Versatile and vulnerable, Louisiana-Monroe is one of the most volatile college football teams in the nation.
Its offense ranks 29th in the nation with 34.7 points per game, showcased in scoring frenzies of 51 points or more in victories over Louisiana-Lafayette (56-50), Coastal Carolina (51-43) and Appalachian State (52-45).
Its defense ranks seventh to last in the nation out of the 129 teams in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision with 38.3 points allowed per game, which was self-destructive in consecutive losses to Georgia State (47-37), South Alabama (33-23) and Idaho (31-23).
The inconsistency has all but kept ULM (4-6, 4-3 Sun Belt Conference) from earning its second winning season since joining the FBS level in 1994, and the Warhawks would need to win their final games against Arkansas State University (6-3, 5-1) and Florida State to become bowl eligible for the fourth time in program history.
The Red Wolves became eligible for their seventh consecutive bowl game when they beat Texas State 30-12 for their sixth victory — a total that includes a 48-3 victory over FCS opponent the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff.
Louisiana-Monroe is the only team in the Sun Belt other than New Mexico State (4-6, 2-4) to not play an FCS opponent this season. Instead, the Warhawks played two members of Group of 5 Conferences, Memphis and Southern Miss, when other Sun Belt teams generally played just one.
ULM lost both games.
They were picked ninth in the Sun Belt preseason poll under second-year Coach Matt Viator. Their offensive success this year has come in part from sophomore quarterback Caleb Evans.
Evans (2,152 passing yards, 487 rushing) leads the Sun Belt with 11 rushing touchdowns, and ASU defensive coordinator Joe Cauthen hinted that he might be the best dual-threat quarterback his defense has seen this season.
“He’s a pretty talented guy,” said Cauthen, whose defense ranks fourth in the nation with 3.4 sacks per game. “With the ball in his hand, he’ll remind you of some people. This morning, when I was sitting up there watching him, I saw him take off against Idaho, and I kept seeing in my mind Vince Young against USC. So, seeing him run in the open field with the ball. He’s a big, long guy that can really take off and run. And so he’s obviously a concern of ours, cause they run him quite a bit.”
Against Idaho, Evans threw for 415 yards and touchdowns of 54, 26 and 13 yards, demonstrating an offense that ASU Coach Blake Anderson said looks “honestly, a lot like us.”
Louisiana-Monroe has three receivers — Brian Williams (6-3, 218 pounds), R.J. Turner (6-2, 204) and Marcus Green (5-8, 191) — who each have at least 500 yards receiving and 3 touchdowns.
Senior running back Derrick Gore (5-10, 212) is ninth in the Sun Belt with 540 yards and 6 touchdowns, and his 15.1 yards per catch provides a threat to an ASU defense that has been recently susceptible to screen passes.
Texas State countered ASU’s aggressive pass rush Saturday with a screen pass that went for an 18-yard touchdown.
“I think anytime you play a defensive front like ours that makes it so difficult to hold up in the pocket, you got to be expecting them to try and create something,” Anderson said. “Try to find something free, something cheap. So far this year we’ve been good at creating pressure and not allowing guys to get the double pass or reverse passes off. But, this is going to be another one where we’ve got to expect the unexpected.”
ULM’s offense resembles when ASU (36.9 points per game) played New Mexico State. The Aggies were scoring 30.9 points per game and led ASU 14-7 at halftime before the Red Wolves won 37-21.
“We’ve just got to try and limit the big plays,” Cauthen said.