For the second straight year, Troy suffered a gut-wrenching loss in Week 3.

The Trojans fell 16-14 to James Madison at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday, with an intentional grounding call against quarterback Gunnar Watson in the final minute pushing them out of field goal range. The loss comes one day short of a year after Troy lost 32-28 at Appalachian State on a deflected Hail Mary touchdown pass on the game’s final play last Sept. 17.

The loss Saturday drops Troy to 1-2 overall, 0-1 in Sun Belt Conference play. The Trojans also began last season 1-2 before reeling off 11 straight victories including the conference championship.

James Madison (3-0, 1-0) became the first team to beat the Trojans at home under second-year coach Jon Sumrall. Troy’s last home loss came 45-7 to Appalachian State late in the 2021 season.

The Dukes led 13-7 at halftime and 16-7 after three quarters before Troy got within two on Watson’s 24-yard touchdown pass to Jabre Barber with 13:47 remaining. The Trojans later missed a long field-goal attempt, but still had a shot to win after taking over at their 10 with 3:03 left.

Watson completed passes of 16, 18 and 18 yards to move Troy into James Madison territory. On third-and-5 from the JMU 33 and just 44 seconds remaining, Watson threw the ball away and deep to escape the rush of Jamree Kromah.

Officials ruled there was no eligible receiver in the area, resulting in a 10-yard loss back to the 43, a loss of down and a 10-second runoff. Out of field-goal range and facing fourth-and-15, Watson threw incomplete on the next play to end any chances of a Troy win.

Watson completed 25 of 46 passes for 332 yards and two touchdowns with an interception. However, the Trojans rushed for minus-12 yards on 19 carries, with Watson sacked five times and running back Kimani Vidal held to 27 yards on 11 attempts.

Camden Wise kicked field goals of 28, 36 and 32 yards for JMU, the first two giving the Dukes a 6-0 lead after one quarter. Watson threw a 14-yard touchdown pass to Devonte Ross, giving Troy a 7-6 lead early in the second.

James Madison scored its lone touchdown with 2:24 left in the first half, with Jordan McCloud finding Elijah Surratt on a 9-yard touchdown to make it 13-7. McCloud completed 18 of 26 passes for 200 yards and a touchdown with no interceptions.

Wise’s third field goal accounted for the only scoring of the third quarter. Troy’s Scott Taylor Renfroe missed a 49-yard attempt wide left with 5:35 remaining in the game.

Troy hosts Western Kentucky in non-conference action at 11 a.m. next Saturday.