Defense rallies No. 24 Troy past No. 25 UTSA to win Cure Bowl
KJ Robertson made a game-changing interception and Gunnar Watson threw the go-ahead touchdown pass as No. 24 Troy rallied for an 18-12 victory over No. 25 UTSA in the Cure Bowl on Friday at Orlando, Fla.
Robertson’s interception was one of six takeaways by the Trojans (12-2), who ran their winning streak to 11, third-best nationally behind Georgia (15) and Michigan (13). Kimani Vidal rushed for 73 yards and a score and RaJae’ Johnson caught a touchdown pass as Troy won its fifth straight bowl game despite gaining just 169 yards.
Frank Harris passed for 198 yards, one touchdown and two interceptions for UTSA (11-3), which had a 10-game winning streak halted. Kevorian Barnes rushed for 132 yards and Zakhari Franklin caught a touchdown pass for the Roadrunners.
UTSA fell to 0-4 all-time in bowl appearances.
Troy linebacker Carlton Martial made 14 tackles to increase his all-time FBS record count to 577. Richard Jibunor had an interception, sack, forced fumble and fumble recovery while Watson passed for 113 yards and was intercepted twice.
The Roadrunners led by five and reached the Troy 9-yard line in the third quarter before Robertson intercepted Harris at the 2 and raced 61 yards. A 15-yard personal-foul penalty was tacked on to move the ball to the UTSA 22 with 5:11 left.
Five plays later, the Trojans took their first lead when Watson connected with Johnson on a 12-yard touchdown pass. Watson then tossed a two-point conversion pass to Clayton Ollendieck to give Troy a 15-12 lead with 2:43 left in the quarter.
Brooks Buce added a 27-yard field goal to give the Trojans an 18-12 edge with 9:18 remaining in the game.
On the next drive, a 53-yard scamper by Barnes gave UTSA the ball at the Troy 5. Barnes ran 2 yards on first down and Harris threw three incompletions — one was dropped in the end zone by Chris Carpenter — as the Roadrunners came up empty with 7:01 to play.
UTSA later got one first down before eventually giving the ball up on downs with 1:32 to go, and the Trojans ran out the clock.
UTSA led 12-7 at halftime after holding Troy to 66 yards in the first half.
The Roadrunners’ first two points came courtesy of the Trojans. On a third-down play from the Troy 7, center Jake Andrews hiked a shotgun snap past Watson while he wasn’t looking, and it rolled out of the end zone for a safety with 3:58 left in the first quarter.
UTSA increased the lead to 9-0 when Harris hit Franklin on a 2-yard scoring pass with 12:30 remaining in the half. Jared Sackett tacked on a 42-yard field goal with 6:21 left.
The Trojans struck with 50 seconds remaining when Vidal rushed 2 yards for a score.
–Field Level Media
