Published: Sep 25, 2004 - 11:12:42 pm CDT

Special to The Messenger

COLUMBIA, S.C. -- The largest crowd to ever watch Troy University play football saw the Trojans force Southeastern Conference foe South Carolina to earn a hard-fought 17-7 victory on Saturday night at Williams-Brice Stadium in Columbia, S.C.

The Trojans (2-2, 0-1 Sun Belt Conference) used a bend-but-not-break defensive effort to hang around with the Gamecocks (3-1, 1-1 SEC), but it was head coach Lou Holtz's USC defense that would control the game in front of 79,700, a crowd that surpassed the 77,831 that watched the Trojans play at Nebraska in 2002.

<a href='http://www.troymessenger.com/articles/2004/09/26/sports/sports01.txt' target='_blank'>Full Story</a>