Coming off of a tough home loss last week, ULM hit the road for their fifth match of the season. Facing the Georgia State Panthers, the Warhawks looked to turn things around and secure their first conference victory.
The first quarter got off to a familiar start for the Warhawks. An opening possession touchdown for the Panthers gave them the first lead of the game. They would score another to give themselves the two touchdown lead before ULM was able to score.
A big 21-yard rushing touchdown by Caleb Evans gave the Warhawks their first points of the game late in the first quarter.
Despite the touchdown, ULM wasn’t able to capitalize on the momentum going into the second quarter. Two more quick touchdowns for the Panthers widened the gap by 20 points before the Warhawks could answer back. After another rushing touchdown from Evans, ULM dropped it back down to a two possession game.
It was overall an ugly first half for the Warhawks. Allowing 355 total yards on four touchdowns and a field goal, the Panthers seemed ready to run away with the lead. Three turnovers for the Warhawks, including two in the second quarter, led to 10 points for the Panthers to hurt ULM’s chances of a come back.
It was all Georgia St. after the first half. Outplaying the Warhawks on both ends of the ball, the Panthers ran away with the game and never looked back.
Scoring two more touchdowns in the second half while tacking on another field goal in the fourth quarter, GSU was able to easily put the Warhawks away, 46-14.
The Panther’s success on the ground was the main difference maker in the game and allowed them to have a record breaking day.
They broke the school’s all time rushing record with their 308 yards on the ground. That wasn’t the only record broken by the Panthers though.
They also had their longest play in school history with an 82-yard punt return from freshman running back, Seth Paige.
After half time, the Warhawks only managed to pick up one first down while tallying only 43 total yards of offense.
The Warhawks had three third quarter drives and failed to make anything happen with any of them, going three-and-out on all three.
It didn’t get much better in the fourth quarter for ULM as they only managed to get more than three snaps on the ball once. The 5-play drive ended in an interception however as the hopeful drive was quickly diffused.
The Warhawks are now (0-2) in the Sun Belt conference going into their next matchup.
ULM will look to shake back from the back-to-back losses as they exit conference play to take on their second SEC opponent of the season, the Ole Miss Rebels. The game will be the Warhawk’s second game out of a three game road trip and is set to kick off Saturday, Oct. 6 at 3 p.m.