Warhawk Inside Slant
A week earlier, ULM coach Todd Berry
had gone for it on a couple of fourth-down
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plays, including one in overtime, and they wound
up spurring his Warhawks to an upset of Arkansas.
Against Auburn, he chose to play it in
more conventional fashion, and it just may have
cost the Warhawks a shot at a second straight
victory over an SEC foe.
A blocked
field goal left the Warhawks scoreless in
overtime, and Auburn kicked a field goal on its
possession for the 31-28 victory.
Afterward, Berry second-guessed his decision.
"Last week, obviously, we had the ball
second," Berry said, referring to the win over
the Razorbacks. "We already knew what the score
was. They had already kicked a field goal."
In this case, the Warhawks had the ball to
start overtime and decided to go for the field
goal instead of gambling on fourth-and-five from
the 20-yard line.
Kicker
Justin Manton's 37-yard attempt was tipped,
and the ball fell short.
"Sometimes it's better to put some points on
the board and you put some pressure on the other
team to try to make something happen," Berry
said. "Obviously, that didn't work for us.
"Like I said, this one's my fault. Error in
judgment."
NOTES, QUOTES
WHAT'S AHEAD: ULM, which didn't get its
season started until the college football's
second weekend, finally gets a home game. The
Warhawks will host Baylor in a Friday
night affair. But then they are back on the road
at Tulane to finish the month before
diving into Sun Belt Conference play.
•Though coach Todd Berry may have
regretted his decision not to go for it on
fourth down in overtime, he wasn't shy about it
earlier. The Warhawks went for it four times on
fourth down earlier in the game and were
successful three times. For the season, they are
9-of-11 on fourth-down gambles.
•The 62 points the Warhawks have
scored in their first two games (34 vs.
Arkansas, 28 vs. Auburn) are the most they have
had against SEC opposition in one season. The
previous high was 57 in 2006, but they not only
needed three games to get that total, they got
40 in just one game (Kentucky).
•For the second straight week, ULM
scored on its opening possession. The Warhawks
marched 89 yards in 12 plays after receiving the
opening kickoff, scoring on a pass to redshirt
freshman
Harley Scioneaux on fourth-and-goal from the
one-yard line.
Keep An Eye On: Sophomore CB
Ron'Donavan Lewis had a busy afternoon at
Auburn. He was credited with 10 tackles against
the Tigers.
Looking Good: Junior QB
Kolton Browning didn't throw the ball quite
as often as he had at Little Rock, but still had
a nice game. He was 28-of-46 passing, which was
21 fewer attempts than he had against the
Razorbacks, for 237 yards and three touchdowns.
He has six touchdown passes in just two games.
Still Needs Work: The run defense
was not as effective as it had been at Arkansas.
Auburn gouged the Warhawks for 255 yards on the
ground, averaging 6.1 per rush. ULM had held
Arkansas to just 96 the week before.
Quote To Note:
""I felt like at times we moved the ball
really well down the field. There were also some
plays where we felt like we could have scored
some more points today than we did."
-Junior QB
Kolton Browning
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Player Notes:
•Senior WR
Brent Leonard again led ULM in receiving
with seven catches. They were good for 53 yards.
•Junior WR
Je'Ron Hamm had the most receiving yards
with 57 on five catches.
•Junior RB
Jyruss Edwards led the team in rushing with
76 yards on 17 carries. He had a long run of 29
yards.
Roster Report:
•Sophomore PK Justin Manton handled
punting duties for a second straight game,
averaging 43.2 on five attempts. Both of his
field goal attempts were blocked.
•Redshirt freshman
Caleb Gammel saw his first playing time and
ran 14 yards for a first down on a fake punt on
ULM's first series of the second half.
•Junior RB
Centarius Donald missed the game because of
an injury.
• S
Khari Usher will miss 6-8 weeks with a leg
injury, look for him to return just in time for
Sun Belt Conference action.