lead with 33 seconds left. A two-point conversion extended the lead to 34-31.

The Trojans then drove right down the field and Caldwell threw a 26-yard pass to a diving Higgins down to the Troy 30-yard line, bringing Troy within Renfroe’s field goal range. On the next play, however, Caldwell forced a throw into the end zone – with 10 seconds remaining – and it was intercepted sealing the Arkansas State win.

Arkansas State piled up 534 yards of offense, while Troy managed 466 yards. The Trojans turned the ball over four times and forced one turnover. The Trojans were also penalized nine times.

Caldwell completed 22-of-33 passes for 304 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions, while Green rushed for 113 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Damien Taylor also rushed for 70 yards and a score on 14 carries. Ross caught 11 passes for 126 yards and Brody Dalton caught three passes for 68 yards and one touchdown. Landon Parker also caught three passes for 62 yards.

Brendan Jackson led the Troy defense with 10 tackles, two tackles-for-loss, one sack and a forced fumble, while Devin Lafayette tallied 10 tackles and one tackle-for-loss. Demaje Yance also recorded 10 tackles and two pass breakups.

For Arkansas State, Raynor completed 25-of-40 passes for 349 yards and rushed for 71 yards on 12 carries. Wallace rushed for 64 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries. Cory Rucker caught 12 passes for 193 yards.

Troy will be back at home Saturday, Nov. 2, for another conference matchup against Coastal Carolina at 3 p.m.