Football Bowl Subdivision

NCAA Game Summary - Troy at Tennessee

(Saturday, November 3)

Final Score: Tennessee 55, Troy 48

Knoxville, TN (Sports Network) - Tyler Bray broke Peyton Manning's school record for passing yards in a game as he lead the Tennessee Volunteers to a 55-48 win over the Troy Trojans at Neyland Stadium.

Bray threw for 530 yards and five touchdowns for Tennessee (4-5), which broke a four-game losing streak with the win. Bray got a lot of help from receivers Cordarrelle Patterson and Justin Hunter, who each caught nine passes. Patterson gained 219 yards and a touchdown while Hunter racked up 181 yards and three touchdowns. Marlin Lane also had a terrific day on the ground, rushing for 132 yards and two touchdowns, including the game-winner.

Troy (4-5) rotated quarterbacks throughout the game. Corey Robinson threw for 393 yards and a touchdown on 30-of-46 passing. Deon Anthony threw just 12 passes but two of them went for touchdowns. He also gained 51 yards and scored on the ground. Shawn Southward led the Trojans on the ground, rushing for 101 yards and two touchdowns. Eric Thomas caught six passes for 147 yards and two scores and Chip Reeves scored a touchdown on five catches for 144 yards.

Troy took the initial lead, 3-0, on a 37-yard field goal from Will Scott.

From there Tennessee was unstoppable early on, scoring touchdowns on it's first four possessions. Bray threw three touchdown passes during the stretch, one to Patterson and two to Hunter. Lane also had a 17-yard touchdown run, and the Volunteers held a 28-10 lead early in the second quarter.

Troy would not go away and continued to battle. After Bray's first touchdown pass Southward scored on a seven-yard run. After Hunter's two touchdown receptions the Trojans scored 21-unanswered points to take a 30-28 lead.

First Southward scored on a one-yard touchdown run. Then Reeves hauled in a 51-yard touchdown pass from Anthony who then scored himself on a 28-yard touchdown run with less than two minutes before the break.

Bray executed a successful two-minute drill to get Michael Palardy back in field goal range. Palardy nailed the 21-yard attempt giving the Volunteers a 31-30 halftime advantage.

The scoring barrage continued into the second half. Palardy kicked another field goal (31 yards) for the Volunteers before Troy marched right back down the field to score a touchdown and regain the lead. Thomas was the recipient of Anthony's second touchdown pass, a three-yard strike, which came with 7:31 remaining in the third quarter.

A 42-yard Will Scott field goal extended Troy's lead heading into the final frame.

Bray did not have a strong third quarter but rebounded with a 23-yard touchdown strike to Raijon Neal early in the fourth to put Tennessee back on top 41-40.

Troy regained the lead late in the game when Robinson threw his first touchdown pass of the day, a 67-yard bomb to Thomas. Robinson also found Thomas for the two-point conversion to put the Trojans ahead 48-41.

But with a little over three minutes remaining, things unraveled for the Trojans. Just two plays after Thomas' touchdown, Bray found Hunter wide open across the middle who then out-ran the Troy defense for a 46-yard touchdown to tie the game. Tennessee's defense came up with a big third down stop and forced Troy to punt on the following drive. Bray completed just two of his five pass attempts on the final drive, but the second was a 24-yard hook up with Hunter on third down. Lane scored on a nine-yard touchdown run on the next play to give Tennessee the lead back, 55-48.

Robinson's Hail Mary attempt fell incomplete as time expired, and the Volunteers were able to hold on for the comeback victory.

Despite the loss, Troy gained a season-high 721 yards of total offense, three more than Tennessee.

This was the first ever meeting between these two schools. Tennessee is now 8-1 all-time against Sun Belt opponents.

11/03 17:34:48 ET