MOBILE, Ala. – B.J. Smith ran for 170 yards while Sawyer Smith added 158 through the air, with the duo combining to account for four touchdowns Tuesday in Troy's 38-17 Sun Belt Conference football win over the University of South Alabama in the annual "Battle For The Belt" at Ladd-Peebles Stadium.

Smith threw for a pair of scores in the opening 12 minutes, with his second touchdown pass to Damion Willis — who ended up with 132 yards on five receptions — giving the Trojans (6-2, 4-0 Sun Belt) a 31-10 advantage midway through the second quarter.  Tron Folsom paced the Troy defense with a game-high 14 stops, including 1½ stops behind the line of scrimmage, while Will Choloh was credited with three tackles for loss highlighted by a pair of sacks.

Bull Barge led the Jaguars with 11 tackles and a pass defensed as South (2-6, 1-3 Sun Belt) gave up just 69 yards after the break.  Evan Orth threw for 275 yards and two scores, and Tra Minter just missed his first-ever 100-yard game after carrying 23 times for 99 yards.

Troy 38, South Alabama 17 (final stats)
South Alabama/Troy photo gallery

GAME FACTS
-Willis caught three passes for 119 yards — including hauling in a 44-yard touchdown reception — to help the Trojans jump out to a 17-6 advantage at the end of the first period.
-Troy would end up scoring on each of its first five possessions, posting 339 yards while building a 31-17 lead at half.
-The two teams combined for 111 yards in the third quarter, with the Jaguars accounting for 74 of those, but neither team managed to put any points on the board.
-An 88-yard interception return by Terence Dunlap set up the only points of the second half, which came on a one-yard Sawyer Smith run with just over four-and-a-half minutes remaining.
-Troy gained 252 of its 410 yards via the ground.
-The Jaguars allowed a season-high-tying four sacks, with the Trojans recording seven stops behind the line of scrimmage for a loss of 47 yards.

NOTES
-With the win, Troy regains the lead in the all-time series with a 4-3 advantage.
-It marked the fourth time in as many years since the creation of the "Battle For The Belt" that the road team has won the matchup.
-Jamarius Way posted his first touchdown reception since the Jaguars played at Memphis on Sept. 22, moving up to third on the school's all-time list for receiving yards after finishing the contest with 80 on six catches; it's the fifth time this season that the senior has caught five or more passes in a contest.
-It was the second time this fall that Barge has finished with a double-digit tackle total after accomplishing the feat twice his first three years with the program.
-Jordan McCray has now posted touchdowns in back-to-back outings for the first time in his career with a 16-yard scoring catch for the Jags' opening points of the night, as the junior finished the contest with three receptions for a season-best 60 yards.
-Making his first career start, Sterrling Fisher recorded his first career interception late in the second quarter, and he was also credited with an assisted stop for loss.
-Minter carried the ball 23 times — the most by a Jag since Xavier Johnson had 23 attempts in a Nov. 12, 2015, win over Louisiana — to finish the night with a career-high rushing total.
-With 174 all-purpose yards in the contest, Minter climbed into the top five in the programs career record books as he now has 1,794 over the last season-plus.
-Tyree Turner was credited with his first tackle behind the line since USA's game at Appalachian State on Sept. 29, and with six this fall is shy of matching his season career high recorded in 2016.
-Tobias Moss also matched a career high with six total tackles in the contest, including posting the first stop for loss of his career.
-South recorded a season high 34 minutes and 28 seconds time of possession, the fourth game in a row that the Jags have won the time-of-possession battle.
-The Trojans' 98-yard drive that resulted in a score on the second play of the second quarter matched the longest ever put together against the Jaguar defense; Louisiana had a 98-yard touchdown drive in a win over South on Nov. 24, 2012.

THEY SAID IT
South Alabama head coach Steve Campbell
On what Troy did well offensively in the first half: "I don't think we tackled well in the first half.  There weren't many adjustments that we made at halftime.  The only thing we [changed] was that we didn't play quite as much press [coverage] where they could get behind us.  There were a couple of deep balls in the first half; we played press to limit the short stuff.  That was really one of the only adjustments that we made.  We had a targeting penalty early on Nigel [Lawrence] which took him out of the boundary and that kind of hurt us.  We made a few more plays in the second half.  We scored points in the first half and moved the ball in the second half, but couldn't finish the drives when we needed to [which] could have put us back in the ball game."
On the team battling: "They fought hard.  I told them after the game that 'You don't get to keep the belt for fighting hard.  You don't get to win a championship for fighting hard.  I was part of some championships with that team [Troy], but I haven't looked at that ring in 30 years.  I remember the relationships though because of guys that were fighting hard.'  I was proud of our guys for fighting hard.  We're going to get there when we are a championship team, but until we do it's [about] the relationships that you get for laying it on the line even when the adversity is hitting.  You get back up and you keep battling and fighting.  We will grow, learn and get better from this adversity."
On the remainder of the season: "We are 1-0 against our West Division foes and we have Arkansas State, ULM, Louisiana and Coastal [Carolina from the East] on the back end.  If we take care of business then there is still a lot to play for.  We aren't in control of our own destiny anymore, but all we need to do is focus on getting better and winning the next game against a very good Arkansas State team.  From here on out, we'll have an opportunity to win every game if we get a little bit better [each week] and not make the same mistakes."
On not kicking the field goal before the end of the first half: "To be honest with you, we went out there and [offensive coordinator Kenny] Edenfield was saying to kick it and we thought about a time out because Troy was backed up 20 yards.  I wanted to give Jamarius and our guys a chance, but they got on top of Evan before he could really give them a chance to get it to them.  In my head, I was telling myself to take the points, but I didn't do it.  I've been there before when it's worked out and when it didn't.  This one, I wish I had taken the points."
On Troy quarter back Sawyer Smith: "I've followed Sawyer for a lot of years.  He went to Tate High School and was a great player there, so I've followed his career.  I thought he played a heck of a game.  He's as good of a player as I thought he was [coming into the game].  I thought he did a good job throwing the ball in just his second start.  He's got a lot of ability and he's a good player."
On the pressure by Troy's defense: "They led the league in sacks coming into the game.  They have a good front four and put a lot of pressure on you.  I thought we held up to it at times, but Evan was under duress a lot of the game and I thought he did a good job of holding up with the duress he was under."

Senior LB Bull Barge
On big plays from Troy offense: "We didn't expect them to throw a lot with the new quarterback.  They didn't throw the ball as much last week; as much as they threw the ball, it did catch us off guard a little bit but I feel like we settled in and started to play ball once we saw what they wanted to do."
On moving forward: "From here on out, it's all about want-to and pride.  If we want to get better and win four games to get to 6-6 and have another chance to play someone else, it's all about want-to.  We have to want to do better.  It's all about each guy taken ownership of his development.  If we just attack every day like we have been — we had a great week last week — and if we just keep getting better and put it all together then we'll do what we want to do."

Senior S Malcolm Buggs
On big plays from Troy offense: "We were in great position on two deep balls, we just have to get up there and make a play.  They did air it out early, but they also aired it out off-tempo; what they were doing was very systematic.  We were in position on most of them, so I feel like we just need to continue to get better and we'll make those plays."

Junior WR Jordan McCray
On his touchdown: "It was a great play call by Coach Edenfield, and for that to be an early call just gave us a little momentum.  I wish we could have emphasized that a little more and kept the ball in the air, but Tra and our offensive line did an amazing job tonight.  We just have to do the little things and get better next week."

Junior RB Tra Minter
On the offense: "I just run to whatever hole is open, and run hard with a low pad-level.  We just have to stay on blocks a little longer, and I have to break more tackles.  We just need to do the little things, and we'll be good."
On moving forward: "We just have to stay dedicated, and have that want-to and desire.  We can get the job done; we can definitely win these last four games.  We just have to keep doing the little things, we'll get the job done."

Troy head coach Neal Brown
On coming back after their loss to Liberty: "I'm really pleased as to how our kids responded, not surprised.  We've always responded to adversity in the right way since we got this thing turned in 2016.  We came back, had really physical practices and I thought they prepared better.  We went back to recommitting to the standard; the standard here is we expect to win every game.  The standard here is we need to be the best person, best player, best student we can be.  I just want to be all in, let's commit, and I thought they did that this week.  We've had a great week, we have to continue to do it.  All of our goals are still out there; 4-0 in the league, that's the only number that we look at.  After we lost the first game, we are just looking to continue to put ourselves in a position to win that conference championship and participate in it.  I look at it like the NCAA basketball tournament, survive and advance.  We won this week and now we survive and advance to get to [Louisiana] on homecoming."

Up next: The Jags are off until next month, returning to action on Saturday, Nov. 3, with a conference matchup at Arkansas State that will kick off at 2 p.m. (CDT).

For more information about South Alabama athletics, check back with www.usajaguars.com, and follow the Jaguars at www.twitter.com/WeAreSouth_JAGS. Season tickets for all Jaguar athletic events can be purchased by calling (251) 461-1USA (1872).

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