Sunday, March 5, 2017

Farewell to 2016: Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks

Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks
4-8 (3-5)

2016 Schedule
Beat Southern 38-21
Lost to Oklahoma 59-17
Lost to Georgia Southern 23-21
Lost to Auburn 58-7
Lost to Idaho 34-31
Beat Texas State 40-34
Lost to New Mexico 59-17
Lost to Arkansas State 51-10
Beat South Alabama 42-35
Beat Georgia State 37-23
Lost to Appalachian State 42-17
Lost to UL-Lafayette 30-3

MVP Offense: RB Thomas Kouffie
The ULM offense was nothing to write home about on any levelu in 2016, but if you hd to pick someone for standing out, it was Kouffie, who rushed for just over 33 yards a game. That was not why he stood out, obviously, but he did stand out for rushing forr nine scores on the season in limited duty. ULM did manage to rush for 181 yards per game as a team.
MVP Defense: LB David Griffith
Griffith led a fairly young defense with 78 tackles on the season. He was successful in breaking through into the backfield in 2016, as he led the team with 12 TFLs, but finished with just three sacks.
Others of Note
Three different QBs played in 2016, with Garrett Smith being the leader with just 1237 yards in ight games. Caleb Evans, a freshman, played in seven games, and passed for 834 yards, while fellow freshman Will Collins passed for just 233 yards.
Ben Luckett averaged just 10.91 carries per game, but that led the team.
RJ Turner, Xavier Brown, and Marcus Green finished in the top three in receiving, and all were sophomores.
Seven of the top ten tacklers were either freshmen or sophomores.
Freshman LB Chase Day recorded 10 TFLs.
Senior DB Justin Backus recorded 10 PBUs, which led the team.
The Warhawks finished by forcing just seven fumbles.
ULM was penalized just 4.2 times per game.
ULM intercepted just six passes as a team in 2016, and they were intercepted 16 times.
Best Win: None
ULM did not defeat a single team with a winning record that played FBS football in 2016. Their wins came against Southern, Texas State, South Alabama, and Georgia State.
Worst Loss: UL-Lafayette
There were many losses, but the most demeaning loss came against their arch rivals, ULL, in the season finale. THe Warhawks came away with a lone FG in a 27 point loss to wrap up the season.
2017 Non Conference Schedule: 8/31 at Memphis, 9/9 at Florida State, 9/16 Southern Miss, 11/18 at Auburn
I cannot see ULM being favored in a single one of these games in 2017. Memphis, Florida State, and Auburn are certain losses, and while there is a chance of an upset against USM, I just don't see it happening.

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