Watson's 4 TDs power Troy to 5th straight win, tops Texas State 31-13

Updated Oct. 29, 2023 12:51 a.m. ET

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SAN MARCOS, Texas (AP) — Gunnar Watson threw three second-half touchdown passes and ran for another score as Troy rallied in the second half to beat Texas State 31-13 Saturday night to take over sole possession of first place in the Sun Belt Conference West Division.

Troy (6-2, 3-1) now has won five straight games heading into Thursday's Battle for the Belt rivalry game with South Alabama, where the Trojans have won five straight meetings.

Texas State (5-3, 2-2) scored on the first possession of the game on TJ Finley's 28-yard touchdown pass to Ashtyn Hawkins and with a third-and-goal at the Troy 4 Finley was picked off by Jordan Stringer and the Trojans then marched the length of the field to tie the game at 7-all on Watson's three-yard run.

After trailing 10-7 at intermission, Troy's defense dominated the second half while Watson threw touchdowns to Jabre Barber, Deshon Stoudemire and Landon Parker.

Watson finished 26-of-40 passing for 392 yards and three scores. Barber had 10 catches for 160 yards.

Finley was 24-of-38 passing for 262 yards, threw two interceptions and lost a fumble. Ismail Mahdi carried 20 times for 128 yards and also turned the ball over on a fumble.

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AP college football: https://apnews.com/hub/ap-top-25-college-football-poll and https://apnews.com/hub/college-football

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