Malik Jackson TD run vs Arkansas State 2021
Skylar Henry / ULM Photo Services
27
Winner Arkansas St. ASU 2-8 , 1-5
24
ULM ULM 4-6 , 2-5
Winner
Arkansas St. ASU
2-8 , 1-5
27
Final
24
ULM ULM
4-6 , 2-5
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
ASU Arkansas St. 7 3 7 10 27
ULM ULM 0 7 17 0 24

Game Recap: Football |

ULM Starts Slow, Stumbles Late in 27-24 Loss to Arkansas State

By ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist Paul Letlow

MONROE, La. – When you snooze, you lose.

ULM's offense slumbered for much of the game Saturday night and Arkansas State hung around long enough to escape with a 27-24 win at Malone Stadium.

Blake Grupe kicked a 42-yard field goal with 1:17 left in the game to give the Red Wolves (2-8, 1-5 Sun Belt) their 12th straight win over ULM (4-6, 2-5).

"Until you become a football team where you're better than the other team most of the time, this is what you get when you're building a program," ULM coach Terry Bowden said. "You're thankful that your players will give you four quarters and get you to the end of the game and try to find a way to win."

ULM's third-straight loss overshadowed a breakout game by Malik Jackson and a salty overall defensive performance.

Listed as a receiver on the roster, Jackson made the start at running back and scampered for a career-high 166 yards and two touchdowns on 22 carries. A 5-oot-9, 178-yard sophomore, Jackson's previous career highs were five carries at Texas State and 49 rushing yards against South Alabama.

"We found ways to get the ball to him," Bowden said. "He started out running outside sweeps, we moved him into the backfield and taught him to run from the backfield. He's going to be a guy that really helps us down the road."

Fittingly for Military Day on ULM's campus, the defense snagged two interceptions and made three stops on fourth down. Zack Woodard paced the Warhawks with a career-high 15 tackles, three tackles for losses including a sack.

"It's one where we have to go back to the drawing board and try to get better from it," Woodard said. "Tough loss but I believe in this team."

ULM staggered through most of the first half, yet trailed just 10-7 at the break, thanks to a 53-yard run by Jackson that set up his own touchdown. Prior to Jackson's score with 33 seconds left in the half, ULM's offense produced six punts and an interception.

Then on the first play of the second half, Jackson was off and running again as he raced 75 yards for a touchdown and ULM led 14-10. ULM would extend that lead to 21-10 before faltering down the stretch.

Out with a chest injury since Sept. 25, quarterback Rhett Rodriguez returned to the starting lineup while his replacement Chandler Rogers was also on the field with the first-team offense. Rogers was listed as a starting running back alongside Jackson.

Rodriguez took most of the snaps through the game and finished 12-of-29 passing for 160 yards and one touchdown with two interceptions. Rogers was 4-for-6 for 35 yards and sacked four times. ULM gained 372 yards on 75 plays overall but it came in spurts.

"The frustrating part is we know there were a lot of plays that we left out there," Rodriguez said. "I know there were a lot of plays where I made a misread or a bad throw. I think the film will be really hard to watch knowing that we left a lot of plays out there."

Neither quarterback was able to move the offense early after the defense provided a pair of first-quarter takeaways.

After tossing an interception to ULM's Quae Drake on Arkansas State's first drive, quarterback Layne Hatcher came back on the second series to lead a six-play, 80-yard drive that took just 1:48 off the clock. Corey Rucker, who opened the drive with a 36-yard reception from Hatcher, finished the march with a 9-yard touchdown on a speed sweep that gave the Red Wolves a 7-0 lead.

Keilos Swinney gave ULM its second interception of the game with 6:58 left in the first quarter, but again, the offense sputtered and the Warhawks punted.

The frustrations continued. After forcing a turnover on downs at the ULM 25 early in the second quarter, the Warhawks went three-and-out.

The Red Wolves extended the lead to 10-0 on a 30-yard field goal by Grupe with 11:10 to go before the half. Arkansas State scored to finish a six-play, 69-yard drive.

Arkansas State gambled on fourth-and-1 from its own 33, but quarterback Wyatt Begeal slipped for a loss of 1. ULM couldn't take advantage of the field position though, as Rodriguez was picked off by Denzel Blackwell at the A-State 6.

Taking over after a punt with 1:28 left in the first half, ULM finally found an offensive spark from Jackson. A 53-yard run up the middle moved the chains down to the ASU 10. Three carries later, Jackson burst into the end zone for a 3-yard touchdown run with 33 seconds to go to cut the lead to 10-7.

The Warhawks finished the half with 141 yards total offense but 63 yards came on the final drive. With Andrew Henry out with an injury, Jackson carried 10 times for 72 yards in the first two quarters.

ULM's defense delivered a third fourth-down stop against the Red Wolves on their first drive of the third quarter. Caleb Thomas and Jabari Johnson made the tackle for no gain at the 50.

This time the Warhawks capitalized on the defensive gift. Rodriguez converted on third-and-18 with a 32-yard pass to Boogie Knight before tossing a 17-yard touchdown pass to Jevin Frett to give ULM a 21-10 lead with 10:01 to go in the third.

Even after absorbing a 21-0 run by ULM, the Red Wolves wouldn't go quietly. Hatcher gunned a 22-yard touchdown pass to Te'Vailance Hunt with 7:26 remaining in the third to pull Arkansas State within 21-17.

ULM scored on a fourth-straight possession as Calum Sutherland kicked a 32-yard field goal at the 5:00 mark of the third quarter. A 36-yard pass from Rodriguez to Frett and a 17-yard run by the ULM quarterback helped maneuver the Warhawks into scoring position.

After the Warhawks limited Arkansas State to just three first downs in the third quarter, the Red Wolves regained their offensive footing in the fourth. Hunt hauled in a 20-yard touchdown pass from Hatcher with 7:56 left in the game to tie the score at 24-24. Arkansas State covered 77 yards in nine plays, including converting a fourth-and-2 at the ULM 30.

Arkansas State drove 55 yards in nine plays to kick its go-ahead field goal. The Red Wolves outgained ULM, 155-34, in the final quarter and scored the final 10 points.

The Warhawks managed just 3 yards in the fourth quarter until their final drive, which ended on a Rodriguez interception at the A-State 8 with 20 seconds remaining.

"They made one more play than we did," Bowden said. "The players didn't play a lot different than the game they won on the last second except they made the play. If we make that play at the end of the game instead of them making the interception, we kick a field goal and go to overtime and we score at the end of the game. That's what we've seen happen this year."

Something special: ULM recognized 15 players on Senior Day including snapper Bobby Conklin, defensive tackle DeMontae Haigler, safety Austin Hawley, center Garrett Hirsch, wide receiver Jonathan Hodoh, defensive tackle Jahaziel Lee, quarterback Rhett Rodriguez, defensive end Ty Shelby, cornerback Adam Sparks, wide receiver Jared Sparks, kicker Calum Sutherland, safety Keilos Swinney, linebacker Traveion Webster, linebacker Ja'Cquez Williams and cornerback Mark Williams.

Enemy lines: Hatcher had a monster game with 444 yards passing and two touchdowns. He completed 34-of-50 attempts and was picked off twice. Arkansas State gained 530 total yards offense while registering five sacks against ULM.

Good call: With a depleted running back corps, ULM turned to Malik Jackson to carry the load. The sophomore had 14 carries for 95 yards coming into the game. His 100-yard effort gave ULM its second individual 100-yard rushing game of the year. Andrew Henry ran for 108 yards in ULM's win over Troy on Sept. 25.

Up next: ULM visits LSU on Nov. 20. Kickoff is 8 p.m.

Tail feathers: Congresswoman Julia Letlow (LA-05) participated in the pregame coin toss. … Zack Woodard's third-quarter sack of Hatcher was ULM's first since the South Alabama game on Oct. 23. The Warhawks didn't register sacks in losses to Appalachian State and Texas State. … A-State coach Butch Jones was spotted visiting with ULM Chief of Staff Dusty Rutledge before the game. They were both part of the Rich Rodriguez's staff at West Virginia. … Raquel Rodriguez, sister of Rhett and daughter of Rich, was the radio halftime guest. She hosts the podcast "Hard Edge Football" with her father.
 
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