ULM entered Conway, South Carolina for its seventh contest to face off against the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers in their third conference game of the season. Coming off of four straight loses, the Warhawks had a season to turn around and something to prove, they did just that taking down CCU in dominant fashion to secure their first conference win of the season.
ULM was clicking on all cylinders early on. An opening drive that got kicked off with a big 13-yard rush from running back Derrick Gore ended in a touchdown for the Warhawks. The six play 75-yard drive included a little bit of everyone as Marcus Green and Gore were able to rush for a combined 39 yards while Caleb Evans found an open Markis McCray for a 17-yard pass. The drive ended in a 4-yard rush that put Austin Vaughn into the end zone.
The Warhawks owned the first quarter on both ends of the ball. A quick touchdown from Gore gave ULM a two possession lead before Costal Carolina managed to get themselves on the board with a field goal.
Despite an early touchdown from Costal Carolina, the momentum carried on into the second quarter for the Warhawks. They put together a big four play, 75-yard drive that ended in a 37-yard touchdown pass to Marcus Green to give the Warhawks the 21-10 lead.
During the first half, ULM looked like a team that hasn’t been around since week three of the season. They put up a total of 234 first half yards with a perfect distribution of yards between passing and rushing, with 117 of each. After another field goal from both teams the Warhawks entered the locker room looking at a 11-point lead, 24-13.
Things slowed down for both teams after the first half. Holding onto the lead, this wasn’t a problem for the Warhawks. It wasn’t until the middle of the third quarter that CCU closed the gap. After recovering a fumble from the Warhawks, they scored their second touchdown of the game to make the score 24-20.
The Warhawks didn’t break a sweat though, coming right back the very next drive they put together an eight play 57-yard drive that ended in a rushing touchdown by Caleb Evans. With the 11-point lead back in grasp, the Warhawks wouldn’t allow Coastal Carolina to score for the rest of the game.
A rushing clinic in the fourth quarter saw ULM put up 155 total yards with 92 of which being on the ground. In those yards the Warhawks had two more touchdowns. The first came early in the final quarter of play when Evans got his second rushing touchdown of the game on a big 20-yard rush. Looking at the 18-point lead, ULM wasn’t done yet. As Gore scored his second touchdown of the game with a 46-yard rush, the Warhawks seemed to put the nail in the coffin with under a minute left to play.
The final score reflected ULM’s great play this game. A big 45-20 victory for the Warhawks may be exactly what the team needed to get their spark back. This is the Warhawks third win of the season making their record (3-4)
The Warhawks will look to keep the good play going as they return home next week for the homecoming game against the Texas St. Bobcats. The game will be ULM’s fourth conference game and is set to kick off on Saturday, Oct. 20 at 6 p.m. in Malone Stadium.