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After Troy’s first road win of the season last Saturday, against Georgia Southern, an excited head coach Gerad Parker proclaimed to an ESPN audience his team was going to celebrate at Buc-ee’s.

The Troy coaches used a potential stop at the famous Southern gas station/restaurant as some added motivation for the Trojans.

“In conversations in where we were going to stop to give our bus drivers a fair chance of getting us home safely and taking a breather, there was mention that there was a Buc-ee’s that was a little bit on our way,” Parker said with a smile. “I said, ‘Well, we’ll stop at Sunoco if we don’t get the job done, but if we get this job done, we’re going to stop at Buc-ee’s on the way home.

“So I told the players, Buc-ee’s was on me if we get this job done. So that’s how it all came full circle and became a little bit of a motivation for our guys, who appreciated a soft drink and a bite to eat.”

While Parker said he would keep just how much the bill was for his team after the win between he and his wife, he held up a receipt in a Troy Football Twitter video showing the damage done.

“It was pretty fun,” Troy tight end Brody Dalton said. “I was a little worried for Coach Parker when he said the tab for everybody was on him. I knew there was no telling what everyone would get.”

Troy safety Ian Connerly-Goodly said it was the first time he had ever been to the store.

“That was my first time at Buc-ee’s,” Connerly-Goodly said with a laugh. “I did not know how big it was inside.”

The win also marked the first road win of the season, and the first for the Trojans under head coach Gerad Parker. That accomplishment was bigger than just simply getting the first road win, however.

“All wins – and any wins – are good wins but I do think, just for the narrative of our program and direction of our program, any first times or mountains we can climb to turn the page and get those things over with are critical,” Parker said. “For us to go on the road and get a quality win against a really good opponent helps us and certainly is something you want to get done. More than anything, though, those types of things get you over a hump on some things, so you can remove things that are lingering going into next year’s process.

“We don’t want to look past our last two (opponents) but there is a full scope to this thing. I have to look out front of our program and see where our progress is and move forward. The quicker we move forward and flip the script on tackling some of these things – like getting that first road win – just helps the momentum as we head towards the end of the season and into the offseason.”

Parker has talked about the growth he’s seen in his team over the last several weeks and that growth can be seen no clearer than that of quarterback Matthew Caldwell.

“The tough part of growth is there is only one way to grow and that’s by doing things and learning in the fire,” he continued. “We’ve been in it together as team and he’s been in it at a position that gets it the most at most times. It’s been a great maturation process for him and learning who he is, as a young man and a player, and us as a staff learning who he is and helping him do things he’s best at, but also allowing him to grow and make better decisions.

“As he does that, and accepts that role and understands to trust our process for him, it breeds confidence in himself and also team confidence in him and our process.”