Crowder's 3 TD passes leads Troy over Southern Miss 28-18

HATTIESBURG, Miss. (AP) — Goose Crowder threw three touchdown passes to lead Troy to a 28-18 victory over Southern Miss on Saturday night in a Sun Belt Conference regular-season finale.

Crowder's 7-yard touchdown pass to RaRa Thomas capped an 11-play, 85 yard drive that chewed up about five minutes and stretched the Trojans' lead to 21-10 with 6:58 remaining in the fourth quarter. The pair also connected on a 75-yard touchdown with 3:16 to play.

Crowder completed 24 of 34 passes for 285 yards. He also had a 16-yard touchdown pass to Peyton Higgins just before halftime. Thomas finished with five catches for 118 yards. Tae Meadows added 94 yards rushing on 21 carries that included a short-yardage TD run in the first quarter.

Braylon Braxton was 20-of-35 passing for 209 yards with a touchdown pass and interception for Southern Miss. Carl Chester had four receptions for 76 yards and a 10-yard touchdown catch. Tight end Kadinn Morris recovered Jeffery Pittman's fumbled ball in the end zone late in the third quarter that pulled the Golden Eagles to 14-10.

Troy (8-4, 6-2) ends the regular season with consecutive wins while Southern Miss (7-5, 5-3) ends its with three straight losses.

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