Grayson McCall threw for two touchdowns and ran for another as No. 24 Coastal Carolina pulled out a 35-28 victory against Troy on Thursday in Conway, S.C., bouncing back from its first loss of the season eight nights earlier.
The Chanticleers (7-1, 3-1 Sun Belt Conference) received two rushing touchdowns from Shermari Jones.
McCall completed 14 of 26 passes for 294 yards with an interception. Jones ran for 95 yards on 14 carries.
The Chanticleers fell 30-27 at Appalachian State last week, losing control of their own destiny in the conference’s East Division.
Quarterback Gunnar Watson threw three touchdown passes for Troy (4-4, 2-2), which arrived on a two-game winning streak. He was 17-for-30 for 225 yards. Teammate Kimani Vidal ran for 142 yards and a score on 22 attempts.
Coastal Carolina took its second 14-point lead of the game after the midway mark of the third quarter when Jones ran for a 4-yard touchdown.
Troy responded with a 10-play, 74-yard drive that was capped by Vidal’s 5-yard run.
Jones’ 54-yard touchdown run made it a two-possession game again early in the fourth quarte.
The Trojans, who punted on their two previous possessions, struck again on Watson’s 18-yard pass play to Tez Johnson with 4:52 to play.
Aided by a fourth-down conversion, Coastal Carolina kept the ball until giving possession back to Troy on a punt with 25 seconds to play.
On the next play, Watson was sacked by Josaiah Stewart and fumbled the ball, with the Chanticleers’ Jeffrey Gunter recovering to seal the win.
McCall got Coastal Carolina on the board with a 2-yard run late in the first quarter. His two second-quarter touchdowns throws went for 66 yards to Jaivon Heiligh and for 71 yards to Braydon Bennett.
Heiligh finished with five catches for 116 yards.
Watson responded for the Trojans with a 42-yard scoring pass to Jabre Barber later in the second quarter.
The Chanticleers moved into Troy territory with less than two minutes remaining in the first half, but McCall was intercepted by Reddy Steward.
Troy opened the scoring on Watson’s 11-yard pass to Deyunkrea Lewis.
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–Field Level Media