MONROE, La. -- Shortly after the conclusion of the 2015 NFL Draft, former ULM specialist Justin Manton signed a free agent deal with the NFL's Baltimore Ravens.
Manton concluded his Warhawk career at the top of the career scoring charts. Below is a year-by-year summary of Manton's Warhawk career.
2014 (Senior)
Was named First Team All-Sun Belt as a kicker and Second Team All-Sun Belt as a punter… Was a Second Team All-Louisiana honoree as a kicker and Honorable Mention All-Louisiana selection as a punter… Finished Warhawk career as the program's all-time leading scorer… Kicked off 54 times for 3,233 yards (59.9 avg) with 29 touchbacks… Connected on 20 of 24 field goal attempts including a pair of 40+ yard field goals against Texas State… Had a 43- and 51-yard field goal against the Bobcats as he became the first Sun Belt kicker to ever hit two 40+ yard field goals in the same game... Punted 76 times for 3,222 yards (42.4 avg) with a long of 67… Had 16 punts of 50 or more yards and 20 that landed inside the opponent 20 yard line… Averaged 40 or more yards per punt in 11 of 12 games… Hit 15 of final 17 field goals of the season including four perfect games (Texas State, 3-3; Texas A&M, 3-3; Appalachian State, 3-3; UL-Lafayette, 2-2)... Was perfect on the season in PATs, going 23-for-23, including a perfect 5-of-5 in win over Idaho.
2013 (Junior)
Earned First Team All-Louisiana and First-Team All-Sun Belt honors as a punter... Finished the season at the top of the conference and fourth nationally with a 45.8 yard per punt average... Had at least one 50 yard punt in every game except Wake Forest (long of 48)... Punted a total of 80 times on the season for 3,664 yards with 28 punts going 50 yards or more and four of 60 yards or more... Also had 24 punts land inside the opponent's 20 yard line... Recorded a 46.1 yard per punt average during conference play (47 punts; 2,165 yards)... Kicked off 53 times during the season and averaged 61.4 yards per kick with 30 touchbacks and zero landing out-of-bounds... Was 34-of-35 on PATs and connected on five field goals... Punted 10 times for 462 yards (46.2 avg), with a long of 61, in the season opener at Oklahoma... Had two punts for 92 yards (46.0 avg) and nine kickoffs for 545 yards (60.6 avg) in home opener against Grambling State... Made a pair of field goals (31, 38) and was a perfect 6-for-6 in PATs against the Tigers... Hit all three PATs and kicked off four times for 253 yards (63.2 avg) in the win at Wake Forest... Earned Louisiana Special Teams Player of the Week and CFPA Honorable Mention Punter of the Week honors after registering season-highs in both punting yards (479) and average (53.2) at Baylor... Recorded a career-long 77-yard punt as well as a 69-yard punt against the Bears... The 77-yard boot is tied for second in school-history and the 69-yard kick is tied for eighth... Was successful on all three PATs in win at Texas State... Punted nine times against the Bobcats and owned a 50.2 yard per punt average (452 total yards) with a long of 60 en route to CFPA Honorable Mention Punter of the Week honors... Hit all five PATs and made one field goal in win over Georgia State...Averaged 45.0 or more yards per punt in four of final five games (Georgia State; at Troy; Arkansas State; at UL-Lafayette)... Earned Sun Belt Special Teams Player of the Week honors after drilling all seven PATs in win at Troy... Was perfect 2-for-2 on PATs against Arkansas State and at South Alabama... Hit one field goal and connected on two PATs in win at UL-Lafayette... Had one of the biggest plays of the game against the Ragin' Cajuns -- on 4th-and-4 at the ULM 26, Manton faked a punt and rushed 14 yards to keep the Warhawk drive alive... The drive resulted in a Warhawk touchdown as the Warhawks went from down one to ahead by seven thanks to a score and a two-point conversion... The 28-yard field goal early in the fourth quarter proved to be the difference in the three point win over UL-Lafayette... Earned Sun Belt Special Teams Player of the Week honors after strong performance against the Ragin' Cajuns.
2012 (Sophomore)
Finished season 57-for-58 on PATs and connected on five field goals, including a career-long of 47 yards... His 98.2 PAT kicking percentage ranked second in the Sun Belt Conference... Made first 47 PATs to break his own school record... Kicked off 71 times for 4,261 yards (60.0 avg.)... Also served as the team's primary punter, logging 48 punts for 1912 yards (39.8 avg.) including a career-long 66 yard boot... Averaged 60.0 or more yards per kickoff in seven games... Was named Louisiana Special Teams Player of the Week on three occasions (Sept. 17; Oct. 15; Nov. 26)... Was a perfect 4-of-4 on PATs in upset win over No. 8 Arkansas... Also made all four PATs at Auburn... Nailed all six PATs against Baylor... Set a new career-high with nine made PATs at Tulane... His nine makes and nine attempts were both conference highs... Made four PATs and hit a 32-yard FG in win at Middle Tennessee... Also connected with TE Keavon Milton as 11-yard pass on fake punt extended a Warhawk drive... Hit five PATs in three straight games (Florida Atlantic; at Western Kentucky; South Alabama)... Was named CFPA Honorable Mention Punter of the Week after averaging 46.2 yards per punt (five punts, 231 yards) against UL-Lafayette... Four of five punts against Ragin' Cajuns were inside the 20 and two traveled 50+ yards... Streak of 49 straight PATs (dating back to 2011) was snapped at Arkansas State and streak ended six PATs shy of tying the career record (Rob Tallent, 55, 1989-91)... Career-long 47 yard kick gave ULM a 10-7 halftime lead at FIU... Made final 10 PATs of the season (6, North Texas; 2, at FIU; 2, vs. Ohio).
2011 (Freshman)
Was 34-for-36 on PAT attempts, while connecting on six field goals… PAT kicking percentage of 94.4 ranked fourth in the Sun Belt Conference… Finished seventh in the league in scoring (kicking) with 52 points and was tied for seventh in field goals made per game (0.50)… Set new school-record by connecting on first 32 PATs of career to break Cole Wilson's mark 29 straight PATs (2007)... Averaged 54.8 yards per kickoff (53 kickoffs, 2906 yards)… Drove his first career kickoff 70 yards in the season-opener at Florida State... Scored the first four points of his career on PATs in win over Grambling State... Connected on his first career field goal at TCU... Hit a season-long 43-yard field goal at Iowa… Against Arkansas State, converted from 23- and 25-yards for first multi-field goal performance… Converted three PATs and a 34-yard field goal in a win at Troy... Made three PATs against Western Kentucky... Hit all five PAT attempts at UL-Lafayette... Set career-high with six PATs in win over Middle Tennessee… Was just one of four Sun Belt kickers to hit six PATs in a game… Hit two extra-points at Florida Atlantic.
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