If Florida football fans are to be believed, Superman wears Tim Tebow pajamas to bed at night.

By David Fong

Executive Editor

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If Florida football fans are to be believed, Superman wears Tim Tebow pajamas to bed at night.

If that’s the case, after Friday night’s performance, maybe their Heisman Trophy-winning quarterback should consider wearing Tyler Wright pajamas to bed.

All the Troy quarterback did Friday night was complete 10-of-13 passes for 203 yards and one touchdown, carry the ball 16 times for 92 yards and one touchdown and convert two crucial third downs in the fourth quarter to help the Trojans salt away a 34-21 win over a scrappy Butler team.

“I’ve been playing football with Tyler since the fourth grade — some of the stuff he does still amazes me,” said Troy receiver Alex Carter, who finished with five catches for 102 yards and one touchdown. “If there’s a sticky situation, Tyler can pull some stuff.”

And make no mistake, Troy (4-2, 1-0 in the Greater Western Ohio Conference North Division) found itself in plenty of sticky situations against a much-better-than-its-record Butler (0-6, 0-1) team.

After Troy jumped out to a 28-7 halftime lead, Butler came storming back with a pair of fourth-quarter touchdowns to cut Troy’s lead to 28-21. With 6:52 left to play in the game, Troy took over at its own 25.

Four plays later, Troy found itself facing a crucial third-and-four at its own 45. Wright dropped back, thought about running and then found Carter open for an 11-yard gain.

“Coach (Steve Nolan) told me before the play that if I wanted to run, I should run — but if Alex was there, I should throw it to him,” Wright said. “I saw Alex was all by himself. No one was around him. Their corners were playing 15 yards back.”

That was because, for the most part, the Aviators were loading up to stop the run all night. Troy halfback Matt Allen did finish with 108 yards and three touchdowns — all three of which came in the first half — but was unable to break free for many long runs. He averaged 4.5 yards per carry — 2.3 yards below his average for the season.

“Butler played tough run defense — we knew they would,” Nolan said. “But that’s why our passing game was open. We also had some penalties that stopped us. They called us for holding a few times, and we were holding. A couple of times we really hurt ourselves.”

After converting that third down, Troy again faced another crucial third down just two plays later. On third-and-nine from the Butler 43, Wright dropped back to pass, didn’t see anyone open and took off for a 20-yard gain.

“I was looking to pass, but then I noticed all of their linebackers were running out like crazy,” Wright said. “So I just took off running. We knew coming in we could throw the ball — but I didn’t think I would run the ball for anywhere near 100 yards. But if they call my number, I will do anything they want me to do.”

Early on, it didn’t look like the Trojans would need such heroics.

Troy scored with relative ease on its first drive, thanks in large part to a 32-yard pass from Wright to Keegan Walter and a 17-yard strike to Carter. Allen punched it in the end zone from two yards out for the first of his three touchdowns.

After Butler came back and tied the score at 7-7, Troy dominated the rest of the first half. A 50-yard strike from Wright to Carter set up Allen’s second touchdown. Passes from Wright to Carter and Benson McGillvary set up Allen’s third touchdown run. Just before halftime, Wright hooked up with Carter on a 6-yard touchdown pass to put the Trojans up 28-7.

“We knew Vandalia was going to try to stop the run. They’ve got pretty decent linebackers,” Carter said. “But I knew that would leave me one-on-one. So long as the line does its job and I run my routes, Tyler is going to find me — he’s a smart quarterback.”

Troy’s offense shot itself in the foot just enough in the second half to let Butler climb back into the game. The Aviator offense, meanwhile, found life by inserting running back Jordan Martin at quarterback and running a single-wing offense. With Martin leading the way, Butler scored a pair of fourth quarter touchdowns.

“We had that all down on tape,” said senior safety Geoff Olszewski said of Butler’s single-wing offense. Olszewski’s interception late in the game sealed the win for the Trojans. “But we never saw them run it that much. It was just a lack of execution on our part.”

In the end, though, Butler didn’t have enough to match up with Wright.

“He’s awesome,” Olszewski said of Wright. “I love watching Tyler out there. No matter what happens, we know Tyler’s going to do it. He doesn’t quit, ever.”

Only when he goes to sleep — wearing any pajamas he chooses.

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