Summer for most students means extra time to sleep, vacations, and a break from the stress of school. That’s not the case for the ULM football team.

Coming off a 6-6 season, Coach Todd Berry described his team as “hungry” coming into this season. 

That .500 record was a bit of a disappointment in the eyes of most after coming off the school’s first ever bowl appearance two years ago. However, it marked the first time in school history that ULM was bowl eligible for two consecutive years.

That team will not have to wait but about two more weeks before they take the field against Wake Forest Aug. 28.

 Starting quarterback Pete Thomas says the team is ready for competition.

“We’ve been working pretty hard over the past few weeks in fall camp. I think we’re tired of hitting each other, though,” he said

Thomas will have his hands full filling the hole left from four-year starter Kolton Browning. 

The Warhawks have an extremely tough non-conference schedule.  ULM will play three schools out of the SEC, including perennial powers LSU and Texas A&M. The team will also play their typical conference schedule, including hosting Idaho, Troy, Texas State and UL-Lafayette.

Coach Berry was quick to point out that his team does not lack confidence playing power schools.

“If you’re already kind of penciling in a loss here or there, and obviously we have a tough schedule, but if you have that frame of mind, you never beat Arkansas,” he said.

Berry was referencing the school’s win two years ago against the number eight team in the country, Arkansas. ULM will definitely hope for a better result than last year’s games against the power teams. The Warhawks lost by a combined total of 104-7 against Oklahoma and Baylor.

The team definitely has its work cut out for this season. Expectations are once again high. Coach Berry said that the team’s main goal is to win a conference title.

Key games to look out for in the race for the Sun Belt title include Sept. 27, at home against Troy, Oct. 4, at Arkansas State and the home finale, Nov. 15 against UL-Lafayette.

The Warhawks finished with a 4-3 record in the Sun Belt. They ended the season tied for third after a big win over UL-Lafayette.