Back When Troy State Won a National Championship

Norm Kleinschmidt, an offensive tackle, pulled on a thin victory cigar. “Well,” he told the Alabama Journal, “the important thing is to remain humble.” Down the hall at the McAllen Hilton, Willie Collins — a senior defensive tackle who had been doubtful with injuries entering the game — cruised toward the lounge in sunglasses and a cowboy hat from Mexico. Rick Rhoades, the defensive coordinator, was soaked. His players had thrown him into the swimming pool.

Troy State had just won the NCAA Division II national championship, beating defending champion North Dakota State 18-17 on a 50-yard field goal with no time on the clock. It was December 8, 1984. The Trojans had gone 2-8 two years earlier. Their head coach, Chan Gailey, was in his second year on the job. Their kicker, Ted Clem, was a freshman walk-on from Georgiana who earlier that season had missed the field goal that would have tied their only loss. Their second-half quarterback, Carey Christensen, was a senior backup completing a comeback from an early-season ankle injury. The Birmingham News put it on the front page — and in a state where those front pages belonged to Alabama and Auburn, that told you everything about what Troy State had just done. Between 500 and 1,000 people greeted the Trojans when they came home Sunday afternoon.

Gailey had rebuilt the program with players from across the Wiregrass and tri-state area. Chuck Williams of the Dothan Eagle mapped the roster — Georgiana, Eufaula, Enterprise, Daleville, Skipperville, Elba. Gailey’s quarterback, Mike Turk, came from Montgomery. His backup, Carey Christensen, from Foley. Gailey himself was from Americus, Georgia.

The Trojans ran a no-huddle wishbone that produced more than 400 yards on championship night. Ted Horstead, a sophomore fullback whose brother Don had played at Alabama, led the Gulf South Conference in rushing and finished with 113 yards against the Bison. Troy State carried 48 players to McAllen — the NCAA-imposed roster limit. Gailey believed 47 of them played.

“It was a team victory,” Gailey told the Birmingham News.

It did not start that way.

North Dakota State had played in this bowl three of the last four years. The Bison opened with an 81-yard scoring drive — eight plays, no third downs, no passes. Chad Stark broke a 27-yard run. James Molstre scored from six yards out. On their next possession, Jeff Bentrim rolled right and hit Stacy Robinson for 56 yards, setting up a 93-yard touchdown drive. After 15 minutes, North Dakota State led 14-0.

“We got behind, 14-0, and I don’t believe we’ve been behind 14-0 all year,” Gailey told the Birmingham News.

Turk had answered on Troy State’s first possession — a 41-yard scramble on third-and-18, then an 18-yard pass to Lee Hollingsworth to reach the Bison 16. But Turk fumbled at the 7. Then the Trojans botched a field goal attempt — Gailey called it “a 31-yard gimme” — when Hollingsworth fumbled the snap.

“It was one of those things again, like we did in our two playoff games,” Gailey told the Birmingham News. “We fumbled away our first drive at the North Dakota 7-yard line, then botched a field goal on the second.”

“But these guys treat adversity like it is nothing,” he said. “It’s not something to shy away from, but something that motivates them. When they get in hot water, they get going.”

Gailey turned to Christensen, a senior completing a personal comeback from an early-season ankle injury. Christensen directed a 90-yard touchdown drive in 10 plays — passes to Rufus Cox and Hollingsworth, the running of Horstead. Christensen finished it himself, four yards up the middle with 45 seconds remaining in the half. Clem’s extra point made it 14-7.

Troy State led North Dakota State in total offense at the break: 226 yards to 207. Mike Haynes’ interception had quieted the Bison. North Dakota State snapped the ball only eight times in the second quarter.

The third quarter belonged to Troy State.

Christensen drove from the 20 to set up Clem’s 32-yard field goal. The lead was 14-10. Then North Dakota State snapped the ball over punter Jon Dunbar’s head. Dunbar tipped it to the ground in the end zone and ran out of bounds for a safety. The score was 14-12. Christensen led a 69-yard drive to set up Clem’s 24-yard field goal. Troy State 15, North Dakota State 14, with 13:16 left.

The Bison answered. A 36-yard Stacy Robinson reception. Fourth-and-six converted to Phil Ostlie. Runs by Stark and Bentrim to the 2-yard line. Three running plays failed from there. Ken Kubisz kicked a 22-yard field goal. North Dakota State 17, Troy State 15, with 1:36 remaining.

Christensen drove from Troy State’s own 14. Ten plays. He tried to get out of bounds after a 2-yard run but couldn’t. Thirteen seconds left. Clem ran onto the field.

“To tell you the truth, I had no idea how far the field goal was,” Clem told the Montgomery Advertiser. “I just set the tee down and kicked it as quick as I could.”

“When Ted hit the ball, there were two seconds left on the clock,” Gailey told the Birmingham News, “and when it went through the goal posts, there was nothing left on the clock.”

Clem scored 10 of Troy State’s 18 points. He had opened the season with a 45-yard field goal against Nicholls State and never kicked one farther in the next 11 games. Earlier that season, he had missed a field goal on the final play that would have tied the Trojans’ only loss — 13-10 at North Alabama.

“Ted could have tied that game on the final play, and missed,” Gailey told the Birmingham News. “Now, he gets a chance with a lot more on the line, and comes through. I’m just happy for him to be such vital part of it.”

“I knew it was good as soon as I hit it,” Clem told the Montgomery Advertiser. “There was no doubt in my mind because as far as I could see, it was going to be good.”

Back at the McAllen Hilton, Rhoades tried to explain what the first quarter had felt like.

“In the first quarter we were going out there worried about not losing the national championship,” he told the Alabama Journal. “We were really out of character that first period.”

Collins, on his way to the lounge, had already moved past the game and into what came after it.

“When I was in the lockerroom I was thinking this was my last game,” he told the Alabama Journal. “I’m a senior. I hate it’s all over. I really wish I could play another year with these guys. I’m going to miss the game.”

Jay Jefcoat, the offensive coordinator, was still processing.

“This still hasn’t hit us,” Jefcoat told the Montgomery Advertiser. “One of the coaches will look at another coach and say ‘We’re national champions,’ and they’ll say ‘You know, you’re right.’”

“I’m just so thankful to have gone through something like this,” he said. “This team has developed such a bond. Love is a pretty strong word to use, but that’s the type of chemistry that has developed on this team.”

Troy State won the Division II national championship again in 1987. Gailey left Troy and built a coaching career that carried him to the NFL — and eventually to the head coaching job with the Dallas Cowboys, maybe the most coveted seat in professional football.

The turnaround Gailey started in the early 1980s set the stage for everything that followed. Troy moved to Division I-AA, then to FBS and the Sun Belt Conference. The Trojans went to bowl games, knocked off LSU and Missouri and built a program that competed on a national stage. The path from 2-8 to all of that ran through McAllen — through a defense that held North Dakota State to 54 snaps while Troy State ran 88, and a freshman walk-on from Georgiana who set the tee down and kicked a 50-yard field goal because he had no idea how far it was.

“This is a special, special bunch,” Gailey told the Birmingham News. “I said this about the conference championship and I’ll say it about the national championship. To hand them a trophy and dub them with a title is irrelevant. It’s nice, but not necessary as far as I’m concerned. They are champions, because they have that ability to play so hard together.”

Jack Peavy, an offensive tackle from Massachusetts, had a plan for when he got home.

“I’m going to shake my friends’ hands like this,” he told the Alabama Journal, twisting his hand up to show his ring finger, “and they’re going to ask me why I’m doing that, and I’m going to say ‘Look down, and you’ll see why.’ Hey, I’m going to get a diamond.”