Troy Completes Comeback in OT Thriller Over Texas State

In a game that looked like it was going to be a blowout early on, the Troy Trojans fought back and came out with a nail-biting 48-41 victory over the Texas State Bobcats in overtime.

The Bobcats were having their way with the Trojans early on, taking a 28-7 lead at the end of the first quarter.

The Trojans continued to claw their way back into the game, led by Tucker Kilcrease, who had a career game. Kilcrease completed 30-of-39 passes and threw for a career high 415 yards and five touchdowns. Kilcrease had great chemistry with DJ Epps, who also had a career game, hauling in 10 passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns.

The Bobcats relied heavily on their ground attack, rushing for 326 yards. Both running backs Greg Burrell and Lincoln Pare rushed for 249 yards and four touchdowns combined.

The Bobcats came out of the gate firing with touchdowns on their first four drives in the first quarter. Brad Jackson started the game with a rushing touchdown, and Burrell and Pare rushed for the other three. The only notable play for the Trojans in the first stanza was a 57-yard bomb from Kilcrease to RaRa Thomas for a touchdown. Outside of that play, it was all Texas State early on. The Bobcats had 286 total yards of offense in the first quarter, 185 of them coming on the ground.

The Trojans began chipping away at that lead in the second quarter, capping it off with a 53-yard field goal to cut the lead to 31-17 at the half. That field goal was tied for the longest field goal in Troy history.

Kilcrease came out of the half on fire, finding Epps for a 48-yard strike before Jarris Williams powered it in from 2 yards out to pull within 31-24.

A successful onside kick attempt by the Trojans resulted in a field goal to continue trimming that lead.

The Bobcats responded on the next drive, led by Burnell, who had a huge 40-yard gain, setting up Pare for a score to increase the lead to 38-27.

After a Troy touchdown followed by an unsuccessful two-point conversion, and a Bobcats field goal, the score was 41-33.

Kilcrease answered the call, leading the Trojans down the field with two huge connections with Epps, one for a touchdown and the other for the two-point conversion to tie the game with 1:13 left on the clock.

“That’s who Troy is,” said offensive lineman Tyler Cappi. “Fourth quarter is our quarter.”

The Bobcats marched down the field, with two huge strikes from Jackson to Chris Dawn Jr. to get them all the way to the Troy 24-yard line.

But kicker Tyler Robles missed the 42-yard field goal, bouncing off the left upright to send the game to overtime.

In OT, Epps secured his second touchdown in the back of the end zone to give the Trojans their first lead of the night.

Make that 5️⃣ touchdown passes for 🔟 pic.twitter.com/zaPUjbFHka

— Troy Trojans Football 8x⚔️ (@TroyTrojansFB) October 12, 2025

The Trojans defense ended this one with back-to-back big stops on Pare and Jackson, holding them both to no gain on their respective carries.

“You play the game one play at a time, and you look at each play as a different score and different situation,” said Kilcrease.

The Trojans ended the game with 458 total yards of offense, and the Bobcats racked up 574 yards, but it was the Trojans who walked out of Texas with the big comeback victory. The Trojans improve to 4-2 on the season and 2-0 against the Sun Belt. The Bobcats fall to 3-3 and are 0-2 against the Sun Belt.