Men of Troy pull off upset
TROY, Ala. — Jason Samples threw one touchdown pass and caught another, and offensive lineman Junior Louissaint scored on a 63-yard fumble recovery as Troy State upset No. 19 Missouri 24-14 Thursday night.
The Trojans (2-0), a fourth-year Division I-A program, overcame a horrible start to defeat the first BCS conference team to visit Troy. The fans stormed the field and pulled down a goal post as Missouri players slumped to the locker room.
The Tigers (1-1) scored TDs on their first two possessions but not much else went right. Brad Smith passed for 224 yards and ran 15 times for 36 yards, but he was intercepted twice in the second half and was harried throughout the game.
Troy’s Aaron Leak rolled left and hit a leaping Samples in the end zone 4 minutes into the fourth quarter. Leak lay on the turf for a minute after taking a hard hit on the play, then got up and waved his arms to the crowd, the largest in school history (26,574).
Smith, whose Heisman Trophy candidacy was dealt a huge blow, then drove the Tigers to Troy’s 30. He completed a 22-yarder and a 25-yarder, but was sacked by Franklin Lloyd on third-and-5. His next pass was broken up by Brannon Condren and Troy milked the clock to less than 6 minutes before punting.
Thomas Olmsted buried the Tigers inside the 5 for the second consecutive time, and Arthur Adams effectively ended their hopes with an interception.
Missouri committed three turnovers and had a punt blocked by Bernard Davis, looking like a different team that built the 14-0 lead.
The Trojans used trickery and pure luck to take a 17-14 halftime lead after failing to get a first down for the first 20 minutes. Coming off an upset road win against Marshall, they had been 0-6 against teams from the Big 12 Conference.
Down two TDs, Leak lateraled to Samples, who floated a pass to wide-open tailback Jermaine Richardson in the end zone for a 26-yard score midway through the second quarter.
Missouri buried the Trojans at the 7-yard line on a punt. Two runs by DeWhitt Betterson got out of the hole and the ball was knocked out of his grasp on his third run, right into the hands of Louissaint.
The 277-pound guard caught it in mid-air and rambled the final 63 yards, dragging 190-pound cornerback A.J. Kincade into the end zone.
Greg Whibbs hit a 43-yard field goal with 1:01 left for the halftime lead.
The Trojans had 8 yards in the first 20 minutes and 189 over the next 10.
Smith started out 13 of 14 but completed only one of his final six passes of the half. He finished 25 of 46.
Leak was 7 of 20 for 94 yards and was intercepted three times.