ULM Warhawks

MONROE, La.?Behind a tenacious defensive effort, ULM defeated Grambling State 28-14 in front of a Malone Stadium record crowd of 30,101 Saturday night in Monroe, La.

The Warhawks (4-6) held Grambling to just 165 total yards and negative four yards rushing. The Tigers (8-2) managed just nine first downs in the game and scored just one offensive touchdown.

The attendance mark broke the old mark of 28,725 set on Oct. 10, 1998 against Louisiana Tech. It was also the fifth largest attended on-campus game in Sun Belt history.

Frank Goodin and Calvin Dawson each reached 100 yards or more, the third time this season that ULM has had two players rush for 100 yards or better in a game. When Dawson and Goodin did it at Clemson in week two, it was the first time since 1994 that ULM accomplished the feat; Dawson and quarterback Kinsmon Lancaster did it last week.

Dawson rushed for 100 yards on 23 carries and moved into third place on the ULM single-season rushing list with 1,257 yards passing his 1,210 yards from last season. He needs just 72 yards to move into second place and 307 yards to take over sole possession of first place.

He also scored a pair of touchdowns pushing his season total to 11, which ties him for third on the ULM single-season list. He needs just four more over the Warhawks final two games to set the record. Dawson already has the career rushing and career rushing touchdown records to his credit this season.

Goodin led the team, rushing for 106 yards and a touchdown on 23 carries. He has 496 yards rushing and four total touchdowns this season; Dawson had 98 yards and zero touchdowns his freshman campaign.

The Warhawks finished the game with 212 yards rushing, the seventh time this season that they have rushed for over 200 yards in a game. ULM just missed out on reaching 400 yards total offense for the sixth-consecutive game finishing with 390. Grambling entered the game allowing just 80 yards rushing, third best in Division I-AA.

ULM carried a 21-7 lead into the half with rushing touchdowns by Dawson and Goodin and a 29 pass play from Lancaster to Zeek Zacharie. Lancaster finished 16-of-23 for 178 yards. The Warhawks led at the half of all five home games this season.

Grambling's only score of the opening half came on a DeMichael Dizer 28-yard interception return for a touchdown. It was the fourth interception returned for a touchdown this season against the Warhawks.

Lancaster's touchdown pass to Zacharie moved him into sixth place all-time on the ULM completion list with 294 passing Stan Humphries; earlier this year he passed another NFL quarterback, Bubby Brister.

ULM held Grambling State to just 45 yards overall, five yards rushing and four first downs in the first half.

The Tigers more than doubled their offensive output of the game on one play with a 63 yard touchdown pass from Brandon Landers to Nick Lewis on the first play of their second possession of the second half. Landers finished 14-of-33 for 169 yards and two interceptions.

Grambling threatened to pull within four with a 35-yard field goal attempt midway through the third quarter, but ULM's Alaric Coleman blocked the attempt, his second of the season.

Dawson's second touchdown, a 10 yard scamper, put the Warhawks up 28-14 with just over three minutes left in the third quarter. Darrell McNeal's 34-yard completion on a third-and-six set ULM with a first-and-goal on the seven.

The Warhawks step out of conference next week as they travel to Alabama (6-4) to take on the Crimson Tide on Saturday, Nov. 17, at 1:30 pm in Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Scoring Summary
ULM-Dawson 21 run (Wilson kick), 12:49, 1^st 7-0
GSU-Dizer 28 interception return (Manuel kick), 10:24, 1^st 7-7
ULM-Goodin 8 run (Wilson kick), 5:53, 2^nd 14-7
ULM-Zacharie 21 pass from Lancaster (Wilson kick) 0:54, 2^nd 21-7
GSU- Lewis 63 pass from Landers (Manuel kick), 10:03, 3^rd 21-14
ULM-Dawson 10 run (Wilson kick), 3:30, 3^rd 28-14

ULM Quotes:

ULM Athletics Director Bobby Staub:

It was a great atmosphere and it was everything we it would be. These types of matchups make all the sense in the world and it helps generate interest in football in Northeast Louisiana. I would thank to thank all the fans for their support and for making this such a special event.

ULM Head Coach Charlie Weatherbie:

It was a great crowd and we need to have that crowd kind of crowd every week. There were a lot of Grambling fans here, just as well as a lot of ULM fans here and it was great to see our crowd come to life tonight.

We threw a couple of picks there early, one return for a touchdown, and then of course, we threw a couple of touchdowns. You know, it was nice to be able to do that as well.

You know I was impressed with our two minute drill before half-time, taking the ball down and scoring.

I think our defense played their tails off all night long. I think our defense really played exceptionally well. Our kicking game was so-so, we've got to continue to sure that up, get better at that. I didn't think that we covered quite as we should.

Grambling's got a good football team and they were 8-1 coming here and we knew that they would be very confident and we'd have to take that confidence away. They fought the whole game.

ULM Senior Center Adam Hill:

It was definitely a great game, they played us pretty tough. It's a good way to start off a tradition, the I-20 classic. It's a good way for us seniors to play a rival like that.

[On his last game] It was definitely exciting and a good win to have, especially last home game.

[On Alabama] Hey, it's always been a fun game. They have an awesome crowd and good players. It's a great experience, we'll just down there and give them our best shot and hope we come out with a win.

ULM Senior Running Back Calvin Dawson:

I'm feeling great, we came out with a victory. It's always good to go out in front of a big crowd like that and come out victorious.

[On his last home game] It's more sweet than bitter. I'm kind of sad with it being my last home game and I won't be able to play in front of this crowd again, but we came and won and that's all that really matters.

[His statement to the fans] Thank you for coming out to support us, you know it made a big difference in the game to have them out there cheering for us.

[On Alabama] It's going to be a big difference between this game tonight and what we are going to see next week. We have to prepare for them, they're a lot faster and it'll be a hard week.

ULM Junior Quarterback Kinsmon Lancaster:

I just had to settle down. I feel like I was pressuring myself in the first half of the game and I just had to calm down and play within myself.

[On the crowd] It was a great crowd and we appreciate all the fans coming out. It was a great atmosphere for us to play in, especially for the seniors to go out with.

[On Alabama] It's always tough going on the road and playing an SEC team. We've got to come together and correct the mistakes we made tonight.

Grambling Quotes:

Grambing Head Coach Rod Broadway:

We had some opportunities to put some points on the board in the first half and we just couldn't do it. We just have to get better and we just have to do a better job coaching.

We are 8-2 and our goal is to win the conference championship. We have a big game in a couple of weeks against Southern.