Warhawk Inside Slant
ULM came up short in its quest to attain bowl
eligibility when the Warhawks lost their finale
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to Louisiana-Lafayette to finish 5-7 on the
year. But with such a young team coming so
close, the Warhawks should be looking to 2011
with some promise.
Even after the one-point loss to the Cajuns,
which came about when the visitors blocked an
extra point for the decisive margin in their
23-22 victory, the Warhawks were thinking ahead.
"As for myself," said quarterback Kolton
Browning, who earned the starting job as a
redshirt freshman, "I need to get in the film
room, study some of the things I did wrong and
take care of the ball a little better."
The Warhawks absorbed some big losses along
the way, losing their opener to Arkansas 31-7
and later giving up more than 50 points each to
SEC teams Auburn and LSU, but they also showed
some resiliency. After the 52-3 loss at
Auburn, they came back to beat Florida Atlantic
20-17. Following the 51-0 setback at LSU, they
beat North Texas 49-37. That win over the
Mean Green gave them a 4-3 Sun Belt record and
5-6 overall mark. Bowl eligibility was just a
win over a slumping Cajun team away.
But the Warhawks couldn't get it done despite
jumping out to a 13-0 lead.
Coach Todd Berry called the last loss "tough
to swallow" and bemoaned the loss for his
seniors. He also looked at the reasons for the
loss and vowed improvements.
"We had some penalties that hurt us," he
said. "I'll get that corrected in the offseason.
We had some turnovers that hurt us. I will get
that corrected in the offseason. And we
had some missed assignments. Some of those I
will get corrected in the offseason, some I
won't, depending on who they were with."
NOTES, QUOTES
Game Of The Year: ULM 28, Troy
14-Few saw this one coming. The Warhawks had
lost 38-10 at Middle Tennessee the week before
to fall to 3-4 on the year and now were facing
four-time Sun Belt winner Troy, which was 3-0 in
conference play and riding a three-game winning
streak. But QB Kolton Browning threw for 226
yards and a touchdown and ran for two more
scores to lead the offense. The defense took
over for the Warhawks in the second half,
pitching a shutout over the final two quarters.
The Warhawks held the Trojans' vaunted passing
attack to just 167 yards through the air and
only 285 yards in total offense. ULM amassed 428
yards with 191 on the ground.
Player Of The Year: QB Kolton
Browning-The redshirt freshman earned the
starting job in the spring over incumbent
starter Trey Revell and never let go once fall
camp began. Browning ended up throwing for 2,552
yards, topping the 200-yard mark in eight
consecutive games. He completed 61.9 percent of
his passes with 18 touchdowns against 12
interceptions.
Fast Forward: Of the 44 players
listed on the two-deep depth chart for the
regular-season finale, only eight were seniors.
The Warhawks welcome back Browning and his top
receivers, Luther Ambrose and Tavarese Maye, and
RB Jyruss Edwards should be ready to assume a
bigger load after serving mainly as Frank
Goodin's backup. LB Theo Smith is the key loss
on defense.
Recruiting Trail: Coach Todd Berry
and his staff have done yeoman's work on their
second recruiting class that includes a trio of
Rival 3-star commitments.
Quote To Note: "For our
underclassmen, I think there are a lot of
reasons to be excited about next year and like I
just told them, I don't even want them to think
about it. I think there is time to get excited
about it later on. If they don't hurt right now
and it doesn't sink in for them, then you're
asking for another situation like this to happen
to them in the future."-Coach Todd Berry, after
the disappointing loss to Louisiana-Lafayette in
the season finale kept the Warhawks from
becoming bowl eligible.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
Players To Watch In 2011:
QB Kolton Browning-Browning had a big year as
a redshirt freshman, giving the Warhawks both a
passing and a running threat. He ended up second
on the Warhawks in rushing with 385 yards,
though for much of the season he was the leader.
WR Luther Ambrose-Ambrose was one of the more
productive receivers in the Sun Belt with 65
catches for 752 yards and six touchdowns.
WR Tavarese Maye-Like Browning, Maye was a
redshirt freshman in 2010, and he finished
second on the team in receiving with 43 catches
for 505 yards. He also rushed for 103 yards and
scored one rushing touchdown to go with his
three TD receptions.
Pro Prospects:
S Alex Ibe-Ibe came up with some big plays
for the Warhawks down the stretch. He ended up
with a team-high three interceptions and had 66
tackles.
Roster Report:
•LB Vincent Eddie started the finale
against Louisiana-Lafayette, becoming the fourth
true freshman to start a game for the Warhawks
in 2010.
•PK Radi Jabour moved into third
place in kicker scoring for ULM with 166 points.
He was 8-of-10 on field goals and 26-of-29 on
PAT kicks this season.
•RB Frank Goodin, who entered his
final season with hope of becoming ULM's
all-time leading rusher, finished his career
with 2,943 yards after rushing for a season-best
94 against Louisiana-Lafayette. That is third
best all-time for ULM behind the 3,378 of Calvin
Dawson and 3,061 of Roosevelt Potts.