Troy beat Alabama State 34-17 on Saturday at Veterans Memorial Stadium, with Jaheim Merriweather running for three touchdowns and 127 yards on 13 carries.
Goose Crowder's 73-yard touchdown pass to TK Keyes at 13:25 of the first quarter opened the scoring, and Jamarie Hostzclaw answered with a 50-yard run at 10:51 to tie it at 7. Merriweather's 69-yard run at 5:56 put Troy back in front. Ethan Head kicked a 24-yard field goal at 11:52 of the second, and Merriweather added runs of 6 yards at 3:41 and 1 yard with 0:15 left for a 31-7 halftime lead.
Alabama State closed to 31-17 in the third on Andrew Body's 19-yard pass to John Austin at 11:33 and Andrew Abu-Akel's 37-yard field goal at 8:41. Head's 47-yard field goal at 5:00 was the last score, and the fourth quarter was scoreless.
Crowder finished 14 of 27 for 201 yards; Keyes caught five passes for 119 yards. Body was 13 of 23 for 105 yards for the Hornets, and Hostzclaw ran 12 times for 80 yards. Troy totaled 427 yards, 226 of them rushing, to Alabama State's 221, but was penalized 12 times for 120 yards and converted 3 of 14 third downs. The Trojans did not turn the ball over; Alabama State lost one fumble. Attendance was 26,634.
Reporting source: ESPN public site API (game summary) Captured Sep 14, 2026, 3:19 AM UTC