MONROE, La. -- The ULM football team will hit the road for the second consecutive week as it travels to the mountains of North Carolina for a Saturday afternoon contest at Appalachian State. Kick-off at Kidd Brewer Stadium in Boone, N.C. is slated for 3:30 p.m. ET and the contest will air on ESPN3.
The game will also air on KJLO 104.1 FM in Monroe and online at KJLO.com. Frank Hoffmann (play-by-play) and will be joined by Scott McDonald (analyst) and Richard Duran (sideline) beginning with the pre-game show at 10:30 a.m. CT.
First and Ten…
• ULM will begin the final third of its regular season schedule with a road contest at Appalachian State on Saturday... Kick-off in the first meeting all-time between the Warhawks and the Mountaineers is slated for 3:30 p.m. (ET).
• This weekend's trip will be ULM's third trip all-time to the state of North Carolina... In 1966, the Warhawks traveled to Greenville where they claimed a 21-14 win over the Pirates (Sept. 24)... ULM made its second trip to N.C. last season when they defeated Wake Forest, 21-19, on Sept. 14, 2013... ULM earned a 17-10 win over the Demon Deacons in Monroe earlier this season and owns a 2-0 record all-time vs. WFU... Against East Carolina, the Warhawks are 1-1, giving ULM a 3-1 record all-time against teams from the state of North Carolina.
• The Warhawks opened the 2014 season with three of their first four games at home... ULM will close the regular season with three of its final four on the road... After the game at Appalachian State, the Warhawks host UL-Lafayette (Nov. 15) before hitting the road for the final two games of the regular season (at New Mexico State, Nov. 22; at Georgia Southern, Nov. 29).
• ULM wrapped up its 2014 non-conference slate on Nov. 1 at Texas A&M... The Warhawks upset-bid came up just short in a 21-16 loss to the Aggies... The contest against Texas A&M was the third road game against an SEC team this season... With those three SEC road games, the Warhawks have the same amount of road games vs. SEC teams as SEC member Florida.
• In 2014, the Warhawks' non-conference slate was comprised completely of teams from Power Five Conferences (ACC: Wake Forest; SEC: at LSU, at Kentucky, at Texas A&M)... ULM and UMass are the only two teams in FBS to have a non-conference slate filled with Power Five teams.
• ULM trailed Texas A&M, 21-10, at the half, but the Warhawks battled back and climbed within five points (21-16) with 10:26 to play in the contest... The Warhawks were unable to score on their final two drives and the upset bid fell just short.
• Texas A&M held a 193-170 advantage in total yards at the half, but the ULM offense continued to fight and the ULM defense rose to the occasion in the second half... The Warhawk offense totaled 177 yards of total offense in the second half en route to a total of 347 yards... The ULM defense limited the Aggies to just 50 yards of offense in the final 30 minutes... Through Texas A&M's first four drives of the second half, the Aggies managed just 11 yards of offense.
• Pete Thomas and Kenzee Jackson traded roles in Saturday's game at Texas A&M... Thomas flipped the ball to Jackson and in turn, Jackson threw the ball back to Thomas for an eight yard gain, giving ULM second and goal at the Aggie one yard line... A play later, Centarius Donald recorded his fifth rushing score of the year to even the contest at 7-7 with 13:56 to play in the second quarter.
• Pete Thomas finished the game in College Station, Texas with 26 completions for 246 yards... Brayle Brown was 1-for-1 for 15 yards and Kenzee Jackson finished 1-of-1 for eight yards... In addition to Thomas' 246 passing yards, he added 44 yards on the ground to go along with his eight receiving yards... Brown also caught one pass in the game at Texas A&M (six yards).
• A total of nine Warhawks recorded a reception in the road tilt at Texas A&M... Of the nine players that caught a pass, four different Warhawks made multiple grabs... Kenzee Jackson led the way with a game-high eight receptions, while Rashon Ceaser had a game-high 99 receiving yards.
• Hunter Kissinger tied a career-high with 13 tackles at Texas A&M... Kissinger also tallied two tackles for loss and one sack... In the fourth quarter, Kissinger recovered his second career fumble as Cody Robinson forced his second career fumble in the fourth quarter... The turnover was turned into three points.
• The Warhawk defense recorded two turnovers in the game as Bryce Ray recorded his first career interception and Robinson/Kissinger forced/recovered a fumble... The defense also tallied six tackles for loss and three sacks... With the three sacks at Texas A&M, the Warhawks have tallied 29 sacks this season, the most in any season since joining the Sun Belt (2001-pres.).
#ULMvsAPP
ULM and Appalachian State will meet on the gridiron for the first time on Saturday afternoon... ULM's trip to Boone this weekend will be just the third trip ever to the state of North Carolina for the Warhawks.
#ScoutingTheMountaineers
Appalachian State, like ULM, enters this weekend with a 3-5 record overall and a 2-2 mark in Sun Belt Conference play... The Mountaineers since falling in overtime to Liberty (L, 48-55, Oct. 11) have won two straight games and have outscored the competition 97-17... Appalachian State picked up a 53-14 road win at Troy on Oct. 18 and after a bye week, the Mountaineers raced past Georgia State, 44-0, on a snowy Saturday in Boone (Nov. 1)... The Mountaineers other win in 2014 came in the home opener against FCS member Campbell (W, 66-0, Sept. 6).
Taylor Lamb has appeared in all eight games and has made six starts under center this season... He is completing 60.2 percent of his passes (118-196) with nine touchdowns compared to six interceptions... He has thrown for 1,432 yards on the season for an average of 179 yards per game... Marcus Cox leads Appalachian State in rushing attempts (133), rushing yards (819) and rushing scores (12)... Cox was named the Sun Belt's Offensive Player of the Week on Nov. 3 after he rushed for a career-high 250 yards and three touchdowns in Appalachian State's 44-0 win over Georgia State... Terrance Upshaw is the team's second leading rusher with 430 yards (77 carries)... Simms McElfresh leads the receiving corps in both receptions (33) and touchdowns (five)... Malachi Jones is the team's leader in receiving yards (384) and he sits second in receptions (24) and touchdowns (3).
On the defensive side of the ball, the Mountaineers have tallied 53 tackles for loss (189 yards) and 13 sacks (103 yards) to go along with 11 interceptions and six fumble recoveries... Linebacker John Law leads the team in total tackles (62) and is one of six players to recover a fumble this season... Law also ranks third on the team in tackles for loss (5.0) and is tied for third in sacks (1.0)... DL Ronald Blair leads the Mountaineers in both tackles for loss (8.0) and sacks (3.0)... DB Doug Middleton and DB Joel Ross are tied for the Appalachian State lead in interceptions with three.
Bentlee Critcher and Zach Matics have split FG and PAT duties this season... Critcher has hit four of his six attempts on the season with long of 38 (18-19 PATs)... Matics, meanwhile, is 1-for-5 with a FG make of 31 yards (15-18 PATs)... Critcher has also punted 28 times this season and is averaging 41.2 yards per punt with a long of 54 and nine inside the 20... Critcher and Matics have also split kickoff duties this season as well... Bobo Beathard has returned six punts this season for a total of 47 yards, including a long of 39... Isaiah Lewis leads the team with 12 kickoff returns for 254 yards (21.2 avg) and a long of 38... Beathard has returned six kickoffs for 128 yards (21.3 avg) and a long of 40.
#AgainstNorthCarolinaSchools
Saturday's trip to Boone, N.C. will be ULM's third trip all-time to the Tar Heel state... ULM is 2-0 all-time in games played in the state of North Carolina... ULM completed a home-and-home as it made a trip to Greenville, N.C. on Sept. 24, 1966 and claimed a 21-14 win over East Carolina... A year earlier, the Warhawks dropped fell to the Pirates, 45-0 (Oct. 30, 1965).
The Warhawks made their second trip to the state last year and logged a 21-19 win over Wake Forest on Sept. 14, 2013... The Warhawks picked up a 17-10 win in Monroe, La., over the Demon Deacons in the 2014 season opener (Aug. 28)... With the season-opening win, ULM improved to 3-1 all-time against schools from the state of North Carolina.
#FirstTimeOpponents
ULM and Appalachian State will meet for the first time this Saturday in Boone, N.C... Appalachian State is in its first season at the FBS-level and the Mountaineers are one of two teams on the ULM schedule that the Warhawks have never faced (at Georgia Southern, Nov. 29)... The Warhawks have won their last three games against first-time foes... The Warhawks defeated Georgia State in the first meeting between the two programs (W, 38-10, Oct. 26, 2013, Monroe, La.)... Prior to the win over the Panthers, ULM defeated first-time foes Wake Forest (W, 21-19, Sept. 14, 2013, Winston-Salem, N.C.) and South Alabama (W, 38-24, Oct. 27, 2012)... The last loss for ULM in a first-ever meeting came in Monroe, La., on Sept. 21, 2012 as ULM fell in a 47-42 shootout to Baylor.
#SlowingTheAggies
ULM limited Texas A&M to a total of 243 yards of total offense on Nov. 1 and it was the Aggies second-lowest offensive output of the season (172, at Alabama, Oct. 18)... The Aggies finished with just 106 passing yards, its lowest total of the season... The 243 yards of total offense was more than 270 yards below Texas A&M's season average -- the Aggies entered the Nov. 1 matchup averaging 515.8 yards of total offense through their first eight games of the season...
In the first half, Texas A&M posted 193 yards of offense and scored 21 points; however, the Aggies managed just 50 yards of offense in the second half and did not score in the final 30 minutes of the game... Through their first four drives of the second half, the Aggies ran a total of 10 plays and gained just 11 yards... The Aggies fumbled on their third possession of the second half as Cody Robinson sacked Kyle Allen on first and 10 and forced a fumble that was recovered by Hunter Kissinger... On the other three drives, the Aggies went three and out.
#AgainstTheSEC
ULM had a trio of road games against the SEC this season and it is the same number of SEC road games that Florida has on its schedule this season... In 12 quarters of action against SEC foes, the Warhawks limited its opponents to three points or fewer in five different quarters (1, at LSU; 2, at Kentucky; 2, at Texas A&M [scoreless second half])... ULM's three SEC teams had just four total quarters in which they scored 10 or more points in one quarter (1, at LSU; 2, at Kentucky; 1, at Texas A&M).
#50PlusAgain
ULM's Justin Manton drilled another 51-yard FG in the Warhawks' upset bid at Texas A&M... With the 51-yard FG, Manton has now hit a 50+ yard FG back-to-back games... Manton finished the game in College Station with three made field goals (51, 23, 22) to mark the second straight week and third time this season that Manton made three field goals in one game.
