MONROE, La. – The ULM football team (1-6, 1-2 Sun Belt) returns to FMOL Health St. Francis Stadium on Halloween, facing Southern Miss (2-5, 1-2 Sun Belt) at 2:30 p.m. Both teams are coming off their first Sun Belt victories. The game will be available for streaming on ESPN+, with Sean Fox and Desmund Lighten on the call. The game is also available on KLIP 105.3 FM with the Voice of the Warhawks, Mike Hammett, on the call. The game is promoted as Black Out Breast Cancer, encouraging fans to wear black and recognizing Breast Cancer Awareness Month.

OPENING DRIVE –

• ULM and Southern Miss have competed 10 times in the series history, only four times as conference foes. The Golden Eagles hold a 7-3 edge in the series, holding the 2-1 edge in Monroe. The Warhawks last defeated Southern Miss in 2024, a 38-21 homecoming victory at home. Last season, ULM fell in a 21-49 score in Hattiesburg.

• Most recently, the Warhawks claimed a 21-14 victory at Troy, as the team earned its first win of the season and of conference play. In the Bryant Vincent era, ULM is 2-0 when playing at Troy. The win was capped off with three touchdowns scored in the final two-and-a-half minutes, including a fumble recovered in the end zone by Billy Pullen to seal the deal.

• The last time ULM was able to pull off a win in the final two minutes of the game was 2018, in a tight 34-31 score against Southeastern. Caleb Evans rushed to the end zone and convert the two points with just 37 seconds on the clock.

• The 2026 season is the first playing in FMOL Health | St. Francis Stadium, the name changed to recognize an expanding partnership with FMOL Health | St. Francis. The new name was announced on August 7, with a press conference held earlier this month. Additionally, the FMOL Health | St. Francis logo will be represented in jersey patches across all ULM women's sports as part of the expanded partnership.

• While the name has been changed, an installation is in progress to recognize the former namesake of the stadium, Coach James Malone, widely revered as the father of ULM Athletics. Malone was Northeast Louisiana's second head football coach, leading the Indians from 1934 to 1953, boasting a 94-64-12 record. With one of the top records of any football coach at ULM, he coached two unbeaten football teams and three bowl teams, leading the 1935 team to the junior college national championship. Malone also led the team from junior college into senior college competition in 1951. 

• On the 2026 roster, ULM welcomes back 49 returners and brings in 56 newcomers, providing an 48% retention rate from 2025. Out of the newcomers, the Warhawks welcome 10 first-years, 23 NCAA transfers and 23 JUCO transfers to the bayou. Out of those returning to Monroe, 20 have played with ULM for one year, 21 for two years, three for three years and four for four years.

• ULM's 12-game football schedule features six home games, four being conference opponents. The last time ULM had six home games was the 2024 season, where the Warhawks went 4-2 at home. Overall, it marks the eighth time that the Warhawks have played a six-game home schedule since joining the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly known as Division I-A). 

• Four ULM football players have been recognized on the Preseason All-Sun Belt teams, the most in the Bryant Vincent era and the most since 2020. Two offensive and two defense players were featured on the teams for the Warhawks. AJ Vinson and Noah Flemmings were recognized on the Preseason All-Sun Belt First Team and Nic Trujillo and Jabari Tiller were named to the second team.

• ULM has 26 states featured on its roster in 2026. In announcing its roster, ULM Football posts 19 Louisiana players, 11 coming from Monroe's own Ouachita Parish. Louisiana is the state with the most representatives on the team, with Mississippi following close behind with 18. Texas records the third-most with 15 and Alabama records 10. Iowa, Florida, Pennsylvania and Georgia all record a few, while 19 other states are represented with one or two. 

• Family connections on the ULM football coaching staff include Bryant Vincent's son, Brady Vincent, as the team's Tight Ends Coach. Bret Vincent makes it three Vincents featured in the ULM football program, with Bret playing wide receiver for the Warhawks.