Bash at the beach drowns ULM

Warhawks football (2-1) traveled to Conway, South Carolina to take on the Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (4-0). 

The Warhawks faced a tall task coming into the game as Coastal Carolina possessed an undefeated record, had the number one scoring offense in the Sunbelt and were ranked in the AP Top 25, ranking as the 16th best team in the nation. 

The Warhawks as a team were beached on both sides of the ball as they were blown out 59-6.

Internal problems also plagued the Warhawks. 

Starting quarterback Rhett Rodriguez suffered an injured lung in last week’s victory over Troy making him inactive for the contest. 

Freshman quarterback Chandler Rogers got the start in place of Rodriguez.

The Chanticleers came out firing in the first quarter, taking a 14-0 lead with a touchdown pass from quarterback Grayson McCall to wide receiver Isaiah Likely and a rushing touchdown from Braydon Bennett. 

The Warhawks responded with a field goal by Calum Sutherland late in the first quarter. 

Sutherland made both of his attempts on Saturday and was the only scorer for the Warhawks. He is now 7 for 9 on field goal attempts this season.

The Chanticleers responded with a 24-0 run in the second quarter, which included a blocked punt returned for a touchdown by Aaron Bedgood. 

This marked Coastal’s third muffed punt of the season. 

Coastal would end up with a 38-3 halftime lead.

“We’re getting whipped in every phase of the ballgame,” head coach Terry Bowden said at halftime. “They beat us on offense, they beat us on defense and they beat us in the kicking game.”

The Chanticleers never looked back as they cruised to a 59-6 victory.

The win improved Coastal Carolina’s record to 5-0 with the momentum to move even higher in the national rankings.

Meanwhile the Warhawks had their worst performance of the season and their record now drops to 2-2 (1-1 in Sun Belt play).

ULM was unable to produce any offense as they were only able to total 203 yards while only gaining 10 first downs and going 4-15 on third downs. 

“It’s a hard one to take when you get beaten so badly by a team like that,” Bowden said. 

 Rogers went 9 for 17 passing with 100 yards with no touchdown passes and one interception with a QBR of only 17.2. 

Later in the game, Rogers was replaced by Colby Suits who went 4 for 6 passing for 31 yards.

Coastal’s McCall had a career day against the Warhawks. He had a perfect passer rating as he completed all 13 of his passes, threw for two touchdowns and compiled 212 passing yards. 

The Warhawks will try to recover with a win next week when they take on Georgia State (1-4) at Malone Stadium.