Jiya Wright accounted 342 yards total offense and five total touchdowns in ULM's 41-40 loss to App State Saturday night.
Dezmond Jackson
41
Winner App State APP 3-2 , 1-0
40
ULM ULM 2-2 , 0-1
Winner
App State APP
3-2 , 1-0
41
Final
40
ULM ULM
2-2 , 0-1
Score By Quarters
Team 1st 2nd 3rd 4th F
APP App State 14 14 7 6 41
ULM ULM 14 14 12 0 40

Game Recap: Football |

App State Tops ULM on Walk-Off Field Goal, 41-40

By ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist Paul Letlow

MONROE, La. – ULM suffered a cruel turn Saturday night at Malone Stadium.

Michael Hughes kicked a 54-yard field goal as time expired and Appalachian State escaped with a 41-40 win in the Sun Belt Conference opener for both teams.

"There's no way you can make that one easy to take," ULM coach Terry Bowden said. "It's a tough loss. You can't break it to 'em easier or make them feel better. So many people played so hard and we fought and fought and fought. They made one more play than we did."

The Warhawks (2-2, 0-1 Sun Belt) did almost everything they needed to win.

Almost.

Quarterback Jiya Wright completed 18-of-27 passes for 268 yards and four touchdowns and ULM's defense made four takeaways.

A two-touchdown underdog on its home field, ULM rolled up 471 yards total offense while winning the turnover battle. In addition to Wright's career night passing, he also rushed 74 yards and a touchdown on 17 attempts.

"He gave us a great game," Bowden said. "We've got to find a way to stop people. We couldn't get them off the field."

Tyrone Howell caught eight passes for 62 yards and three touchdowns. But it wasn't quite enough.

Clinging to a two-point lead late in the fourth quarter, ULM held on fourth-and-9 with 1:26 left in the game. Lu Tillery stopped Joey Aguilar 1-yard short of the marker and it appeared ULM was on the verge of a big upset.

But ULM would punt with 1:07 remaining, setting up the Mountaineers (3-2, 1-0) at their own 20. In six plays, App State gained 43 yards, moved to ULM's 37 and Hughes kicked a 54-yard field goal as time expired to win it.

Nate Noel rushed for 109 yards on 18 carries and Aguilar completed 27-of-39 passes for 335 yards and three scores for an App State offense that gained 536 yards.

"It was one of those games where everybody was going to score and score," Bowden said. "We missed a fourth-and-1 and they kick a 54-yard field goal and that's the difference in the game."

App State shaved the lead to 40-38 with 10:58 left in the game on Hughes' 28-yard field goal. The Mountaineers needed a six-play, 34-yard drive to score.

ULM's second turnover, a Dariyan Wiley fumble after a catch from Wright, gave App State the ball at the 50. But AJ Watts returned the favor on the next play by intercepting Aguilar and returning the ball to the App 40.

On the ensuing drive, the Warhawks faced fourth-and-goal from the 1 but elected to go for it instead of kicking a field goal. App sacked Wright on the play for a turnover on downs with 5:12 left in the game.

"You could probably look back and say, 'Should we kick a field goal on the 1-yard line,'"  Bowden said. "Well, we had one blocked and our tackle got hurt. We played wide open the whole day. We took chances, we went after 'em every single play on offense the entire game. There wasn't one of us that didn't think we shouldn't go out there and finish them off."

From the beginning, it was clear ULM was ready to go toe to toe with the Mountaineers.

Early in the game, the Warhawks earned their eighth takeaway of the season when Max Harris forced a fumble recovered by AJ Watts at the ULM 30.

The turnover led to points as Wright and Wiley made two big connections on ULM's ensuing scoring drive. On third-and-8, Wright found Wiley for a 45-yard completion to the App St. 23. Two plays later, Wiley caught a 22-yard touchdown pass from Wright with 11:03 left in the first quarter for a 7-0 ULM lead.

The Warhawks went up 14-0 on Isaiah Woullard's 7-yard touchdown run to cap a seven-play, 70-yard drive with 6:10 left in the first. Wright completed four passes for 35 yards on the march.

App State struck quickly on its next series to pull within 14-7 as Aguilar hit Christan Horn on a 52-yard touchdown pass at the 5:40 mark of the first quarter.

The Mountaineers tied the game at 14-14 five seconds later as cornerback Tyrek Funderburk picked off Wright's first pass on ULM's next drive and returned the interception 23 yards for a touchdown with 5:35 to go.

App State took its first lead of the game with 10:59 to go in the second on Aguilar's 6-yard touchdown pass to Kaedin Robinson. The Mountaineers drove 63 yards in 10 plays to go ahead 21-14.

The Warhawks answered with a confident 7-play, 75-yard drive concluded on Wright's 14-yard strike to Tyrone Howell. The Warhawks used a 20-yard pass to Howell and a 23-yard run by Thad Franklin Jr. to move into scoring position with 8:15 left before the half and tie the game at 21-21.

App State regained the lead 28-21on a 10-yard run by Kanye Roberts with 3:14 showing in the second quarter. The Mountaineers used a 12-play, 75-yard drive, making three third-down conversions along the way.

Big plays were pivotal for ULM down the stretch in the first half. Bugs Mortimer caught passes of 20 and 45 yards as the Warhawks maneuvered into the red zone. Wright then found Howell again on a 3-yard touchdown toss to knot the score at 28-28 with 1:17 remaining in the half.

"Our offense is putting points on the board and making big plays but we've got to stop them on third down," Bowden said as he left the field at halftime. "We've got to come back out and put the pedal to the metal on offense and find a way to slow them down on defense."

Wright was 13-of-19 passing for 215 yards with three touchdown passes in the half. Howell caught two scores on five receptions for 48 yards.

The opening series of the third quarter saw App State regain a 35-28 lead with 12:14 remaining as Horn scored on a 22-yard touchdown pass from Aguilar. The Mountaineers used seven plays to cover 75 yards and converted a fourth down on the drive.

Wright's 1-yard fourth-down plunge with 8:24 left in the third narrowed the margin to 35-34 and capped a seven-play, 87-yard drive. Woullard's 32-yard run and a 36-yard reception by Alred Luke were pivotal plays on the ULM scoring drive. However, the Warhawks lost left tackle Stacey Wilkins to a lower leg injury on the goal-line play, then had the extra-point attempt blocked.

ULM's defense registered its third takeaway as Kenard Snyder sacked Aguilar and Norman Massey recovered the fumble at the App 46 with 5:50 remaining in the third. The Warhawks turned the turnover into points 10 plays later when Wright found Howell for an 8-yard touchdown – their third scoring connection of the game. ULM led 40-35 after an unsuccessful 2-point conversion pass.

Up next: ULM welcomes South Alabama (2-3, 0-1 Sun Belt) to Malone Stadium on Oct. 7. Kickoff is 6 p.m. The Jaguars lost 31-23 to James Madison on Saturday.
 
AJ Watts intercepts a pass in the fourth quarter against App State.

 
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