Gunnar Watson’s 8-yard touchdown pass to Jabre Barber with 3:46 left gave Troy a 31-24 victory on Senior Day at Veterans Memorial Stadium on Saturday.

The Trojans (9-2, 6-1 Sun Belt Conference) won for the eighth straight time and 19th time in 21 games dating to the 2022 season. Troy has already clinched the Sun Belt West Division, and can close out a double-digit regular season by winning at Southern Miss next Saturday.

Louisiana (5-6, 2-5) led 10-3 in the second quarter, but was denied a chance to clinch bowl-eligibility with its third straight loss. The Ragin’ Cajuns finish the regular season at home vs. Louisiana-Monroe next Saturday.

Watson completed 17 of 31 passes for 199 yards and three touchdowns with no interceptions, running his streak without a pick to 194 consecutive passes. He also threw scoring passes of 1 yard to Clayton Ollendieck in the second quarter and nine yards to Chris Lewis in the third, giving the Trojans the lead both times.

Louisiana’s Chandler Fields hit Terrance Carter on a 4-yard touchdown with 7:19 left in the game to tie the score at 24, but Troy quickly drove 75 yards in 10 plays to take the lead for good. The Ragin’ Cajuns helped out with a pass interference penalty on one third down, but Watson found Lewis for 16 yards on another and then Barber executed a double pass to Deshon Stoudemire for 20 yards to the Louisiana 12.

Two plays later, Watson threw to Barber for the go-ahead score. Louisiana went three-and-out and punted the ball back to Troy with 2:05 left, and the Trojans ran out the clock.

Kimani Vidal ran for 111 yards and a touchdown on 27 carries for Troy, his touchdown a 13-yarder in the second quarter that tied the game at 10. Scott Taylor Renfroe put the Trojans on the board with a 44-yard field goal in the first quarter.

Troy’s defense gave up 348 yards, but sacked Fields five times. Three of those were by Javon Solomon, who had four last week vs. Louisiana-Monroe.

Solomon and Richard Jibunor both had three tackles for loss, while Jibunor had the other sack. Safety Irshaad Davis had an interception for the Trojans.

Troy finishes the regular season at Southern Miss next Saturday. Kickoff is set for 11 a.m. on ESPNU.