ULM Warhawks

TEMPE, Ariz.-Arizona State took advantage of a short field and ULM mistakes to defeat the Warhawks 38-14 Saturday night in front of 43,780 fans at Sun Devil Stadium.

The Warhawks committed three turnovers on the night and Arizona State (2-0) had four scoring drives of less than 60 yards. The combination was too much for ULM to overcome against the Pac-10 Sun Devils.

Arizona State opened the game with a bang as Omar Bolden returned the opening kickoff 89 yards for a touchdown. The Sun Devils then got a short field taking possession on the ULM 40 thanks to a three-and-out and a 16-yard punt by the Warhawks.

Nine plays later ASU took a 14-0 lead on a 1-yard touchdown run by Dimitri Nance. The score came after a controversial catch at the 1-yard line that was upheld by the replay official.

Nance finished the game with 82 yards on 17 carries and two touchdowns, while quarterback Danny Sullivan was 19-for-30 for a career-high 220 yards and a touchdown pass.

ULM running back Frank Goodin moved into eighth place on the Warhawks' career rushing list with 1,606 yards passing Bobby Scafidel, Cisco Richard and Marquis Williams. He finished the night with 62 yards on 15 carries.

One week after setting ULM records for consecutive completions (15) and single-game completion percentage (89.5), quarterback Trey Revell was not quite as sharp against the attacking ASU defense. He finished the night 10-of-23 for 126 yards, two touchdowns and two interceptions.

For the second time this season against a Big Six Conference school, the ULM offensive line did not allow a sack. The Warhawks entered the game ranked 13^th in the nation having allowed just one sack all season. ULM also outrushed the Sun Devils 136 to 107 on the game.

ULM defensive end Aaron Morgan had another monster night finishing with a game-high seven tackles and two sacks. Through three games he has five sacks and seventackles for loss - he finished last season with six sacks and 13 tackles for loss.

On the Sun Devils possession following their second touchdown, the Warhawks held on fourth down and then drove down to the ASU 11-yard line thanks to three plays of 13 yards or more. However, the drive stalled as Bolden intercepted Revell on the ULM 1-yard line with just seconds to play in the opening quarter.

The Warhawk defense held following the interception and the offense answered driving 61 yards on seven plays to make it a one-possession game, 14-7. Darrell McNeal had a pair of third-down catches on the drive - the first one, a 19-yard strike, extended his consecutive games streak with a catch to 25 games and his second was a 14-yard touchdown reception. McNeal finished the game with four catches for 50 yards.

ASU quickly answered the ULM (1-2) score thanks to another big kickoff return. Keelan Johnson returned the Grant Clayton kick 44 yards out to the ASU 49-yard line. Four plays later, Chris McGaha made a circus catch in the end zone on a 9-yard strike from Sullivan for the score.

Faced with another short field, the Warhawk defense made a big stand at the end of the first half. Travis Goethel intercepted Revell on a tipped ball and returned it all the way to the ULM 9-yard line. Troy Evans sacked Sullivan for an 8-yard loss on first down and the Warhawks held ASU to a 24-yard field goal by Bobby Wenzig. The Sun Devils took a 24-7 lead into the half.

The Warhawk defense came up with a big stop on ASU's opening possession of the second half forcing a punt from ASU's 12-yard line, but McNeal muffed the punt return and the Sun Devils recovered to keep their drive alive. They would capitalize eight plays later on Nance's second 1-yard touchdown run of the night.

Sullivan extended the Sun Devil lead out to 38-7 with a 1-yard plunge at the end of the third quarter. The drive was kept alive by a pass interference call against the Warhawks on a 4^th-and-12 from the ULM 32-yard line.

After setting a ULM freshman record with six touchdown receptions a year ago, Anthony McCall caught his first of 2009 on a 4-yard slant pass from Revell late in the fourth quarter.

The Warhawks open Sun Belt Conference play at Florida Atlantic (0-2) next Saturday. Kickoff from Lockhart Stadium in Ft. Lauderdale, Fla., is scheduled for 3 p.m. (CDT). ULM is undefeated in Sun Belt Conference games played in the state of Florida having won all five of its previous trips to the state.

Scoring Summary
ASU - Bolden 89-yard kickoff return (Wenzig kick), 14:48, 1^st 7-0
ASU - Nance 1-yard run (Wenzig kick), 8:21, 1^st 14-0
ULM - McNeal 14-yard pass from Revell, 7:57, 2^nd 14-7
ASU - McGaha 9-yard pass from Sullivan (Wenzig kick), 5:59, 2^nd 21-7
ASU - Wenzig 24-yard FG, 0:37, 2^nd 24-7
ASU - Nance 1-yard run (Wenzig kick), 7:59, 3^rd 31-7
ASU - Sullivan 1-yard run (Wenzig kick), 0:35, 3^rd 38-7
ULM - McCall 4-yard pass from Revell (Jabour kick), 1:03, 4^th 38-14