It didn’t take long for Kolton Browning to realize something was wrong.

After taking a ferocious hit late in the fourth quarter against Arkansas State, ULM’s dual-threat quarterback found himself on the turf struggling for air. Shortness of breath was greeted by the stinging sensation of instant pain. Getting up became an impossible task.

“I landed right on my shoulder and it caved my chest in,” Browning said of the play.

Backup Cody Wells finished the game—a 24-19 loss—but despite the injury, Browning was optimistic it was nothing serious. The training staff said otherwise.

“At first I thought it was a bruise,” Browning recalls. “But it turned out to be a broken sternum.” Unfazed by the diagnosis, the Mabank, Texas native continued to play, starting every game for the Warhawks in 2011. Discomfort was unavoidable, and attempts to play with an extra pad offered little relief.

“It didn’t help much, the pain was still there,” Browning said. “There wasn’t anything I could do but keep going.” To keep opponents from knowing the full extent of his injury, ULM did not reveal Browning’s broken sternum until after the season. The secrecy regarding his health led many to wonder the reason behind the quarterback’s decline in production.

Browning finished the season with 2,483 yards passing and 13 touchdowns, down from the 2,552 yards and 18 touchdowns he put up in 2010. Despite playing hurt, he managed a career-best 443 yards rushing, but thinking about the plays he could have made if healthy still haunts the junior signal-caller. “We were nine points away from having a winning record and going to a bowl game,” Browning said. With his health no longer an issue, Browning is ready to regain the form that helped him burst onto the scene as a redshirt freshman.

“People said he had a sophomore slump not knowing that he was hurt,” head coach Todd Berry said. “That’s put a chip on his shoulder.”

The Sun Belt will feature several productive quarterbacks, five of which threw for over 2,000 yards in 2011. Browning finished fourth in the conference in passing last season, behind Ryan Aplin of Arkansas State, Troy’s Corey Robinson and Blaine Gautier of Louisiana-Lafayette. Among SBC quarterbacks, only Western Kentucky’s Kawaun Jakes has more experience than Browning.

That experience, along with Browning’s suburb athletic ability, will be one of the focal points of the Warhawk offense.

“He ran a 4.5 [40 yard dash] for the pro scouts and there aren’t many quarterbacks that can do that,” Berry said.

Browning doesn’t dwell on his injury-marred 2011, but he hasn’t forgotten either, using it to fuel his competitive fire. With eight starters returning on offense, he’s excited about this year’s battle-tested group of Warhawks.

“We know what we’re capable of,” Browning said. “And that’s getting the ball in the end zone.”