MONROE, La. – ULM head coach Matt Viator slipped into a quiet Scogin Room for his post-game press conference wearing a big smile.

"Well, I can promise you," Viator quipped, "they're making plenty of noise in that locker room right now."

The Warhawks earned their celebration on Saturday at Malone Stadium with 52-45 win over Sun Belt powerhouse Appalachian State.

"How about these kids, huh?" Viator said. "We play hard and we compete. I can't say enough about them. We just beat a good football team. We were up, and we were down. We just kept playing hard and found a way to get it done against a good football team."

ULM scored the go-ahead touchdown with 23 seconds remaining on a 50-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Evans to RJ Turner. Officials initially flagged the play as Turner went out of bounds before coming back in and catching the ball, but then waved off the penalty by ruling that he was forced out of bounds.

Appalachian State started the final drive at its own 45, but three plays later, Taylor Lamb's pass from the ULM 39 fell incomplete in the end zone and the Warhawks survived.  

The Mountaineers had tied the game at 45-45 with 53 seconds on Lamb's 20-yard pass to Ike Lewis, who caught three touchdowns in the game.

A 24-yard return by Brandius Batiste on the ensuing kickoff put ULM's potent offense within striking distance at its own 36.

"They had the wind in the fourth quarter, and to be honest, I thought they were going to kick it through the end zone, and we were probably going to play for overtime," Viator said. "But when Brandius hit it back up there, I told (offensive coordinator Matt Kubik), let's take a shot or two here."

Evans hit a pair of 7-yard completions before finding Turner for the game winner.

"Caleb is a playmaker," said Turner, who made six catches for 134 yards and two scores. "He started scrambling and I ran with him. He made something out of nothing."

In another monster performance, Evans completed 24-of-32 attempts for 356 yards and three touchdowns. He also scored two rushing touchdowns and collected 47 yards on nine attempts.

Running back Derrick Gore added 103 yards on 18 carries and scored on a 1-yard touchdown run with 3:17 remaining in the game to put ULM ahead 45-38.

ULM (4-5, 4-3) gained 569 yards in total offense to defeat Appalachian State (5-4, 4-1) for the first time in four tries. ULM has gained more than 500 yards four times this year.
 
The balanced Warhawks rushed for 213 yards on 38 attempts while topping 50 points for the third time, tying a school single-season record set in 1992.

"We made a lot of big plays on offense," Viator said. "I'm looking at another 570 yards against a pretty good defense. We made enough plays on defense and made a couple of plays in the kicking game."

A strong start put ULM in position to win in the end.

ULM struck first on a 21-yard pass from Evans to Turner, who took a screen pass and weaved behind his blockers on a tackle-breaking trek to the end zone. ULM went 66 yards on eight plays to go up 7-0 with 6:59 left in the first quarter.

The Warhawks turned a takeaway into points a minute later when David Griffith recovered Daetrich Herrington's fumble at the visitor's 39. From there, Evans immediately fired a 39-yard touchdown strike to Marcus Green for a 14-0 ULM lead with 5:59 remaining.

The two-touchdown lead was a welcome change for a squad that has fallen behind early in losing its last three Sun Belt games after a 3-0 conference start.  

"The last few weeks when we were losing, we got off track a little bit," Turner said. "Mainly, we as a team felt like we didn't have the energy coming out. Today, we came out fast and we contributed on special teams, offense and defense."

App State finally dented the scoreboard on Chandler Staton's 35-yard field goal with 14:51 left in the second quarter.

ULM's response? A 95-yard kickoff return by Green that extended the Warhawks' advantage to 21-3. Green's kickoff return for a score was his third of the season, and the 95-yard return was the fifth longest in program history. 

"I thought that was a great answer early," Viator said.

Lamb capped App State's first touchdown drive with a 7-yard scoring pass to Lewis at the 10:22 mark of the second quarter, cutting ULM's lead to 21-10.

Lamb hooked up with Lewis again from 31 yards out with 4:57 to go before the half, drawing closer at 21-17.

The Warhawks countered with a seven-play, 75-yard touchdown drive to boost their lead to 28-17. Evans scored on a quarterback draw, his 10th rushing touchdown of the season.

App State's Jalin Moore came right back though with 75-yard touchdown reception from Lamb with 1:16 showing in the second quarter.

The Warhawks had a chance to finish the half on a high note after driving to the App State 20, but Evans was intercepted in the end zone with 22 seconds to go. ULM endured a quarter that also featured a flurry of injuries. 

"I was really concerned," Viator said. "We'd lost four or five kids within a three-minute span in the second quarter with (Derion) Ford, (David) Griffith, (Ben) Luckett and (Josh) Pederson. It was like, 'Wow, we've got to get a hold of this for sure.' We came in at the half and I think we were still a little shell shocked." 
 
The Mountaineers scored on their first possession of the second half and took their first lead on Moore's 2-yard touchdown run 3:29 into the third quarter. App State moved 75 yards in eight plays to go up 31-28.

ULM stopped App State on a fourth-and-3 from the Warhawk 17 and converted a fourth-and-3 of its own from the Mountaineers 47 in a key third-quarter shift. Evans completed a 19-yard pass to Brian Williams to the App State 28 on the fourth-down conversion, and then ran it in from 2-yards out to help ULM regain the lead, 34-31, with 2:41 left in the third.  ULM covered 80 yards in 10 plays.

"I thought that was a huge play," Viator said. "It gave us the ball back and we were able to drive down and score. Now, we're right back in it. A huge stop."

App State needed just four plays to get back on top as Moore scored on a 5-yard touchdown run with 39 second left in the third.  Lamb's 60-yard pass to T.J. Watkins was the big play on the 75-yard drive that gave the visitors the 38-35 advantage heading into the final period.  

Craig Ford made a game-tying 44-yard field goal with 11:49 remaining as ULM pulled even at 38-38 and set up the furious finish.

"I told them at the team meeting last night, that's the best week of practice we've had," Viator said. "After you lose three-straight conference games, the kids came out this week and didn't flinch."

Timely sacks: ULM's defense was able to get pressure on App State quarterback Taylor Lamb, something he hasn't faced much this season.
  
App State's first offensive snap resulted in a 9-yard loss on a Roland Jenkins sack, his first of the season.

Linebacker Rashaad Harding also recorded his first career sack when he dropped Lamb for a 7-yard loss near the end of the first quarter.
 
Early in the fourth quarter on third-and-11, ULM's Ty Shelby and Caleb Tucker sacked Lamb for a 9-yard loss at the App State 12.

App State came in ranked first in the Sun Belt and fifth nationally in sacks allowed, with just five through their first eight games (0.63 avg.).

Try and try again: App State was up 31-28 and driving in the third quarter when Marcus Hubbard hammered Ike Lewis on a 6-yard reception and jarred loose a fumble. Cortez Sisco recovered at the ULM 24 with 8:03. Or so it seemed.

Officials reviewed and reversed the call and App State's drive stayed alive. But facing fourth-and-3 from the ULM  17, App State went for it. Sisco came up with another big play as he caught Lamb in the backfield for a 3-yard loss and a turnover on downs. 

"We got a stop there on defense when they could have gone up two scores," Viator said. "I don't think App was going to run a play. They were trying to draw us offsides. It was obvious when they snapped the ball to Lamb that they didn't have a play. Nobody even moved."

Post-game chatter: "These guys just keep playing hard and competing. That's what it's about." – ULM head coach Matt Viator.

"We've been preaching to start fast and start strong. We started slow the past few games. Making big plays early on fueled us." – ULM free safety Roland Jenkins.

Up next: ULM has an open date on Nov. 11. The Warhawks return to action on Nov. 18 at Auburn.
 
Enemy lines: App State quarterback Taylor Lamb completed 20-of-29 attempts for 339 yards and four touchdowns.

With 82 career touchdown passes, Lamb broke the previous Sun Belt record of 81 held by ULM's Kolton Browning (2010-13) and Troy's Corey Robinson (2010-13). Adding in his 21 career rushing touchdowns, Lamb joined Armanti Edwards as the only App State players with a hand in at least 100 touchdowns.

Ike Lewis caught seven passes for 87 yards and three scores. Running back Jalin Moore carried 21 times for 114 yards and two touchdowns.

The Mountaineers gained 508 yards total offense.

Tail feathers: The ULM water ski program held a reunion this weekend and returning team members were recognized on the field after the first quarter. ULM won its 28th National Championship in October. … ULM team captains were Caleb Evans, Roland Jenkins, Josh Pederson and Juwan Offray. … Former ULM quarterback Pete Thomas is an offensive graduate assistant for App State this season. … App State's defensive end Caleb Fuller was ejected for targeting Evans with 40 seconds left in the first half.