Season Wrap-Up
January 8, 2023
Season Report Posted: February 07, 2009 17:41
The 2022 Season is finally over and the ULM Warhawks have rebounded from their Week 1 loss to North Texas. After getting up to 5-1 the Warhawks won two easy games against South Carolina and Arkansas going into their season deciding game with Florida. The Warhawks showed the Pollers that they deserved to be higher than their #10 rank by dropping Florida 21-7 but only moved to #8. After dominant wins against Kentucky and Tennessee the Warhawks went to face Florida State. The game went down to the wire but a 15 yard touchdown run from Freshman (RS) tailback Mark Leffew put the Warhawks on top. The final regular season game was a huge one for the Warhawks. The #8 Warhawks headed into the desert to face off with the #13 Nevada Wolfpack in a game that would decide ULM's BCS bowl fate. Once again the Warhawks showed they were better than their rank by demolishing the Wolfpack 31-12. The Warhawks had a bowl game on the horizon but couldn't forget about their SEC championship game against #7 Auburn. This game proved the toughest for the Warhawks as the game went into double overtime and was decided by a game winning Ron McKinney field goal to win the Warhawks their 7th conference title in the last 8 years. The Warhawks were then slated to play Arizona State in the Sugar Bowl in New Orleans, LA. The Warhawks jumped out early with a 7-3 lead from a 102 yard kickoff return from Mark Leffew. The Sun Devils quickly struck back with a touchdown pass to impact player Mark Cox to go up 10-7. However, that was the last time Arizona St. would score as the Warhawks then scored on a touchdown pass from Craig Moore to Jason Little and a 5 yard touchdown run from Jon Miller as time expired. The Warhawks defeated the Sun Devils and earned a Sugar Bowl victory and jumped to #3 in the final polls. QB Craig Moore will graduate and possibly enter the NFL draft along with All-American and Jim Thorpe Award winner Free Safety Tyrone Douglas. Douglas will likely be a first day selection in the NFL draft. Douglas led the Monroe defense with 75 tackles, 8 interceptions, and 2 fumble recoveries as well. The Warhawks finished off a solid season and will look to get back to the promised land that has eluded them for 2 years straight. Craig Moore's absence will leave the QB battle to Tiger Kent and Lawrence Hammond. No reports have come out of Monroe on who will start yet.
Mid-Season Report
October 16, 2022
Season Report Posted: January 10, 2009 22:15
The Warhawks started out this season at #4 in the nation and had a tough game against #18 North Texas right off the bat. The game was tight throughout but unfortunately for Monroe the Mean Green pulled away off a late pick from Craig Moore to give the Warhawks their first loss in a season opener since 2008. The Warhawks then went on a two game road trip starting at Ole Miss. The Warhawks' defense played very well but the offense did not. ULM escaped with a 14-6 win going into an easy game against Rutgers in which the Warhawks won 35-14. After a bye week the now #8 Warhawks went up against #19 LSU. This game was one for the ages as the Warhawks fell behind by 12 with 2 minutes to go. This didn't discourage ULM as Craig Moore completed a 21 yard touchdown pass to FR(RS) RB Mark Leffew with 1:08 left on the clock. After a failed onside kick the Warhawks were forced to play defense, down by 5 points. After a holding penalty and ULM timeouts the Tigers were forced to punt the ball back with only 40 seconds left in the game. Craig Moore then completed a 37 yard pass to back Mark Leffew again to get the Warhawks up to the 40 yard line with 30 seconds left. Moore then found Leffew again for a 40 yard score followed by a two point conversion to put the Warhawks up by 3. With one last shot the Tigers threw a pass up to about the ULM 45 as time expired but a facemask penalty was called putting the Tigers at the ULM 30. The LSU field goal unit came out onto the field to attempt a 47 yard field goal to send it to overtime. The ball was snapped, held, and kicked and hooked left to give the Warhawks a dramatic win going into Georgia. The Warhawks followed up with 2 big wins against Georgia and South Carolina. The Warhawks currently stand at #8 in the nation and their national title hopes are still very much alive, even though they are a 1 loss team. The Warhawks hope to overcome the early season troubles and get back to where they were 2 years ago, the BCS National Title Game.
