ULM met a brick wall by the name of the University of Kentucky in their season opener. 

The Kentucky Wildcats dominated the game and held ULM to under 90 yards of offense on their way to a 45-10 win. 

But the Warhawks showed their full potential to open the game. ULM safety Jabari Johnson picked off a Kentucky pass on their opening drive. 

The offense made quick work of the good field position with running back Kayden Roach punching in for a 3-yard touchdown. 

ULM took their first lead in 11 games off of their first of three takeaways in the game.

 “You can’t script a better start than what we had,” ULM quarterback Rhett Rodriguez said, who was making his first start for the Warhawks after transferring from Arizona.

After the opening drive touchdown, the Warhawks offense couldn’t find their rhythm. 

They were unable to move the ball and would constantly find themselves going three and out.

The Kentucky offense, however, answered quickly and would respond with three straight touchdown drives. One drive  included a 58-yard touchdown pass to receiver Josh Ali from quarterback Will Levis.

The Wildcats would never look back, as they dominated the rest of the way outscoring the Warhawks 45-3 after the first ULM touchdown. 

Things don’t get any better for the Warhawks on the stat sheet, as they were out-gained 564 yards to 87. 

ULM had a measly 17 rushing yards. Rodriguez went just 9-17 passing.

“Offensively, we’ve got to find some spark,” head coach Terry Bowden said. “When their personnel is better than we are, there are a lot of things we can’t do that I think against other people we’ll be able to do.”

One standout performance for the Warhawks came from wide receiver Boogie Knight, who lead the team in receiving with six receptions for 58 yards, and was able to make some key third down catches on the touchdown drive. 

Knight joined the Warhawks as transfer from Akron.

Another standout from the loss on Saturday was defensive end Ty Shelby, who recorded five tackles, with two sacks and a fumble recovery.

Kentucky quarterback Will Levis had a standout performance against the Warhawks, with 18 completions on 26 attempts, for 367 passing yards with four touchdown passes and one interception.

Saturday, ULM plays in their home opener against the 2-0 Jackson State Tigers.