Gerad Parker, Troy football earn first Sun Belt win
"It's as good a feeling as I've ever had in my coaching career," Troy football head coach Gerad Parker said.
It took five tries, but Troy football earned its first Sun Belt victory under head coach Gerad Parker, defeating Coastal Carolina 38-24 in front of over 24,000 homecoming fans Saturday.
The Trojans (2-7, 1-4 Sun Belt) dominated on the ground, accumulating 342 rushing yards and over 500 total yards. Pacing the attack was Damien Taylor. The junior broke loose for a 41-yard touchdown run en route to a 190-yard rushing performance.
“We never stop fighting,” Taylor said. “When you’re on a losing streak it’s easy to give up and stop fighting. It’s easy to take your gloves off, easy to hang your cleats up. But the biggest thing is we never stop fighting throughout this whole entire time. Even at practice we kept swinging.”
Auburn native Matthew Caldwell rushed for a touchdown to put the Trojans up 28-7 at halftime. He added two passing scores, including an 83-yard connection with Gerald Green, who turned it into a touchdown with 76 yards after the catch.
Saturday’s offensive explosion came as Troy started the same five offensive linemen in consecutive games for the first time this season.
Defensively, Troy snuffed out Coastal Carolina’s comeback effort, holding the Chanticleers to just 3-of-13 on third down conversions
“It’s as good a feeling as I’ve ever had in my coaching career,” Parker said. “Somebody pulled our youngest son into the locker room. That’s a first for me, to have our son in there and on top of one of our players’ shoulders, all of them celebrating and feeling their work pay off. There’s been a lot of pain for all of us, and for them to feel that elation — there’s no better feeling as a coach than that.”
Up Next
The Trojans have a bye week, then play at Georgia Southern (6-3, 4-1) on November 16.
