STATESBORO, Ga. – After opening the night with 14 first quarter points, the ULM football team had a chance to have the final points of the night, but Georgia Southern blocked kicker Craig Ford's 42-yard field goal attempt with 1:16 remaining as the host Eagles held on for a 23-21 victory on Saturday night in the Warhawks' first Sun Belt Conference matchup of the season.
THE BASICS
FINAL SCORE: Georgia Southern 23, ULM 21
LOCATION: Paulson Stadium
RECORDS: ULM (1-2, 0-1 Sun Belt)
Georgia Southern (3-0, 2-0 Sun Belt)
TURNING POINT
-After the Warhawks' 14-point first quarter, Georgia Southern notched 23 consecutive points from late in the first quarter through the opening minutes of the fourth quarter. ULM responded with a six play, 75 yard drive that ended in a Marcus Green 10-yard touchdown reception with 10:12 remaining to pull the visitors within two.
The Warhawk defense forced a Georgia Southern punt and took possession with 5:18 remaining, moving down the field the field from their own 34 before coming to a fourth down field goal attempt from Ford. The Georgia Southern interior got pressure and blocked the kick as the hosts hung on for the victory.
HOW IT HAPPENED
-The Warhawks came out hot, with quarterback Garrett Smith playing a part in both touchdowns. He opened the night's scoring with a 32-yard touchdown to Xavier Brown on ULM's second possession before later scoring on a seven-yard run with less than three minutes to go in the first quarter.
-Georgia Southern responded with a 74-yard drive to close the first quarter with a six-yard touchdown run by quarterback Kevin Ellison to pull within a score. The touchdown started the string of 23 unanswered points from the Eagles, capped by a touchdown run with 12:51 remaining, and set up the Warhawks' fourth quarter push.
-Smith finished the night 17-for-33 with the two touchdowns and a career-best 283 yards passing. He added 39 yards on the ground, which led all Warhawks.
-ULM went deep multiple times, as six different receivers caught at least one pass, including completions of 32 yards (X. Brown TD), 57 yards (R.J. Turner) and 65 yards (Green).
-Georgia Southern's rush-first offense was on display, as the team combined for 345 yards on the ground (416 total yards) between six different players. L.A. Ramsby led the Eagles with 86 yards, as Wesley Fields added 84 yards of his own.
-Georgia Southern combined for 17 pass attempts in the game, including five completions for 71 yards. They had attempted just 25 passes over the first two games before Saturday.
BEYOND THE BOXSCORE
-Garrett Smith has now thrown for over 200 yards in each of the Warhawks' first three games this season. He has also been ULM's leading rusher in two of the three games (Southern, Ga. Southern).
-Marcus Green had 63 total yards receiving through two games prior to tonight's 75 yards.
-David Griffith had three tackles for a loss in Saturday's game…he had three total tackles for loss through the first two games. He now has 28 total tackles on the season after a 10-tackle night against Georgia Southern (including nine solo tackles).
-Georgia Southern kicker Younghoe Koo connected on a career-high three field goals (from 32, 37 and 43 yards).
-The Warhawks were just 3-of-12 on third downs, while Georgia Southern was 9-of-21.
-ULM punter Dayton Balvanz averaged 43 yards over his right punts, including a 51-yarder, and pinned Georgia Southern inside the 20 yard line on five attempts. Two of those five were downed inside the five yard line.
-With the Georgia Southern victory, the home team has still won every game in the series.
UP NEXT
The Warhawks will have an open date next Saturday before traveling to Auburn on October 1. This will be the 10th meeting all-time between ULM and Auburn. Auburn lost 29-16 at home to Texas A&M on Saturday night and is 1-2 on the year. Auburn plays at home to LSU next week before the matchup with ULM in two weeks.
