Troy wins home opener against Charleston Southern
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Troy, Ala. – Troy’s home opener for the 2015 season couldn’t have started any better as senior wide receiver Teddy Ruben scored two touchdowns in the opening three minutes and 19 seconds. Ruben also added a 64-yard punt return for a score in the fourth quarter as the Trojans defeated Charleston Southern 44-16.
“He can win versus man coverage, and I was really pleased with him tonight,” Troy head coach Neal Brown said of Ruben. “Two receiving touchdowns and the punt return – it is well-deserved for him.”
Receiving the open kick, the Trojans (1-1) quickly marched 70 yards in four plays. It took only 59 seconds for Troy to take the lead as Brandon Silvers found Ruben deep down the sideline for a 47-yard touchdown.
Tyler Roberts and Rashad Dillard combined to sack CSU quarterback Austin Brown to force a three-and-out, and again the Troy offense went to work. Like the first Trojan series, the second was four plays ending in a score from Silvers to Ruben. The second score was rollout into the flats from six yards out. Troy raced to a 14-0 advantage and held the lead for the game’s entirety.
Ruben was the star of the game, accumulating 174 all-purpose yards with three scores.
The win was a special night for Brown as well as it was his first home game as a head coach.
“I’m going to enjoy tonight,” Brown said. “Seasons are too long and there’s too much work that goes into it. I’ve got a lot of family in from Kentucky, so we’re going to celebrate.”
Troy jumped out to the quick two-possession lead but took its time putting the game out of reach. Charleston Southern (1-1) controlled the game on the ground during the second quarter.
“Offensively we continued to hit big plays,” Brown said. “We’ve got to do a better job sustaining drives. I was really disappointed in the first half at how offensively we had an opportunity to put this game away real early. I think we had three different opportunities to make it a 21-point ball game and put them behind the eight ball and we didn’t do that.”
Defensively the Trojans allowed a handful of big plays in the run game as Charleston Southern running back Darius Hammond totaled 161 yards on the ground. He had 103 yards by halftime.
In the second quarter CSU lost a fumble at the Troy seven-yard line. The Bucs had three possessions in the third quarter that ended inside the Troy 35-yard line without any points.
The Bucs held tough with Troy, but the Trojans were able to pull away as Charleston Southern was unable to execute in key situations.
“Obviously it didn’t end up the way we wanted,” CSU head coach Jamey Chadwell said. “I think we had some chances there, especially in the third quarter. We put ourselves in a position to make it a ball game, and then we don’t convert there. Then they get a big play.”
Troy led 21-9 at halftime. Charleston Southern came close several times to making it a one-possession game, but eventually Troy’s running game and special teams turned the game into a runaway.
“They just sort of poured it on us,” Chadwell said. “We needed to play really well to have a chance to beat them, and we can’t turn it over the way we did in the second (half). They kept the gas going. We can’t keep up with them when we need to match the points.”
CSU used two quarterbacks in the contest with Kyle Copeland relieving Brown, the starter. Both finished 5-14 passing. The Troy pass defense was stellar allowing just 111 yards and tallying three sacks.
Silvers finished the game 19-28 for 249 yards and no turnovers. Both of his touchdown passes came in the opening minutes of the game.
After failing to establish the run game in the first half, Brandon Burks, Jordan Chunn and Andre Flakes tallied 115 yards on the ground in the second half. Flakes’ 47-yard run down the left sideline was the final score of the night for Troy, extending the lead to 44-9 midway through the fourth quarter.
Burks had a 1-yard rush in the second quarter to make the score 21-7. In the third quarter from six yards out he hurdled over a defender just inside the pylon to extend the lead to 27-9.
Both teams finished with 374 yards total offense. Brown’s quick-strike Trojans did so on 56 plays while Charleston Southern controlled the clock, mostly on the ground, running 88 plays and holding a 2:1 edge on time of possession.
The Trojans travel to Madison, Wis., next Saturday to play the Wisconsin Badgers of the Big 10. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:30 p.m. and the game will be televised by the Big Ten Network.
(Courtesy: Troy University Athletics)
