MIAMI, Fla.?Kinsmon Lancaster threw a pair of
touchdown passes and ran for another to lead ULM to a 31-27 victory over Florida
International at FIU Stadium in Miami Saturday night in Sun Belt Conference
action.
Lancaster completed 14-of-25 pass attempts
for 156 yards and his two touchdown passes moved him into a tie for fourth
place with Stan Humphries on the ULM single-season list at 18.
ULM concludes its season with a 4-8 overall
record and a 3-4 mark in Sun Belt play, while FIU falls to 4-6 overall and 3-3
in conference play. The Warhawks improve
to 5-0 all-time in Sun Belt games in the state of Florida.
With the game on the line, the ULM defense
left little doubt how it would finish. On the Golden Panthers' final
possession, Aaron Morgan and Cardia Jackson recorded the game's only two sacks
as the Warhawks held FIU to -13 yards on the drive.
Following a dormant first quarter, the
Warhawks exploded for 153 yards and 21 points in the second quarter to take a
21-3 lead into the locker room.
Lancaster put the Warhawks on the board with
a 16-yard run back up the middle with 12:23 to play in the half. Following a
34-yard punt return by Darrell McNeal, ULM's longest in four years, Frank
Goodin extended the lead out to 14-3 with a 2-yard run.
Goodin finished the game with 93 yards on 23
carries, while Lancaster carried the ball 13 times for 71 yards.
Tight end Zeek Zacharie caught four passes
for 47 yards in the Warhawks second-quarter outburst, including a 7-yard
touchdown with just 23 seconds remaining before the break. The touchdown was his fourth of the season
and 12th of his career, tying him for 10th all-time in
ULM history with Jackie Harris and Cisco Richard.
Zacharie hauled in five passes for 59 yards
in the final game of his ULM career.
Both teams came out firing in the second half
combining for 21 points in the first eight minutes of the third quarter.
Paul McCall hit Greg Ellingson for a 21-yard
touchdown pulling the Golden Panthers within 21-10 just four minutes into the
half.
McCall finished the game completing 13-of-31
attempts for 239 yards and a pair of touchdowns.
The Warhawks answered less than three minutes
later when Anthony McCall made an acrobatic catch in the corner of the end zone
on a 19-yard pass from Lancaster. The drive was kept alive after T.Y. Hilton
could not handle a punt return giving the Warhawks the ball on the FIU 23-yard
line.
Hilton atoned for his mistake on FIU's
following drive taking a McCall pass 55 yards for a score pulling FIU back
within 11 points, 28-17, with 6:57 to play in the quarter.
The Warhawks had held Hilton to four catches
for 11 yards before the touchdown ? Hilton entered the game second in the NCAA
averaging 198.7 all-purpose yards per game.
He finished the night with a game-high eight catches for 93 yards.
Radi Jabour continued the back-and-forth
affair with a 25-yard field in the waning seconds of the third quarter to push
the Warhawk lead out to 31-17.
FIU pulled within a touchdown, 31-24, on a
2-yard touchdown run by Julian Reams in the opening minutes of the fourth
quarter after he broke off a 40-yard run two plays earlier. The Golden Panthers pulled within the final
three-point margin on a 23-yard Dustin Rivest field goal with 5:02 to play.
Scoring
Summary
FIU ? Rivest 41-yard FG, 11:57, 1st
ULM ? Lancaster 16-yard run (Jabour kick), 12:23,
2nd
ULM ? Goodin 2-yard run (Jabour kick), 9:28,
2nd
ULM ? Zacharie 7-yard pass from Lancaster
(Jabour kick), 0:23, 2nd
FIU ? Ellingson 21-yard pass from McCall
(Rivest kick), 11:47, 3rd
ULM ? McCall 19-yard pass from Lancaster
(Jabour kick), 8:56, 3rd
FIU ? Hilton 55-yard pass from McCall (Rivest
kick), 6:58, 3rd
ULM ? Jabour 25-yard FG, 0:47, 3rd
FIU ? Reams 2-yard run (Rivest kick), 12:13,
4th
FIU ? Rivest 23-yard FG, 5:02, 4th
ULM Game Notes:
* Offensive lineman Larry Shappley made
his team-high 45th career start in his final game of the season ? he
started all but two games in his career (injury).
* Safety Greg James made his team-high
32nd consecutive start.
* Quarterback Kinsmon Lancaster booted
his first career punt in the first quarter.
The Warhawks lined up to go for a fourth-down conversion, but Lancaster
dropped back and punted the ball for 15 yards.
* Frank Goodin's 24-yard run in the
first quarter was his longest of the season surpassing a pair 23-yard runs
against Tulane and North Texas.
* Lancaster's 16-yard touchdown run in
the second quarter was his fourth rushing touchdown of the season and 11th
of his career.
* Darrell McNeal's 34-yard punt return
in the second quarter was the longest of his career and the longest for ULM
since a 37-yard return by Mason Denham against Middle Tennessee on Nov. 13,
2004.
* Goodin's 2-yard touchdown run in the
second quarter was his fifth of the season and ninth of his career.
* The Warhawks scored touchdowns on 26
of its final 28 scoring drives on the season.
* Tight end Zeek Zacharie caught his
fourth touchdown pass of the season and 12th of his career in the
second quarter. He is now tied for 10th
all-time in ULM history with Jackie Harris and Cisco Richard.
* Lancaster's touchdown pass to Zacharie
was his 17th of the season and 37th of his career. The 17 for the season ties him with Bubby
Brister, Steven Jyles and Andre Vige for fifth most in a single season.
* Lancaster moved into a tie for fourth
on the single-season touchdown passes list with his 19-yard pass to Anthony
McCall in the third quarter tying him with Stan Humphries with 18.
* Lancaster also moved into 10th place
in ULM single-season history with 186 completions.
* McCall's 19-yard touchdown reception
was his sixth of the season tying him for the Sun Belt lead.
* Radi Jabour's 25-yard field goal in
the third quarter was his first since a 48-yard kick against Troy.
