SPORTS

How ULM hopes to deliver another SEC upset

Adam Hunsucker
ahunsucker@thenewsstar.com

The chances of the SEC showing up on the doorstep of Malone Stadium during the next round of college realignment in college sports are twofold.

Slim and none.

Regardless of ULM’s standing in the realignment pecking order, head coach Todd Berry does make a compelling case that the Warhawks should at least be invited to SEC Media Days. The biggest and brightest from what most — at least in the South anyway — believe is the best conference in college football are always well-represented on ULM’s schedule.

So why not let Berry have an audience in Hoover, Alabama every year?

This year Georgia and Alabama are doing the honors in the traditional “money game” slots. The financial realities at ULM necessitate scheduling games where the Warhawks are overmatched at just about every position. Berry still expects more than a check out of them though.

ULM might lose at Georgia on Saturday, but it won’t be because Berry didn’t play to win. He said he isn’t wired that way.

Neither are Berry’s players.

"If you believe the hype going in, as soon as adversity hits it’s going to be that much easier to accept losing. We don’t have that mentality at all,” senior nose guard Gerrand Johnson said. “We’re going to approach Georgia the same way we approach Arkansas State or Georgia Southern.”

While ULM has only beaten an SEC opponent four times ever, there is a somewhat recent history of upsets to pull from. Two of those four victories came in the last decade and ULM has procured a win over a power-five team in each of the last three seasons.

The now famous — or infamous depending on your point of origin — “Shock in Little Rock” over Arkansas is the most recent example. The Warhawks caught plenty of breaks that night against the Hogs, but they kept themselves in the game by doing something with those opportunities.

“The sideline was just as live as the players who were actually playing on the field,” senior wide receiver Rashon Ceaser said. “That just gave us an edge and boosted our momentum.”

It also helped the ULM cause that Kolton Browning saved his coming out party for the occasion. He passed for 412 yards — on 67 attempts no less — ran for 69 more and dropped four total touchdowns on a dumbfounded Arkansas defense.

The mass confusion in the Arkansas huddle was Berry’s contribution to the design. The “FUNROE” offense cooked the Hogs over a spit. ULM still gave up some yards after knocking quarterback Tyler Wilson out of the game, but managed to hold a more talented group to 377 total yards and 96 yards rushing.

If you’re forced to schedule in the nonconference like ULM does and plan on having any success, you better be different.

“Our systems allow us to have some flexibility going into these games which I think is important because we are a little bit unique on either side of the football,” Berry said. “You hope you gain a differential advantage from it but I think anytime you’re going into a hostile environment the more mature you are as a football team the better you are.”

To Berry, maturity is the most important part in any potential upset. The likelihood of ULM ever stacking blue chip talent on a roster like Florida State, LSU or Oklahoma — all teams the Warhawks have played in the past five years — isn't good.

The best way he’s found over the years to offset ability is with experience.

“The biggest fear in our situation is if we’re going to be intimidated and I don’t think so because we have a mature team that’s done this quite a few times,” Berry said. “You can say you have a mature team but if you’ve never played against those people before that’s going to be a concern.”

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