It was a tale of two halves as the Troy Trojans (1-7, 0-4) came back from a 23-3 halftime deficit against the Arkansas State Red Wolves (6-3, 4-1) by just one Having a chance with 10 seconds left, he won before losing 34-31.

The loss marks Troy's fourth straight and only the sixth since the Trojans' promotion to Division I. However, in the first half, it looked like Arkansas State was running away with the game.

The Red Wolves completely dominated the Trojans in the first half, outgaining Troy by 321 yards to 135, with Arkansas State forcing three turnovers and leading 23-3 at halftime. Troy's only points of the first half came on a 38-yard field goal by Troy native Scott Taylor Renfroe.

The third quarter, however, was all about Troy. Troy reached the end zone for the first time on a 1-yard run by Damien Taylor that capped an 11-play drive and cut the lead to 23-10. Troy came right back with a 16-yard touchdown pass from Matt Caldwell to Brody Dalton, cutting the Red Wolf lead to 23-17 with 6:00 left. That score was achieved by a stunning play in which Caldwell's pass was deflected by an ASU defender and then bounced off the foot of Troy native Jywon Boyd and into the hands of Devonte Ross on the sideline.

Troy took its first lead of the game with a 1-yard pass from Caldwell to Peyton Higgins with 3:34 left in the third quarter. Troy scored 21 unanswered points before Arkansas State regained the lead at 26-24 with a 46-yard field goal at the end of the third quarter.

With less than three minutes left, Arkansas State pushed deep into Troy territory, but as Red Wolf quarterback Jaylon Raynor scrambled to the 1-yard line, Troy's Brenden Jackson released the ball. The ball then bounced off the pylon, resulting in a touchback.

Caldwell led Troy right back down the field and Gerald Green scored on a 2-yard run with just 1:45 left to give Troy a 31-26 lead.

However, there was still too much time on the clock. After two Troy penalties in the end zone, Zach Wallace scored on a 1-yard run to give Arkansas State a 32-31 lead with 33 seconds left. A two-point conversion extended the lead to 34-31.

The Trojans then pushed right down the field and Caldwell threw a 26-yard pass to a diving Higgins to the Troy 30-yard line, putting Troy within Renfroe's field goal range. On the next play, however, Caldwell forced a throw into the end zone with 10 seconds left and it was intercepted, sealing Arkansas State's victory.

Arkansas State managed 534 yards of offense while Troy managed 466 yards. The Trojans turned the ball over four times and forced a turnover. The Trojans were also penalized nine times.

Caldwell completed 22 of 33 passes for 304 yards, two touchdowns and three interceptions, while Green passed for 113 yards and a touchdown on 20 carries. Damien Taylor also rushed for 70 yards and scored on 14 carries. Ross caught 11 passes for 126 yards and Brody Dalton caught three passes for 68 yards and a touchdown. Landon Parker also caught three passes for 62 yards.

Brendan Jackson led the Troy defense with 10 tackles, two tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble, while Devin Lafayette tallied 10 tackles and a tackle for loss. Demaje Yance also recorded 10 tackles and two pass breakups.

For Arkansas State, Raynor completed 25 of 40 passes for 349 yards and ran for 71 yards on 12 carries. Wallace rushed for 64 yards and three touchdowns on 16 carries. Cory Rucker caught 12 passes for 193 yards.

Troy will be back for another conference game against Coastal Carolina on Saturday, November 2nd at 3 p.m