Trey Moore posted 3.5 tackles for loss and a pair of sacks and Kevorian Barnes rushed for 132 yards, but No. 22 UTSA committed five turnovers as 23rd-ranked Troy rallied for an 18-12 victory on Friday in the Duluth Trading Cure Bowl at Exploria Stadium.
The loss snapped the Roadrunners’ 10-game winning streak and dropped them to 11-3 on the season and 0-4 all-time in bowl games.
Moore totaled six tackles and the Smithson Valley High School product finished his redshirt freshman campaign with 18 TFLs to break Marcus Davenport’s previous single-season school record of 17.5. He and Trevor Harmanson paced UTSA in stops to help the defense hold the Trojans (12-2) to 166 yards of offense. Jamal Ligon added five tackles, including 1.5 for a loss and a sack, as the Roadrunners totaled 14 TFLs and a program record-tying six sacks.
Meanwhile, Barnes led a ground game that churned out 147 yards with his fifth 100-yard output of his redshirt freshman season. The San Augustine, Texas, native finished the year with 845 yards, the second-most by a freshman in school history.
The Roadrunners held a 12-0 lead, but Troy held UTSA scoreless over the final 36 minutes and 21 seconds to pull out the comeback win.
UTSA got on the board first with its first safety since 2018 after the Troy center snapped the ball early and through the back of the end zone at the 3:58 mark of the opening period.
The Roadrunners then marched 75 yards on 15 plays, capped by a 2-yard touchdown pass from Frank Harris to Zakhari Franklin. Jared Sackett’s extra point made it 9-0 with 12:30 left in the second stanza. Six minutes later, the senior kicker split the uprights from 42 yards to push the UTSA advantage to 12-0.
Troy took advantage of three UTSA penalties that extended a drive in the final minutes of the first half, pulling to within 12-7 after a 2-yard TD plunge by Kimani Vidal with 50 seconds on the clock.
The Trojans took their first lead of the day late in the third quarter after coming up with their fifth takeaway, as a 61-yard interception return by KJ Robertson set up a 12-yard TD pass from Gunnar Watson to RaJae Johnson. Watson then hit Clayton Ollendieck for a successful two-point conversion attempt to make it 15-12 at the 2:43 mark of the third.
Troy tacked on three more points with a 27-yard field goal at the 9:18 mark of the fourth quarter.
UTSA threatened to reclaim the lead when Barnes broke loose for a 53-yard dash down the right sideline to the 3-yard line. However, Troy held stiff by forcing an incompletion on fourth down to help seal the win.
Harris finished 23 of 42 for 198 yards and a TD for UTSA, completing eight passes to Franklin for 41 yards and seven to Chris Carpenter for 59 yards.