MONROE, La. – The ULM football team dug itself out of an early 16-point first quarter hole on Saturday, but visiting Idaho capped the night with a game-winning 27-yard field goal as time expired to hand the Warhawks a 34-31 home loss inside JPS Field at Malone Stadium.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Idaho 34, ULM 31
LOCATION: JPS Field at Malone Stadium
RECORDS: Idaho (3-3, 1-1 SBC)
ULM (1-4, 0-2 SBC)
TURNING POINT
-Aided by two interceptions and a blocked punt, Idaho jumped out to a 16-0 lead after the first quarter. ULM proceeded to outscore Idaho 21-8 in the second quarter to get back in the game and trailed by three at halftime.
-The Warhawks marched down the field with a five play, 80 yard drive late in the fourth quarter to tie the game at 31-all, but Idaho covered 67 yards over the final 2:28 and ended the game with Austin Rehkow's 27-yard field goal as time expired.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-Idaho scored the game's opening points with a Rhekow field goal to get on the board before ULM quarterback Garrett Smith was intercepted on the Warhawks' next two possessions. The ULM defense held strong and forced Idaho into two field goals despite the visitors starting on their own 18 and 35 yard lines.
-The first quarter ended with a 19-yard blocked punt recovered by the Vandals as the visitors took a 16-point lead.
-ULM's offense responded in the second quarter, stringing together scoring drives of 78 yards, 75 yards, and 90 yards to dig back into the game. Running back Ben Luckett (15 carries, 57 yards) broke free for a 31-yard touchdown run to get the Warhawks on the board before Smith bounced back from the first quarter interceptions with a six-yard rushing touchdown of his own and a 44-yard strike to Xavier Brown just before the halftime break that pulled ULM within three.
-A Craig Ford 31-yard field goal halfway through the third quarter tied the game up for the first time before Idaho answered with a 71-yard touchdown pass 54 seconds later to retake the lead.
-ULM answered the bell again late in the fourth, with Smith finding Ajalen Holley on a 30-yard touchdown reception to tie the game up again with 2:28 remaining that set up Idaho's final drive.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
-Garrett Smith finished the night 20-for-38 passing with the two touchdowns and three interceptions. The sophomore totaled 302 yards through the air, the second time in his career he has surpassed 300 passing yards (370 yards - Sept. 2015 vs. Nicholls). Smith has now passed for over 200 yards in four of ULM's five games this season, with the outlier coming last week at Auburn.
-Five different Warhawks tallied rushes in the game, led by Smith's 88 yards. After struggling on the ground in recent weeks, ULM tallied 221 total rushing yards, the second-highest total of the season (325 team rushing vs. Southern).
-ULM finished 9-of-15 on third downs against Idaho after converting only 11 combined third downs over the previous three weeks.
-The Warhawks totaled 523 yards on Saturday night, 109 more total yards than Idaho (414 yards), while ULM also outrushed (221 to 203) the visitors and tallied more passing yards (302 to 211).
-Senior Ajalen Holley's fourth quarter touchdown reception was his first of the season and his 19th career receiving touchdown pass.
-The touchdowns for both Ben Luckett and Xavier Brown were the second scores of 2016 for both players (Luckett vs. Southern, Brown vs. Ga. Southern).
-With his two touchdowns accounted for on Saturday night, Garrett Smith now has a combined 30 touchdowns for his career (rushing and passing).
-Nick Ingram led ULM with 10 total tackles in the loss, followed by Chase Day's eight tackles and five tackles for David Griffith.
-ULM returns home next Saturday night for Homecoming against Texas State. The Warhawks were one of six FBS teams in the country to not play back-to-back home games last season, and you have to go back to the beginning of the 2014 campaign to find back-to-back Warhawk home games inside JPS Field at Malone Stadium.
UP NEXT
The Warhawks stay at home next weekend and welcome Sun Belt foe Texas State for Homecoming next Saturday. Texas State is coming off of a 20-point loss at Georgia State Saturday afternoon and will come to Monroe with a 2-3 overall record and a 0-1 Sun Belt mark.
