Game Notes from Troy

-ULM team captains were Brent Leonard, Darius Prelow and Brandon Hardy.

-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).

 

Future of Warhawk football taking shape

While the Warhawks are busy fighting it out on the schedule set for the 2011 season, the front office staff of ULM headlined by Athletic Director Bobby Staub has been hard at work putting together a future opponent list that includes teams from the SEC, Big 12, and Conference-USA.

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.

Sun Belt mid-year notes

Football for 2011 in the Sun Belt Conference has reached its half-way point, and while the majority of teams have played two games, the one team that had played three is standing head and shoulders above the rest at 3-0.

UL-Lafayette, the pre-season pick to bring up the rear of the conference standings, is on fire and just one win shy of hitting the six win mark, making them bowl eligible.  Helping them to get into this position is the quarterback duo of Blaine Gautier and Chris Masson offensively and linebacker Lance Kelley; all of which have earned player of the week awards in the first half of the season.

One of the conference’s other first year head coaches, Hugh Freeze, has his team also in the undefeated ranks in Sun Belt action.   Arkansas State improved to 2-0 after a big 24-19 win at ULM over the weekend.   Not surprising for the Red Wolves who has the potent offense that starts with QB Ryan Aplin.  Additionally, former junior college transfer Dwayne Frampton recently set a new school record with 13 catches and career high 147 yards.

Still in the mix with just one loss each are FIU, North Texas, Troy, WKU, and ULM.

Perhaps the biggest disappointment in the first half of the season is Middle Tennessee.  The Blue Raiders entered the season after landing an at-large bowl birth last season to the GoDaddy.com Bowl.   Now the sixth season for Head Coach Rick Stockstill could be his worst, as his team sits at 1-4, 0-2 and games against UL-Lafayette, Tennessee, Arkansas State, and FIU still in the future.

 

Best first half player – While many around the nation have taken note of reciver/kick returner TY Hilton, it’s the player in the backfield for the FIU Panthers that has stood out in the first half of the season.  Kedrick Rhodes leads all Sun Belt Conference running backs with six TDs and is second for rushing yards with 526.   His running has come at a great time for FIU with the injuries to Hilton and QB Wesley Carroll during the early games of the season.

First half disappointment – FAU.  The Owls program has had just one coach in its brief history and with the announced retirement of Howard Schnellenberger at the end of this season, the Owls need to send him out atop the Sun Belt standings one last time and not at their current 0-5, 0-2 mark.

Best first half game – Western Kentucky @ Middle Tennessee – October 6.  The Hilltoppers picked up their first
conference win of the season in a dramatic double-overtime win on the road.   Running back Bobby Rainey carried the WKU offense with 37 carries and a season high 146 yards.   The win improved WKU’s all-time overtime record to 7-1, and was their first double-overtime game since 2005.

 

Arkansas State Game notes

Luther Ambrose’s 51-yard kickoff return was his longest all-purpose gain of the season.

298 team passing yards were the third-most for the Warhawks under head coach Todd Berry. ULM threw for 366 yards at FIU (11/6/10) and 338 yards at FAU (10/9/10).

55 team passing attempts were the most in the Berry Era, surpassing 45 attempts at Middle Tennessee (10/23/10).

Brent Leonard hauled in 10 catches for a career-high 145 yards and two touchdowns. The receiving yardage total was the most for ULM since Tavarese Maye’s 146-yard performance at FIU (11/6/10). Leonard’s 41-yard touchdown reception was the longest of his ULM career, as well as a career-long pass completion for quarterback Cody Wells. Wells has thrown a touchdown pass in relief in three of the team’s five games in 2011.

ULM has forced a turnover in 26 of 29 games under defensive coordinator Troy Reffett. The three team INTS were a season-high for the Warhawks.

Safety Henry Mitchell intercepted his first career pass, catching the ball off a deflection during the second quarter, for ULM’s second takeaway of the evening.

Kicker Justin Manton recorded his first multi-field goal game. Manton connected from 23 and 25 yards.

The Warhawks 25 penalty yards were tied for the lowest in the Berry Era (FAU, 10/9/10).

Volleyball pair earn honors from Sun Belt

From ULM Sports Information Office:

NEW ORLEANS – For the second consecutive week Marclea Urbina was named the co-Sun Belt Conference Defensive Volleyball Player of the Week while Zuzana Markova earned an honorable mention as the American Volleyball Scouting Report’s Global Player of the Week. The respective organizations announced the honors Monday morning.

Urbina’s honor comes on the heels of her earning ULM’s first-ever player of the week accolade from the Sun Belt last Monday. The native of San Jose, Costa Rica, was picked alongside Denver’s Lyndi Johnson for this week’s award. Markova was named the AVSR Global Player of the Week during week four of the season, marking the third time in her career she has been recognized by the AVSR.

The freshman libero had a career-best performance in ULM’s only match last week against in-state and conference foe UL-Lafayette when it came out on top in a five-set thriller 3-2. The win moved the Warhawks to 9-7 overall and 3-3 in league play, marking the first time in program history they have won three Sun Belt matches in one season. The victory also gave ULM wins in both matches against the Ragin’ Cajuns this season.

Urbina picked up a personal-best 28 digs for the afternoon to break her previous career mark of 25 by three, which she equaled on three occasions this season before breaking through against the Ragin’ Cajuns. She averaged a scorching 5.60 digs per set to shoot up the Sun Belt rankings, sitting third in league matches only averaging 4.31 digs per set.

Markova finished the match with her fifth double-double of the season, ending just one kill shy of tying her career-best with a match-high 19 kills and picked up a ULM-best 29 assists. The native of Cesky Krumlov, Czech Republic, averaged 3.80 kills per set at a .366 rate and had 5.80 assists per set. Markova also had two service aces and three blocks.

ULM hits the road for two Sun Belt matches this weekend as it looks for another series win against North Texas at 7 p.m. before seeking revenge at Denver Sunday at 1 p.m.

ULM loses conference opener

Despite having more offensive yards, more time of possession, and more first downs, the Warhawks (1-4, 0-1) dropped the Saturday
night Sun Belt Conference opener to Arkansas State (4-2, 2-0) 24-19.

Down by the final score late in the fourth quarter, the Warhawks took over following senior Hawk Darrius Prelow’s second interception
of the game.  Quarterback Kolton Browning was injured and forced out of the game after just the second play of the drive
making way for Cody Wells.  Wells orchestrated the ULM offense on the possession that saw clutch passes to junior receiver Brent Leonard as they moved the ball further and further into Arkansas State territory.

With just under a minute left in the contest, the Warhawks fumbled and while it was recovered by ULM, nearly 20 seconds elapsed before the ball was set up for play to resume.  This caused Wells to spike the ball and losing a down to work with in the crucial time.  The next pass fell incomplete and turned the ball over on downs.

The Red Wolves got onto the scoring column first, as Frankie Jackson capped off an 11 play, 78 yard drive late in the first quarter for a
7-0 lead.   ULM wasted no time answering with a score of their own when Wells connected with Leonard for a 41 yard touchdown.   The catch was the first of 10 for Leonard for a career-high 145 yards.  The pass was also a career long for Wells.

Freshman kicker Justin Manton tacked on a pair of field goals from 23 and 25 yards out to extend ULM’s lead to 13-7 heading into the later part of the first half.  Arkansas  State would cut into the lead with a 30 yard field goal by Brian Davis, making the score 13-10 heading into halftime.

The winds seemed to be taken completely out of the Warhawk’s sails in the third quarter, as Don Jones blocked an Aaron Munoz punt, recovered and returned it 25 yards for a score.  From there, Arkansas  State never looked back, adding another trip to the endzone to start the final quarter.

 

Warhawks drop non-conference finale

The non-conference portion of the 2011 season is complete after the 45-17 loss at Iowa on Saturday. Now the focus shifts to the Warhawk’s run towards a Sun Belt Conference title. After a bye week this weekend to allow the injuries to heal, ULM will return to the friendly confined of Malone Stadium to face Arkansas State on Saturday, October 8.

“Right now we are really a beat up football team,” Head Coach Todd Berry said in the Iowa post game conference. Adding to the growing list of injuries which include TEs TY Kittle and Keavon Milton, DB Otis Peterson, and K Radi Jabour is QB Kolton Browning who left the game after taking a shot on a running play. Berry was asked about his status following the Iowa game and answered quickly with “Kolton’s fine.”

Adding to the injuries that are mounting for the Warhawks are the continued offensive woes on third down. ULM ended the game 5 of 14 on third down conversions, making them now 46% for the season, 42nd in the NCAA. “We just can’t get off the field; we haven’t been able to all season.” Berry said. “In the other three games we were fortunate to play well on first and second downs, today we didn’t’ do that.”

Defensively the Warhawks seem to be struggling, however the third year under defensive coordinator Troy Reffett continues to see the ULM defense ranked tops in the Sun Belt Conference in total defense, allowing a total of 345 yards per game. The Warhawks did fall to second in rushing defense in the conference, surrendering 126 yards, five more than leader FIU.

“They played horrific today,” Berry said about the defense. “We are not quite as good as everyone thought we were on defense. They can grow up and play sometimes, but not consistently.”

Game notes from Iowa
• ULM team captains – WR Brent Leonard, S Nate Brown, P Aaron Munoz
• ULM won the coin toss for the first time this season; the Warhawks kicked off to open the game for the first time this season
• Darius Prelow extended his team-high consecutive game started streak (offense & defense) to 18 games
• Justin Manton’s 43-yard field goal on ULM’s opening drive of the game was the second of his career and the longest of his career
• Manton’s 43-yard field goal was ULM’s longest since Radi Jabour booted a 43-yard FG against North Texas on Nov. 7, 2009
• ULM has scored on its opening possession of the game in two straight contests
• ULM has forced a turnover in 25-of-28 games under defensive coordinator Troy Reffett and in all four games this season
• Kolton Browning moved into seventh place on the ULM career pass completions list with 300 passing former Super Bowl quarterback Stan Humphries
• Kolton Browning moved into eighth place on the ULM career total offense list with 3,562 yards
• Kolton Browning’s rushing touchdown in the third quarter was the fifth of his career and first of the season
• Tavarese Maye’s 1-yard touchdown run in the third quarter was the second of his career and first this season
• ULM scored 14 points in the third quarter against Iowa; the Warhawks had scored just seven second half points all season
• Jyruss Edwards moved into seventh place on the ULM career kickoff return list with 1,025 yards
• ULM’s 293 passing yards are the most this season; the previous high was 232 last week at TCU

Iowa going Green against Warhawks

While the Warhawks would expect to see a sea of Black and Yellow on Saturday when they travel to Iowa City, Iowa to take on the Hawkeyes, there will be green in the mix too. Hawkeye fans are undertaking a grassroots effort to honor and remember recent Iowa free safety star Brett Greenwood.

Greenwood, a former undrafted free agent by the Pittsburgh Steelers recently collapsed from an appearant hear attack while working out at a high school following his release.

Warhawk notes from TCU

Darius Prelow extended his team-high consecutive game started streak (offense & defense) to 17 games.

Justin Maton’s 23-yard field goal on ULM’s opening drive was the first of his career. Manton’s field goal resulted in ULM’s first points on an opening drive this season.

Cody Wells has thrown a touchdown pass in two straight games for the Warhawks during his first series of action; he now has eight career touchdown passes.

Kolton Browning moved into ninth place on the ULM career total offense list with 3,402 yards passing Calvin Dawson. Kolton Browning moved into eighth place on the ULM career pass completions list with 284 passing Andre Vige.

Brent Leonard’s touchdown in the first quarter was the fourth of his career. Brent Leonard caught a career-high 13 passes for a career-high 92 yards. Brent Lenoard’s 13 receptions were the second most in ULM history; the school record is 16 by Jackie Harris against Lamar in 1988.

Kolton Browning moved into a tie for 10th place on the ULM career touchdown passes list with his first-quarter strike to Tavarese Maye. He tied Rodney Horn with 20.

Tavarese Maye’s 37-yard touchdown reception in the first quarter was the fifth of his career and second this season.

The Warhawks totaled 189 yards of total offense in the first quarter; the Warhawks had 191 yards of total offense the entire game at Florida State.

ULM has forced a turnover in 24-of-27 games under defensive coordinator Troy Reffett. ULM has at least one sack in 27 of the past 28 games and in 26-of-27 games under defensive coordinator Troy Reffett.

5 Questions – TCU

Jeremy Clark, publisher for Rivals.com site PurpleMenace.com answers five questions about the Warhawk’s game at TCU:

1. It seems like just a few years back that TCU was a middle of the road mid-major program, what’s been the key to the Horned Frogs turning their program around and becoming a staple in the top-25 and BCS?

I think foremost it starts with head coach Gary Patterson and his staff. With the exception of a few losses over the years, the staff has kept intact and that goes a long way considering the way coaches leave for other programs. They have a good grasp of the type of player they want to recruit, some guys who didn’t have multiple offers and carry the chip on their shoulder attitudes. The last four years they’ve really stepped up their recruiting and are now competing with schools such as Texas, OU, A&M and winning some of those battles. Yet, it all comes down to coaching, and the players really take on the persona of Patterson.

2. TCU lost several key players from last season’s team. Who are the new standouts and how have they done in TCU’s first few games of 2011?

The biggest lost was obviously Andy Dalton, the all-time winning quarterback at TCU. All eyes were on his replacement, sophomore Casey Pachall in the opener against Baylor. While the Frogs lost, Pachall had an exceptional game in his first career start, accounting for five scores. While he did well at Baylor, most wanted to see how he would perform on the road at Air Force, where the Frogs have struggled mightily in their last two visits. Pachall again had a big game, this time completing 20-of-25 passes with 2 scores. He was named MWC offensive player of the week for his performance against the Falcons. On the year he’s completing 70-percent of his passes. The offensive line, which had to replace four starters from 2010, have only given up one sack on the year. Defensively, the biggest concern was replacing three starters at safety. Through two games, the Frogs have struggled a bit on defense and are prone to give up the big plays as they have against Baylor and Air Force. Last week Air Force had 4 plays that totaled 147 yards.

3. TCU will debut its new home stadium on Saturday. What are some of the new features it offers and what should Warhawk fans expect there?

Well, it’s not quite ready for the 2011 season. There is still ongoing construction going on, but you can definitely see why TCU fans are excited. For starters, they’ve torn down the old upper deck and part of the lower west stands and now have three levels, including 24 suites. Of course, the suites won’t be ready until 2012, nor will the concorse area. The lower and middle level on the west side will be occupied this season, however the upper deck won’t. So, when ULM fans see an empty top deck, it’s not because TCU couldn’t sell the tickets. On the north end zone, there is an added upper deck complete with a party area and state of the art scoreboard. This area along with the scoreboard will be functional for this game. The capacity for this season is roughly 33,000, so it will be a packed house every game and with the enclosed north end zone now, it should be louder.

4. What’s the TCU fan’s thoughts on playing ULM?

I think going in the fans know that ULM is an athletic team, especially running the 3-3-5. This kind of defense historically has given TCU offenses trouble. They also know that speed on offense has killed TCU this season, I think everyone saw that against Baylor. The fans are almost positive that ULM will come out and run some trick plays, and why not, with TCU’s aggressive style of defense, opponents have been successful running those plays.

5. What are some of TCU’s game day traditions?

Frog Alley is definitely the place to take the family before the game. Located on the east side of the stadium, there are plenty of games for children to be entertained with. For adults, there is usually a live band on hand. I personally like it when the band enters the stadium and walks around the whole stadium playing the fight song. Right before kickoff the fans will see a ton of kids on the field. This is something Coach Patterson implemented several years ago called “The Bleacher Creatures”, which allows kids to run on the field as the Frogs come out of the tunnel. Perhaps the biggest traditions when you come to a TCU game, the tailgating! You can’t walk 50-feet without smelling awesome food, and of course the whole scene is great.