Tech took over in the second quarter. The Bulldogs scored 17 points to Troy's 3 and went to the locker room up 20-10. Troy's opening touchdown turned out to be its only real stretch of control all afternoon. A Trojans offense missing both of its tight ends kept having to rebuild drives from scratch, and Tech kept stacking points while Troy settled for less.
The third quarter was the only one Troy came close to matching, and it still lost it 14-7. That made it 34-17 going into the fourth. Tech added 7 more and kept Troy off the board for the rest of the game. A team that was favored by nearly a touchdown on the road won by 24.
The defense that drove this streak with back-to-back shutouts of UL Monroe and Old Dominion didn't post a third. It still did what mattered. After the first-quarter touchdown, Troy managed 10 points the rest of the way and none in the fourth. Tech has allowed 37 points over its last 4 games. On offense, 41 is the Bulldogs' highest total of the 5-game run. That's a lot of points for a team whose quarterback, Blake Baker, has been efficient with low volume, and for a roster still without receiver D. Benedix.
Troy's quarterback situation was the big question coming in, with Goose Crowder cleared and Tucker Kilcrease expected to start. Neither answer fixed the bigger problem. Troy scored 17 points, which fits right in with the 6 it scored at Louisiana and the 14 it put up at home against UL Monroe. The defense that forced 5 takeaways at James Madison didn't come close to that here. It gave up 41, and the extra prep time was gone by the second quarter.
Louisiana Tech is now 7-2, 5-0 in the Sun Belt, and has won 5 straight. It has also now beaten Louisiana, UL Monroe and Troy, while Troy went 0-3 against those 3 teams. The Trojans drop to 4-5 and 2-3 in league play, so their bowl hopes depend on what's left of the schedule. The Bulldogs remain the team everyone else in the league is chasing.
