The football team finished nonconference play with one win and three losses. Now they move into Sun Belt play, and the action begins at home on Saturday against Arkansas State University.

“This is where you have to get your bread and butter together right here,” senior Jason Edwards said. “We gotta show up.”

ULM’s defense impressed critics with stances against Florida State, TCU, Iowa and held Grambling State to seven points to lead the team in a 35-7 win.

“If a team doesn’t score, they don’t win,” Edwards said. “When a team scores, it’s our fault. We just have to hold them from scoring.”

Last season the team began 2-0 in conference play. Despite the good start, the Warhawks fell short of a winning season, but this year, the team is in a new mindset.

“We are focusing on one game at a time,” senior Nate Brown said. “Each week we need to be 1-0.”

Brown said, “The only way you make it to that big picture is if you take care of each puzzle piece one at a time.”

After Saturday, the team goes on the road for its next two games before returning for Homecoming at the end of October.

“We have to prove this is our year.” senior Darius Prelow said. “Any team that steps in our way, we are looking to just run over them.”

Edwards said he believes the team has the athletes and the depth.

“The pieces to the puzzle are there, we just have to put them in the right places,” he said.