FORT WORTH, TEXAS - ULM jumped out to an
early first quarter lead over No. 23 TCU, but the Horned Frogs rallied with
24-unanswered points to defeat the Warhawks 38-17 Saturday at Amon G. Carter
Stadium.
The Warhawks (1-2) marched 74 yards on nine
plays after receiving the opening kickoff, highlighted by a 36-yard Jyruss Edwards
rush down the left sideline. ULM moved
the ball as far as the Horned Frogs' 6-yard line before settling for a Justin
Manton 23-yard field goal for the early 3-0 advantage.
TCU responded quickly with Casey Pachall
hooking up with Josh Boyce on a 68-yard touchdown strike to cap a five-play,
82-yard drive to take the lead 7-3.
Cody Wells entered the game at quarterback
to begin ULM's second drive and took to the air immediately. He completed all
five of his pass attempts for 38 yards, with the longest coming on a 22-yard scoring
post route to Brent Leonard on 4th-and-5 to vault the Warhawks back into the
lead, 10-7.
Leonard finished the game with a career-high
13 catches for 92 yards; his 13 receptions are the second most in ULM history
just three behind Jackie Harris' school record of 16 set in 1988. Kolton
Browning finished 24-of-37 for 194 yards. The sophomore moved into eighth spot
on the career completions list (284), ninth on the career total offense list
(3,402) and 10th on the career touchdown passes list (20).
The Horned Frogs (2-1, 1-0 MWC) countered
quickly going 65 yards in nine plays aided by a defensive pass interference
call on 3rd-and-8 that gave TCU new life at the Warhawks' 20-yard line. Matthew Tucker pounded the ball across the
goal line from five yards out for the 14-10 advantage.
Browning, ULM's starter under center,
returned to the game on ULM's next possession and put on an aerial display of
his own as he hit Tavarese Maye on a 28-yard drag route to midfield. Maye was not finished on the drive. He laid
out beautifully on a 37-yard Browning touchdown toss on a go-route to pay dirt
to put the Warhawks back on top, 17-14. Maye finished with four catches for 72
yards.
Pachall and the Horned Frogs would not be denied
for long as they pieced together an impressive 12-play, 73-yard drive bookended
by an Antoine Hicks 2-yard touchdown dive to go back in front 21-17. Pachall
finished 15-of-23 for 204 yards.
The Warhawks made the first significant
defensive play of the contest with 10 seconds remaining in the first half. R.J. Young sprung loose from a block to force
and recover a Pachall fumble at the TCU 32-yard line
A 7-yard out route to Maye put the Warhawks
in range for a field goal attempt, but Manton's 43-yard try sailed wide left sending
TCU to the locker room with a 21-17 advantage. The Warhawks outgained the
Horned Frogs 243-204 in the opening half and the two quarterbacks combined to complete
17 of their 20 pass attempts.
TCU roared out of the gates to begin the
second frame as Greg McCoy streaked 94 yards untouched down the sideline on the
opening kickoff of the second half to give the Horned Frogs a 28-17 lead.
A costly fumble by Edwards stopped ULM's
opening drive of the half and gave the Horned Frogs the short field on the ULM
28-yard line. Six plays later a Tucker 1-yard plunge pushed TCU in front
35-17. Ross Evans closed out the scoring
with a 28-yard field goal late in the fourth quarter.
The Warhawks return to action on Sept. 24 at
Iowa. The game is scheduled to kickoff
at 11 a.m. and will be televised live on the Big Ten Network.
SCORING SUMMARY
ULM - Manton 23-yard field goal, 11:57, 1st 3-0
TCU - Pachall 68-yard pass to Boyce (Evans
kick), 10:09, 1st 7-3
ULM - Wells 22-yard pass to Leonard (Manton
kick), 05:59, 1st 10-7
TCU - Tucker 5-yard run (Evans kick), 02:33,
1st 14-10
ULM - Browning 37-yard pass to Maye (Manton
kick), 0:19, 1st 17-14
TCU - Hicks 2-yard run (Evans kick), 05:16,
2nd 21-17
TCU - McCoy 94-yard kickoff return (Evans
kick), 14:47, 3rd 28-17
TCU - Tucker 1-yard run (Evans kick), 10:42,
3rd 35-17
TCU - Evans 28-yard field goal, 0:27, 4th 38-17
ULM Game Notes -- TCU Game
-
ULM team captains - OL Anthony Montgomery, DE
Troy Evans, RB Centarius Donald
-
ULM lost the coin toss for the third time in
three games this season; the Warhawks received the opening kick for the third
time in three games this season
-
Darius Prelow extended his team-high consecutive
game started streak (offense & defense) to 17 games
-
Justin Maton's 23-yard field goal on ULM's
opening drive was the first of his career
-
Manton's field goal resulted in ULM's first
points on an opening drive this season
-
Cody Wells has thrown a touchdown pass in two
straight games for the Warhawks during his first series of action; he now has
eight career touchdown passes
-
Brent Leonard's touchdown in the first quarter
was the fourth of his career
-
Kolton Browning moved into a tie for 10th
place on the ULM career touchdown passes list with his first-quarter strike to
Tavarese Maye. He tied Rodney Horn with 20
-
Tavarese Maye's 37-yard touchdown reception in
the first quarter was the fifth of his career and second this season
-
The Warhawks totaled 189 yards of total offense
in the first quarter; the Warhawks had 191 yards of total offense the entire
game at Florida State
-
ULM has forced a turnover in 24-of-27 games
under defensive coordinator Troy Reffett
-
ULM has at least one sack in 27 of the past 28
games and in 26-of-27 games under defensive coordinator Troy Reffett
-
Brent Leonard caught a career-high 13 passes for
a career-high 92 yards
-
Brent Lenoard's 13 receptions were the second
most in ULM history; the school record is 16 by Jackie Harris against Lamar in
1988
-
Jyruss Edwards moved in eighth place on the ULM
career kickoff return yardage list with 884 yards passing Bryant Jacobs
-
Kolton Browning moved into ninth place on the
ULM career total offense list with 3,402 yards passing Calvin Dawson
-
Kolton Browning moved into eighth place on the
ULM career pass completions list with 284 passing Andre Vige
