In front of a record crowd at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Troy, Alabama, the Troy Trojans almost added the pelt of the Mississippi State Bulldogs to their collection of wins over BCS opponents at home, but with the help of a spectacular Chad Bumphis touchdown, the Bulldogs held on to a 30-24 victory on the road.
The fact that Bumphis played the hero at the end of the day came as little surprise as this game produced some of the best single game statistics of his career: six catches for 180 yards and three touchdowns. What did come as a bit surprising is that the Bulldogs needed such an effort, especially late to seal the win.
Mississippi State led the game 10-7 after the first quarter, and following two Bumphis touchdowns, the Bulldogs took a 23-7 lead into halftime. However, two long drives by the Trojans cut the score to 23-21, and with the Bulldogs playing with little momentum, it seemed that another upset would soon occur at Troy.
With the Bulldogs facing a fourth down and five at the Troy 25, Mississippi State decided against a field goal (Devon Bell had missed an extra point earlier, and a five point lead seemed trivial as Troy had been marching to the endzone with ease in the second half) and Tyler Russell (11 of 26 for 244 yards and three touchdowns) connected in the very back of the endzone with Bumphis to the Bulldogs ahead 30-21 with seven minutes to play.
Troy answered with a field goal on the next drive to cut the lead to 30-24, but the Trojans could not get the ball one final time as the Bulldogs ran out the last four minutes on their final drive.