2022 Cure Bowl
Both offenses started slowly, as the teams traded punts on each of their opening drives and Troy lost a fumble on their second.
After several more punts, UTSA placekicker Jared Sackett added a field goal to increase the Roadrunners' lead to twelve points, though this was cut to five following a Troy touchdown with under a minute remaining in the first half.
Troy scored a 12-yard passing touchdown late in the quarter to take their first lead, and extended it to six points with a short field goal on their next drive.
[14] Their nonconference schedule complete, the Roadrunners began their C–USA slate with a road clash against Middle Tennessee, a fifteen point win.
[19] Wins over Louisiana Tech[20] and Rice followed,[21] and UTSA closed out their regular season at home with a three-point victory over the UTEP Miners, after overcoming a 24-point deficit they faced in the game's second quarter.
[25] The Troy Trojans, representing the Sun Belt Conference kicked off their 2022 campaign with a road game at Ole Miss, which they lost by 18 points.
[26] They rebounded with a three-touchdown win over FCS Alabama A&M in their home opener[27] before falling to Appalachian State on a last-second Hail Mary in a game visited by College GameDay.
[33] Following a bye week, the Trojans traveled to Louisiana, whom they defeated by a touchdown after overcoming a 17-point deficit,[34] before returning home to host Army in their final non-conference game, which they won by one point.
[24] The Cure Bowl was televised by ESPN, with a commentary team of Beth Mowins, Kirk Morrison, and Stormy Buonantony.
[40] The game's officiating crew, from the Mountain West Conference, was led by referee Christian Watson and umpire Ian Malepleai.
Troy escaped their disadvantageous field position with a 29-yard pass from Gunnar Watson to RaJae' Johnson, but their offense gained four yards on their next three plays and the Trojans punted on 4th & 6.
The UTSA special teams was able to down the punt inside the 5-yard-line for the second time, as Troy had to begin their third drive of the game on their own 4-yard-line.
After their first two plays gained a net total of three yards, the UTSA defense earned a safety on third down after the snap went past Watson, who was not expecting it, and through the back of the end zone.
Lucas Dean punted on 4th & 2 and the kick was again downed inside the ten as the Trojans' Tez Johnson completed a fair catch of his own at the Troy 8-yard-line.
The Trojans took advantage and scored with fifty seconds remaining in the half on a 2-yard rush by Vidal, cutting their deficit to five points.
On Troy's final possession of the half, they threw an interception in the end zone for a touchback; UTSA took a knee to take their five-point lead into halftime.
Troy was unable to capitalize, though, as their drive began with two rushes from Vidal, both for a loss of one yard, followed by two incomplete passes by Watson, the latter of which gave the ball back to UTSA on downs.
After a 2-yard rush, UTSA committed another turnover as Keyshawn Swanson forced and recovered a fumble from Oscar Cardenas following a reception, giving Troy the ball back on their own 29-yard-line.
A sack on first down for a loss of five points put the Trojans behind the sticks early, and they were unable to climb out of that hole, as they went three-and-out and punted on 4th & 12.
Troy resumed possession at their own 39-yard-line and was able to exhaust the remainder of UTSA's timeouts before lining up in victory formation to run out the rest of the clock.
