ULM football lost their first road game of the season Saturday to No. 14 Oklahoma by a final score of 59-17.
The Sooners received the ball first and wasted no time to find the endzone as their first score came on a 39-yard Mark Andrews touchdown reception.
Unable to convert any third downs in the entire first half, the Warhawks had trouble moving the ball in the battle for field position.
After a failed attempt on fourth down, the Sooners regained field position in Warhawk’s territory and were able to let their high-powered offense go to work yet again.
This time the Sooners moved the ball down the field in slow yet effective progression. It wasn’t until the seventh play of the drive that Oklahoma quarterback Baker Mayfield threw an 8-yard TD pass to receiver Dimitri Flowers.
With a 14-0 lead only ten minutes into the game, you could tell this was going to be a long night for the Warhawks.
On the next drive, the Warhawks showed subtle signs of life by moving the ball for a couple first downs. With an 8-yard reception by R.J. Turner and a couple shorts runs by Ben Luckett, ULM was able to move the chains out of their own territory before settling for a 50-yard punt.
The Sooners went on to tally another touchdown after a long drive to make it 21-0 before the end of the quarter.
The second quarter looked like a mirror image of the first with long- range strikes by the Oklahoma offense. First with a 62-yard TD reception by Nick Basquine followed by a 46-yard TD rush by Jarvis Baxter to make the score at the half 42-0.
The Warhawks defense went in to halftime fatigued mentally and physically hoping to regroup in the second half and generate better field position for the offense.
The offense came out in the second half and did just that with a 73-yard TD reception by R.J. Turner. Coming off of a 3rd down and 8, Turne
r was able to break the secondary and run the distance to put the Warhawks on the board. Although the Warhawks were still down 42-7, it seemed to give their sideline new life.
The defense would now be tested again on Oklahoma’s first drive of the second half. While they would allow a field goal, holding the Sooners offense to 3 points was an improvement.
The ULM offense would then respond with yet another long air attack by Quarterback Garrett Smith, when he connected with tight end Alec Osborne for a 43-yard TD reception. ULM had now narrowed the margin to 45-14.
After the defense forced another punt by backing up Oklahoma’s offense to a 4th and 20, ULM was able to move the ball and convert on a 42- yard field
goal by Craig Ford.
With the score now 45-17 at the end of the third quarter, it was clear the Warhawks had regrouped at halftime and had a great quarter of football both on the defensive and offensive side of the ball.
In the fourth quarter, the Oklahoma offense regrouped and put together a 60-yard drive that resulted in a TD by running back A.D. Miller.
After that score, Oklahoma would go on to tally one more TD to make the final score of the night 59-17.
Despite the large margin of defeat, the Warhawks had a stand out performance from wide-receiver R.J. Turner who had 7 receptions for 135 yards and one TD.
The ULM football team looks to turn the corner this Saturday when the play their first Sun Belt conference game on the road against Georgia Southern. The game can be viewed on ESPN3 at 5 p.m.
