The lone ULM first half highlight was a big one though, as Luther Ambrose became the first player in school history to return two kickoffs for a TD in the same season. This kick return was for 98 yards midway through the 2nd quarter. The return landed Ambrose his second Sun Belt special teams player of the week honors.

Defensively the Warhawks struggled in the opening half, surrendering 283 yards of offense to FIU. The second half though saw a repeat performance of tough, hard nosed defense, as they allowed just 57 total yards. Another area of concern for the Warhawks was their struggles on 3rd down, converting just 6 of 21 attempts.

ULM will have the weekend following Thanksgiving off before traveling to Boca Raton, Fla to conclude the season against FAU.

The second half was all Vols though as all of the starters for the home team ended the night with double-digit scoring, as Tennessee broke the game open on a 29-9 run. Leading the run was all-conference Trae Golden’s double-double.

In addition to the hot shooting of Brown, senior Hugh Mingo scored in double-digits for the fisrt time this season. Beyond the scoring of the senior guard duo, senior center Fabio Ribeiro pounded the boards for a season high seven rebounds and accounted for eight of the Warhawk’s 10 points in the paint.

ULM continues their long road swing with a Saturday 6pm tip-off against in-state foe Southeastern Louisiana.

While the first half shooting woes looked to be behind the ULM (0-1), the second half proved to be more of the same.  Despite the overall lack of offense transfer Charles Winborne caught fire, as he connected on three straight shots from beyond the arch to help pull his Warhawks to within one point mid-way through the second half.   Sycamore guard Carl Richard connected on a team high 15 points for his team to help the visiting team to the final 12 point win.

ULM looked to hang close in the opening half of the game, managing to keep the game within five points.  The Warhawks then struggled to post points, going scoreless for two long periods in the stanza.  Indiana State continued to hammer shots in from beyond the three point line, building as much as a 10 point lead.

The Warhawks now hit the road for a three game road swing with games at Tennessee, Southeastern Louisiana, and Mississippi State.  ULM will next play in Fant-Ewing on Saturday, November 26 against Harding.

The Saturday afternoon game saw the Warhawk offense score on their first five possessions, a feat not accomplished in its eleven Sun Belt Conference seasons. ULM’s defense continued to shine though, collecting their 30th takeaway in defensive coordinator Troy Reffett’s 34 games.

Leading the offensive charge that gained 453 total yards was sophomore running back Jyruss Edwards. The White Castle, La. native was rewarded for his 191 yards and three touchdowns with Louisiana Sportswriters Offensive Player of the Week honors. Equally impressive was the hot hand of quarterback Kolton Browning who finished the contest 15-18 for 193 yards and a pair of passing scores. Browning also rushed for a score.

The Warhawks will honor their 20 seniors this week as they close out the home portion of the 2011 schedule against FIU. Kickoff against the Golden Panthers is set for 4pm.

The Warhawks have registered multiple rushing touchdowns in six of nine games. ULM has scored at least one touchdown on the ground in all nine games this season.

Kolton Browning’s 62-yard touchdown run in the first quarter was the longest play from scrimmage for the Warhawks this season. The rush was also a career-long for Browning, eclipsing a 24-yard carry against Arkansas State Oct. 8. The Browning score was the longest run for the Warhawks since Kinsmon Lancaster registered a 74-yard pickup Nov. 8, 2008 against Middle Tennessee, and the longest touchdown since Calvin Dawson’s 62-yard run Nov. 3, 2007, also against Middle Tennessee. Browning finished the game with a personal-best 33 completions for 258 yards and a touchdown, passing Stan Humphries for sixth all-time in career passing yards (4,413). He added a career-high 91 yards rushing.

Luther Ambrose’s six catches moved him past Drouzon Quillen for seventh place on the all-time receptions list (126). Ambrose has registered a catch in 29 of the past 33 games. Ambrose extended his career lead in kickoff return yardage to 2,329.

Jyruss Edwards’ three touchdown runs upped his total to six for the season, surpassing the four he tallied as a freshman in 2010. Edwards is the first ULM rusher to score multiple touchdowns on the ground since Browning ran for a pair Oct. 30, 2010 against Troy. The three touchdown runs were the most for ULM since Frank Goodin did it against FIU (Oct.3, 2009).

Brent Leonard moved past Jackie Harris (1989), Darrell McNeal (2007), Vincent Brisby (1992) and Stepfret Williams (1994) into eighth place in single-season receptions (59).

Khairi Usher’s fourth quarter interception marked the 29th game the Warhawks have forced a turnover under defensive coordinator Troy Reffett.

Despite playing shorthanded, the new season started off with a win, 67 – 63.  ULM held off a late surge from the Chaparrals (0-2) as the hot hand of senior Fred Brown who had a game high 21, countered the guard duo of Anthony Brancato and Rashad Sample who had 19 and 18 points respectively. 

The Chaparrals used a 10-3 run mid-way through the first half to build a 20-14 lead over the Warhawks.  Adding to the woes for ULM was poor shooting that saw the home team go nearly 10 minutes without a field goal.  Snapping the scoring drought was senior Hugh Mingo who connected on a layup with 4:52 remaining; Mingo was the leading scorer in the half with 10 points.  The Warhawks would take the lead just seconds later on a Brown three pointer and go on to build a six point lead but a series of fouls late allowed the visitors to close out the opening half with the score tied at 26.

ULM will return to action on Monday, November 7 as they conclude the exhibition schedule against Philander Smith.  Game time from Fant-Ewing Coliseum is set for 7pm.

Observations and notes –

-          ULM continues to have no presence in the paint.  Despite the height advantage of big men, with 6’10” senior Fabio Ribeiro towering over Lubbock Chrisitan’s Aaron Plunkett at 6’7”, ULM struggled to pound the boards for rebounds and second chance shots.   Final stats show that the Warhawks managed 24 defensive rebounds, allowing 18 Lubbock Christian second chance points.

-          Senior guard Fred Brown showed why he was the lone Warhawk to land all-conference honors last season and pre-season honors this year.  In the game, Brown was looked to several times to make big plays for ULM and helped his team to remain close late in the second half.

-          Discipline looked to haunt ULM, as several of the team’s 15 fouls came late in the shot clock possession, and one as late as one second remaining.

NEW ORLEANS – ULM senior Luther Ambrose has been named the Sun Belt Conference Special Teams Player of the Week for his work at North Texas this past weekend, the league office announced Monday. Ambrose was also named the national kick returner of the week by the College Football Performance Awards.

Ambrose, a native of St. James, La., returned the opening kickoff of the game 100 yards for a touchdown. The 100-yard return pushed him into first place on the ULM career kickoff return yardage list and fifth on the all-time Sun Belt Conference list with 2,126 yards.

The return was just the sixth in Sun Belt Conference history and third in ULM history to span the entire length of the field. The last Warhawk to return a kick 100 yards was Nathan Johnson against Southeastern Louisiana in 1978.

Ambrose, who finished third in the 100m dash at the 2010 NCAA Outdoor Track & Field Championships, has now returned two kicks for a touchdown in his career. He took one 91 yards to the house as a true freshman in 2008 at Arkansas State. His two career kickoff return touchdowns are the most in ULM history and second most in Sun Belt history.

It is the second straight week that a ULM player has been named the league’s top special teams player. Mitchell Bailey received the honor last week after forcing a fumble and scoring a touchdown in ULM’s win at Troy.

-Troy won the opening coin toss, and deferred possession to the second half.

-Nate Brown appeared in his 43rd career game, the most among current Warhawks.

-ULM forced an opponent to punt on its opening drive for the fourth time this season.

-Cameron Blakes recorded his second career interception in the first quarter. Today’s contest was the 27th game that ULM has forced a turnover under defensive coordinator Troy Reffett (30 games).

-The Warhawks have intercepted five passes the last two games after registering no picks the previous two contests.

-ULM has attempted nine 4th-down conversions in the last three games. The Warhawks have gone for it on 4th-down 14 total times this season.

-Tavarese Maye has registered at least one reception in all 18 career games played. Maye set a career-high with 161 receiving yards on seven catches.

-Kolton Browning passed Robert Cobb, Andre Vige, Wendal Lowrey and Andy Chance for seventh place all-time in career passing yards (3,595). Browning also moved into seventh place in yards of total offense (4,111), a tie for eighth in pass attempts (562) and a tie for eighth on the career passing touchdowns list (24).

-Luther Ambrose passed Tag Rome and LaGregory Sapp for eighth place in career receptions (118).

-Mitchell Bailey forced his first career fumble and Brandon Hardy made his second career recovery on kickoff coverage to set up ULM’s third scoring drive of the second half. Bailey also hauled in his first receiving touchdown at ULM on a 4th-and-1 catch in the flat in the fourth quarter.

-Colby Harper recorded his first career touchdown on a 13-yard reception in the third quarter.

-Centarius Donald’s 57-yard run at the end of the third quarter surpassed his 55-yard touchdown jaunt against Grambling State on Sept. 10 as the longest of his career. Donald gained 113 yards on 14 carries for his second 100-yard rushing performance this season.

-ULM’s safety off a mishandled punt snap was the team’s first since Ken Dorsey earned a two-point score for the Warhawks on Oct. 9, 2010 (Florida Atlantic). It was the first safety Troy had allowed since Nov. 1, 2008 at ULM.

-Isaiah Newsome intercepted his first career pass off a deflection in the fourth quarter. Newsome’s takeaway marked the third time ULM has forced two or more interceptions in a game this season.

-The Warhawks set a season-high in total offense, gaining 523 yards on 77 plays. The 523-yard output surpassed a 482-yard effort at FIU (Nov. 6, 2010) as the most yards of total offense gained in a single game under head coach Todd Berry.

-The 28-point loss was the largest margin of defeat for Troy at home under head coach Larry Blakeney (21st season).

In 2012, the Warhawks are set to play games at Auburn, Arkansas, and Tulane, while the Baylor Bears will come to Malone Stadium on September 22. Additionally the Warhawks will play host to Sun Belt Conference foes that include rival Louisiana-Lafayette and conference new comer South Alabama.

2013’s schedule looks to be complete as well, with ULM playing a return game at Baylor on August 31 and play another Big 12 member, Oklahoma, before returning home to host Tulane and Grambling State.

Additional tentative games have been setup in 2015 for the Warhawks to play at Georgia and Tulsa.