Troy, Jon Sumrall agree to new 4-year contract through 2026

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TROY, Ala. ⁠— Jon Sumrall agreed to a new four-year contract as Troy’s coach after leading the Trojans to a Sun Belt Conference championship and national ranking in his debut season.

The school announced the deal, which runs through 2026, but didn’t release details.

The Trojans went 12-2 and won their final 11 games, second only to national champion Georgia, including the league championship game and the Cure Bowl against UTSA. For the first time, they finished a season ranked, ending up 19th in The Associated Press Top 25.

“When we appointed Coach Sumrall in December 2021, we challenged him to return Troy football to the top of the Sun Belt Conference,” Chancellor Jack Hawkins Jr. said. “It didn’t take long, as the 2022 season was the best in our FBS history.”

Troy held all 14 of its opponents to under their season average in scoring, beating UTSA 18-12. The Trojans beat Coastal Carolina 45-26 in the Sun Belt title game.

“Last year was an amazing accomplishment for everyone associated with Troy football and was the product of relentless effort from our players and staff, athletic administration and university leaders,” Sumrall said.

ECU’s Ahlers throws Birmingham Bowl-record five TD passes

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BIRMINGHAM, Ala – Holton Ahlers threw a Birmingham Bowl-record five touchdown passes and accounted for a game-record six TDs to help East Carolina beat Coastal Carolina 53-29 in the TicketSmarter Birmingham Bowl at Protective Stadium.

Ahlers, selected the game MVP, threw for 300 yards on 26-of-38 passing, rushed for 37 yards and a touchdown and caught a pass for 14 yards for the Pirates (8-5).

“I was locked in,” Ahlers said. “Anytime you have a month to prepare for a game, you better be locked in and play good. We had a good plan to get some quick throws early and get the receivers going. They did a really good job.”

Coastal Carolina quarterback Grayson McCall, the three-time Sun Belt Conference Player of the Year who entered the transfer portal this month, wasn’t as fortunate.

Presumably, McCall’s final play in a Coastal Carolina uniform came on a 9-yard touchdown run. He was hit while tumbling into the end zone and never returned to the game. Jarrett Guest replaced him in the first half and played most of the second half. McCall’s run gave Coastal Carolina (9-4) a 14-10 lead. By halftime, though, Chanticleers were in a 24-14 hole.

Coastal Carolina was fortunate to only be down 10 at halftime. East Carolina had six drives in the first half with four finishing in scores. One ended with a fourth- down stop by Coastal Carolina and the other finished with the Pirates running out the final 35 seconds of the half.

Ahlers was accurate on throws of all depths, connecting on 17 of 22 passes for 213 yards with touchdown passes of 27 and 11 yards to Isaiah Winstead. ECU running back Keaton Mitchell was also effective, carrying the ball 10 times for 107 yards with a 1-yard touchdown run.

“What a great night for Pirate Nation,” coach Mike Houston. “So excited for our players, excited for our fans, excited for our institution. This has been the goal since we got here, to get ECU back to winning and back to get into bowl contention and back to winning bowl games.”

McCall, who missed three games with an injury late in the season, played well before the injury. He was 11 of 14 for 75 yards and carried the ball four times for 12 yards. His 25-yard pass to Ivy Turon set up a 1-yard scoring run by Reese White.

“I don’t know the injury,” Coastal Carolina interim coach Chad Staggs said. “He’s walking around the locker room and we had a big embrace right before I came in here. I don’t think it was concussion stuff but I don’t know.”

What he does know is it made an impact.

“I think when you got No. 10 in the ballgame, we’re a little bit better,” Staggs said.

East Carolina quickly extended the lead to 31-14 in the third quarter. Coastal Carolina’s Braydon Bennett fumbled on the first play of the second half and East Carolina’s Jireh Wilson recovered at the Coastal Carolina 27. Six plays later, Ahlers found Jaylen Johnson for a 2-yard touchdown pass. Ahlers had a 14-yard reception on the drive on a pass from C.J. Johnson.

Coastal Carolina answered quickly, moving 79 yards on three plays with White gaining 32 yards on the first two plays and Guess hitting Tyler Roberts in stride on a 47-yard touchdown pass.

East Carolina scored the next 14 points on a 1-yard run by Ahlers and a 15-yard pass from Ahlers to C.J. Johnson. Ahlers capped off his night with a 1-yard touchdown pass to Shane Calhoun and a two-point conversion pass to Mitchell.

THE TAKEAWAY

Coastal Carolina: Getting started has been an issue for the Chanticleers in the season-ending three-game losing streak. Coastal Carolina was outscored, 75-28. East Carolina had 330 first half yards.

East Carolina: The Pirates are back in the win column in a bowl for the first time since 2013. ECU last played in a bowl game in 2014. The Pirates were scheduled to play in the Military Bowl last year, but the game was canceled a day before kickoff.

Snyder, Buffalo top Georgia Southern 23-21 in Camellia Bowl

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MONTGOMERY, Ala. – Buffalo built a lead with Cole Snyder‘s passing and Alex McNulty’s kicking.

The Bulls put the Camellia Bowl away with an unrelenting barrage of fourth-quarter runs by Tajay Ahmed for a 23-21 victory over Georgia Southern on Tuesday.

Snyder passed for 265 yards and Ahmed took over the final quarter with 14 carries.

“This was kind of a small episode of kind of who we’ve been and what our season looked like,” Buffalo coach Maurice Linguist said. “Just tough yards, grind out play after play. And kind of throw a blanket over the scoreboard and just pound the rock, is what we say.”

The Bulls (7-6) chewed up the clock with runs from Ahmed on 11 consecutive plays and one pile-pushing final first down. The former walk-on, who was awarded a scholarship in the spring, finished with 27 carries for 98 yards and a touchdown.

That last first down meant quarterback Kyle Vantrease and Georgia Southern (6-7) couldn’t get the ball back for a final chance against Vantrease’s former team, with whom he spent five years and started 26 games before transferring.

“I’ve always believed great quarterbacks provide hope and every game we walked into he provides hope,” first-year Eagles coach Clay Helton said. “If we got that ball back one more time, you just knew that that hope was there.”

Snyder, a Rutgers transfer, completed 21 of 38 passes, including a 32-yard touchdown to game MVP Justin Marshall to outduel his predecessor.

Quian Williams gained 100 yards on five catches, and Marshall caught 11 passes for 127 yards in what the graduate transfer from Louisville called his best college game. The last catch was Marshall’s biggest, and a replay upheld the on-field call that Marshall’s right foot stayed in bounds.

“We all were talking amongst the offense,” he said. “We looked at it one time and I saw it and said that’s definitely a catch. They’re wasting time reviewing it.”

Vantrease completed 28 of 45 passes for 352 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. Beau Johnson had five catches for 118 yards.

It was Buffalo’s third straight bowl win after going 0-3 in bowls. And the victory came after an 0-3 start this season.

“They wrote us off. They questioned,” Linguist said. “They weren’t sure if we were going to finish, and then here we are at the end. We got a ring. We’re (bowl) champions.”

Buffalo had a cushion thanks to Dylan Powell‘s interception and return across midfield in the fourth quarter. Ahmed then carried nine straight times but was stopped on three runs starting from the 2.

The Bulls had to settle for a 23-14 lead with McNulty’s third field goal of the second half with 8:38 left. That FG was a school record, No. 49 of his career.

Vantrease and Georgia Southern stayed alive with a 13-play, 90-yard drive. On fourth-and-7 from his own territory, Vantrease hit Johnson for a 42-yard gain. Then Jjay McAfee made a grab in the end zone for a 13-yard touchdown with 3:38 left.

Georgia Southern needed only 26 seconds in the second half to wipe out a 14-6 deficit, thanks to a fumble, Vantrease’s 79-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Thompson and a two-point conversion.

“It has been a wonderful ride this season, and I can’t thank our seniors enough for the foundation that they’ve led and laid for this team,” Helton said. “In my opinion, the best is yet to be. Sometimes you fight your guts out and it just doesn’t go your way at the end, and that’s what this team did.”

THE TAKEAWAY

Georgia Southern: Once known for the triple option and loads of runs, Helton implemented a pass-oriented offense. Vantrease broke the Eagles’ bowl record with his 11th completion – on the opening drive of the second quarter.

Buffalo: Held onto the ball for more than 38 minutes in the game, and converted 12 of 19 third-down plays, largely on Snyder passes. The last was a 9-yarder to Marshall on the sideline to keep the final drive going.

SNOWED IN

Buffalo’s band, cheerleaders, and radio crew weren’t able to make the bowl game because flights were canceled out of their city, which saw a massive winter storm and at least 27 storm-related deaths.

Linguist said the team flew out 12 hours earlier than expected.

“If we did not do that, I’m not sure we would have even made it down here in time to play the game,” he said.

UP NEXT

Georgia Southern: Must replace Vantrease and most of the offensive and defensive line starters before opening the 2023 season at home against The Citadel.

Buffalo: Opens the 2023 season at Wisconsin on Sept. 2 with Snyder, safety Marcus Fuqua and tailback Mike Washington expected back.