All over the country, college football teams train and work hard to accomplish goals for the upcoming season. Each team strives to have to have winning seasons.

One goal that each team has is to be playing in December in a bowl game. To be eligible, a team needs to win as many games as it loses because almost all FBS teams have 12-game schedules, that means they must go 6-6. With ULM’s win over South Alabama last week, the Warhawks are bowl eligible for the first time since 2013. This is the fifth time since 2007.

The past few years ULM football has not had the best record. Coming into this season the program had a lot of hype built around it. Everyone was ready to see the team take off in the right direction. This is head coach Matt Viator’s third season here and you can see the culture has changed for the better. The team looks to have improved on all phases of the ball. The defense seems to be playing with a chip on their shoulder and the offense is starting to get back on a roll.

Coach Viator was asked how he thought the team improved since he’s been here.

“I think our overall team speed improved. I think that was the number one thing we were trying to accomplish. This year our biggest difference is our defense,” Viator said.

The team has two more guaranteed games left this season. With one more win, the Warhawks can secure their spot to go bowling this December. With two more wins, the football team will make an appearance in the first-ever Sun Belt conference championship game. Being 4-2 in conference, the football team sits in first place right now.

“Finally, being bowl eligible after three years of being here is honestly a feeling I’ve never felt before. I remember being recruited here pretty much the same time the new coaches got here and their pitch to me was simply why not come to be a part of the change that will be coming in the near future at ULM,”

Players like Batiste are one of the reasons ULM is moving in the right direction. With one catch for 27 yards and a touchdown, he helped put the Warhawks in position to get a victory over Texas State,“

So to finally be a part of the change and actually contributing means the world. We all have a story to tell and all put in so much work to get to this spot and we haven’t even reached our peak yet,” Batiste added.

With ULM being a young team, there are some young guys who’ve had to step up. One of them being Monroe native Corey Straughter,“It’s big knowing that we haven’t been able to go to a bowl game as a program in five years. So being one of the ones contributing being as young as I am really is humbling” Straughter said.

Bowl games will begin Dec. 15th. Stay tuned to see if and where ULM will be playing come bowling season.