Warhawk Inside Slant
ULM Head Coach Todd Berry undoubtedly expected good things out of
redshirt freshman quarterback
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when he named him the starter coming out of
spring practice. But after a slow start,
Browning is a bit further ahead of where Berry
expected him to be at this point of the season.
Browning has thrown for 1,075 yards and has
topped the 200-yard mark in four consecutive
games heading into the Warhawks' contest at
Western Kentucky. That's the most for a ULM
quarterback through five games since 1993, when
Robert Cobb had 1,245. He also leads the
Warhawks in rushing with 178 yards on 79
carries, about half on designed plays, half on
scrambles in Berry's estimation.
"The scramble in college football is the best
play in college football if you've got a
quarterback who can throw on the run, and that's
one of the things I think Kolton does extremely
well," Berry said. "He's more accurate throwing
on the run than when he's stationary."
Browning also is making progress simply
learning the job of being a quarterback
"I think we've seen 47 coverages so far from
what I've kept count on," Berry said. "Each one
has its own little identity, and for the
quarterback each one of those things kind of
changes his read progression and what he needs
to do. But he's starting to
compartmentalize all those different coverages
and all those different looks, and he's handling
himself really well."
Berry expects Browning to continue this
progress as ULM, which is 2-3, looks to get to
.500 overall and 2-1 in the Sun Belt with a win
at Western Kentucky.
"The thing that … gives him a chance to be
really fine player is just his competitive
nature," Berry said. "He's a great competitor
and a strong leader on our football team,
certainly with our offensive group. I
think that has allowed him to mature a little
faster. He's had this great drive to excel."
NOTES, QUOTES
•RB
Frank Goodin has been held to
just 137 yards rushing through the first five
games. Goodin ran for 169 yards in last year's
ULM victory over the Hilltoppers and is 737
yards away from being ULM's all-time leading
rusher but is averaging only 27.4 ypg this
season.
•RB
Jyruss Edwards will get his
second career start this week at WKU.
Edwards also started in the season opener
against Arkansas.
•ULM has allowed only three backs to
rush for more than 100 yards in a game in the 17
games Troy Reffett has served as defensive
coordinator. WKU's
Bobby Rainey is one of
them. Rainey is rushing for a league-best 120.4 ypg for the Hilltoppers.
•ULM will be making its first trip
since 1954 to Bowling Green, Ky., to face
Western Kentucky. Last year's game was the first
between the two since 1955.
Series History: Western Kentucky
leads ULM 3-2 (last meeting, 2009, 30-22 ULM).
Scouting The Offense: ULM is facing
a run defense that is giving up just over 211
yards per game, but it may not be able to take
advantage of it. The Warhawks are rushing for
only 94.4 ypg, which ranks seventh in the
conference. QB Kolton Browning is the Sun Belt's
third most-productive passer with an average of
215.0 ypg.
Scouting The Defense: The Warhawks'
defense is a bit skewed by the early losses to
Arkansas and Auburn on the road, but it ranks
third in the conference against the rush (152.0
ypg). LB
Jason Edwards' 41 tackles rank fifth in
the Sun Belt, and DE
Ken Dorsey is seventh in
sacks (0.60 per game).
Quote To Note:
"I don't know that we can
feel overly confident about
ourselves in terms of both
playing on the road along with
kind of where we're at as a
football team. I think we're
growing up."
-Coach Todd Berry, on
his 2-3 team taking on a winless Western
Kentucky.
STRATEGY AND PERSONNEL
This Week's Game: at Western Kentucky,
Oct. 16-The Warhawks look to get to .500 overall
and above .500 in conference play with a win
over the winless Hilltoppers. ULM is 2-3
overall, 1-1 in the conference. Western Kentucky
remained winless in dropping its fifth game this
season and 25th in a row, 28-21 at FIU in its
last outing.
Keys To The Game: Don't take
anything for granted. The Hilltoppers may be
winless, but they have a good running back in
Bobby Rainey, who leads the Sun Belt in rushing
with 120.4 ypg. This could be an opportunity for
the Warhawks to get their running game going
against a WKU defense that is allowing opponents
211.2 ypg rushing.
Players To Watch:
RB Jyruss Edwards-A freshman, Edwards has
only 75 yards rushing in five games but he
scored the decisive touchdown in the win over
Florida Atlantic on a five-yard rush. Edwards is
averaging 4.4 each carry.
QB Kolton Browning-It goes without saying
that your eyes will catch Browning. With 79 runs
and 157 pass attempts, he has accounted for 66
percent of ULM's plays. He's the leading rusher
with 178 yards and has thrown for 1,075.
LB
Cameron Blakes-Blakes is the team's No. 2
tackler with 38 stops and has done a little bit
of everything on defense. He has 3.0 tackles for
loss with 1.5 sacks and also has an interception
plus two quarterback hurries.
Roster Report:
•WR
Luther Ambrose is fourth in the
Sun Belt in receptions with an average of 4.6
per game. His 55.8 average receiving per game
ranks seventh.
•QB Kolton Browning ranks third
overall and second among Sun Belt freshmen total
offense with his 250.6 ypg average. Troy
freshman
Corey Robinson is producing 288.2 per
game. Arkansas State sophomore
Ryan Aplin leads
all players with his 296.8 average.