Sam Miller QB pressure vs Georgia Southern 2019
Hunter D. Cone
29
ULM ULM 4-6 , 3-3
51
Winner Georgia Southern GS 6-4 , 4-2
ULM ULM
4-6 , 3-3
29
Final
51
Georgia Southern GS
6-4 , 4-2
Winner
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
ULM ULM 7 0 7 15 29
GS Georgia Southern 7 17 7 20 51

Game Recap: Football |

Turnovers Doom ULM in 51-29 Loss at Georgia Southern

By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist
 
STATESBORO, Ga. – ULM couldn't get its act together on Saturday against Georgia Southern.
 
The Eagles scored 21 points off turnovers and never trailed in a 51-29 win over ULM on a damp, chilly day at Paulson Stadium.
 
"The score I don't think tells the story," ULM coach Matt Viator said. "Three touchdowns off turnovers I thought was the difference in the game."
  
ULM actually outgained Georgia Southern, 370-334, but couldn't overcome the self-inflicted wounds.
 
"We had the interception and gave it to them early in the game, we had a pick six and a dropped punt where we gave it to them at the 6-yard line," Viator said. "It's hard to do that against a pretty good team."
 
The Warhawks were a woeful 2-for-13 on third down and punted six times. Senior quarterback Caleb Evans passed for 285 yards and two scores but also was intercepted twice. ULM's 1,000-yard runner Josh Johnson was limited to 43 yards on 12 carries.
 
Georgia Southern (6-4, 4-2) became bowl eligible with the win while ULM fell to 4-6, 3-3 in the Sun Belt.
  
"I thought our defense battled, really the whole game," Viator said. "We made a few plays on offense, just not enough. It was kind of a crazy game."
 
A wobbly first half found ULM trailing by three touchdowns through two quarters.
  
Georgia Southern's Rashad Byrd picked off Evans' second pass and the Eagles quickly converted the turnover into points. Byrd returned his interception 34 yards to the ULM 21, and quarterback Shai Werts scored on an 11-yard three plays later for a 7-0 lead.
    
ULM's offense shook off the miscue and responded with a nice drive. Austin Vaughn powered in a 3-yard touchdown run to cap a 13-play, 75-yard march that tied the score at 7-7.
   
Throw out the scoring drive though, and it was a lethargic first half for ULM's offense. The Warhawks had three three-and-outs with four punts and the turnover to show for their seven possessions.
 
Tyler Bass kicked a 26-yard field goal early in the second quarter to put the Eagles up 10-7. Georgia Southern started the seven-play drive at the ULM 43 after a short punt.
 
The Eagles needed six plays to cover 73 yards and Werts returned the end zone on a 24-yard run as Georgia Southern's lead grew to 17-7.
 
Georgia Southern finished the half against ULM's tiring defense with a nine-play, 88-yard drive and extended its lead to 24-7 as Darion Anderson snared a 33-yard pass from Werts with 37 seconds remaining.
 
"We've had one good drive and really haven't done anything since," Viator said at halftime. "We need to move the ball. We held up for a while defensively, but we need to move the ball. We can't just keep giving them the ball."
 
The Eagles outgained ULM in first-half yardage, 235-132, and held a 13-5 edge in first downs.
 
Evans had just five completions until a 49-yard connection with Perry Carter on the second series of the second half. Johnson also had a 13-yard catch on fourth-and 6 and Carter's catch was the field-flipper in ULM's eight-play, 84-yard drive that ended with a 1-yard touchdown run from Evans. ULM trailed 24-14 with 6:41 left in the third quarter.
  
But after cutting the lead to 10, ULM lost traction quickly.
 
Another ULM turnover, this time on special teams, led to another Georgia Southern touchdown. Anthony Beck II's 51-yard punt was muffed by Carter and recovered at the ULM 6-yard line. A 6-yard touchdown run from J.D. King with 25 seconds left in the third quarter put the Eagles up 31-14.
  
The spiral continued as Evans threw a pick-six to Donald Rutledge Jr., who rumbled 42 yards to hand ULM a 38-14 deficit.
 
Markis McCray's 1-yard touchdown grab from Evans and Josh Pederson's catch for a two-point conversion made it 38-22 with 12:15 left in the game.
 
Georgia Southern would salt their win away with a fourth-quarter drive that included three personal fouls against ULM and exceeded nine minutes, adding the exclamation point on Wesley Kennedy III's 1-yard touchdown run to go up 44-22 with 2:48 remaining.
 
Pederson grabbed his eighth touchdown pass of the year on a 16-yard pass from Evans with 20 seconds remaining.
 
Georgia Southern's Monquavion Brinson fielded the ensuing onside kick and returned it 42 yards for a touchdown.
 
"We needed to make a few more plays, especially offensively," Viator said. "We had several chances defensively too. I thought we competed hard and kept fighting. It definitely didn't go our way today."
 
Up next: ULM plays its final home game of the season against Coastal Carolina on Saturday, Nov. 23. Kickoff is 4 p.m.
 
Tail feathers: ULM failed to record a takeaway for the first time in 10 games. … Tyler Glass led the ULM defense with 10 tackles. Glass recorded double-figure tackles for the second game in a row. … ULM was 4-for-4 on fourth-down chances. … ULM game captains were OG Trace Ellison, DE Sam Miller, OT Eastwood Thomas and DT Jaylen Veasley. … Linebacker Cortez Sisco Jr. was ejected for targeting in the second quarter. … ULM was 0-for-11 on third downs until a pair of conversions inside the final minute. … The Eagles lead the series 5-3 after Saturday's win. 
 
 
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