Can the Warhawks be a serious threat?
(Photo by Acid Reign.)
War Eagle, everybody! It’s time now for another Auburn football preview! Auburn will host the Louisiana Monroe Warhawks at Jordan Hare Stadium on October first. The last time these two teams met was 2012, when Auburn climbed to a 28-14 lead in the 3rd quarter, then was dominated the rest of the way. Monroe battled back to a 28-all tie, and would have won the game with a reliable kicker in regulation. Auburn’s Cody Parkey kicked a field goal in overtime, and ULM missed, and Auburn escaped with a 31-28 win.
While Auburn has been up and down since, ULM has been mostly down. Last year’s Warhawk squad got off to a 1-9 start which cost head coach Todd Berry his job. Over 13 games last season, ULM gave up a ridiculous 36.5 points per game, a full touchdown per game worse than Auburn has ever done! To right the ship, ULM has turned to up and coming FCS star coach Matt Viator. Viator has spent the previous decade at McNeese State, where he won three Southland Conference titles in his first four seasons, then posted mostly 6-5-type seasons thereafter.
Auburn starts this season with 5 consecutive games at home in Jordan Hare Stadium, before hitting the road to Starkville on October 8th. The Tigers open with Clemson, then regroup with Arkansas State, before Texas A&M and LSU come calling. Louisiana Monroe marks the 5th straight home game on October 1st. ULM opens at home vs. Southern University, then goes on the road to Oklahoma, and Georgia Southern the next two weeks. ULM has a bye week, before visiting Auburn.
In 2016, ULM hopes to right the ship on an absolutely dreadful defensive squad that gave up 5 touchdown per game on average in 2015. Mike Collins gets the nod at defensive coordinator, after a successful 3 year stint at Sam Houston State. ULM will transition from a 3-3-5 defense to a more familiar 4-2-5 look, this season.
Offensively, the Warhawks will go with new coordinator Matt Kubic, who comes over from Stephen F. Austin, and will try to inject some life. Kubic has some credentials, having served as a quarterback coach at the Manning family Passing Academy in the past.
Last season, Louisiana Monroe was mostly bad at special teams. The team was dreadful at returns, and only managed a handful of punts that went 40 yards or more. The team managed just 2.2 yards per punt return, and tended to just let the ball hit the ground.
Unit matchups, after the jump!
Auburn defensive line vs. ULM offensive line: Auburn brings a deep and talented defensive line into this game, a line that finally looked healthy this spring, after a couple of years of problems. Junior defensive end Carl Lawson and senior tackle Montravius Adams could have been drafted by the NFL last spring, had they gone out. Sophomore tackle Dontavius Russell really came on late last year, and was a force in Auburn’s spring game. Auburn’s end situation on the strong side is still a bit unsettled. Sophomore Byron Cowart was the heir-apparent this past spring, but it was true freshman phenom Marlon Davidson who started on A-Day, and he was impressive. Auburn has depth at both positions, and the team plans to rotate frequently up front. From left to right, ULM will go with senior Rey Baltazar, junior Frank Sutton, redshirt freshman Bobby Reynolds, senior Jeff Savage, and sophomore Keaton Baggs. Advantage: Auburn.
Auburn linebackers vs. ULM backs: I think I’ll pencil junior Tre’ Williams and incoming senior transfer T. J. Neal in as starters, and I think we’ll see sophomore Deshaun Davis if Auburn uses 3 linebackers. There is talent behind those guys, although most of it is unproven. For ULM, former receiver Tyler Cain moves to running back from a receiver position, for his senior year. Listed at just 5′ 7” and 186 pounds, he’ll be expected to avoid tacklers and gain yards via misdirection and speed. Cain is backed up by sophomore Ben Luckett. Advantage: Auburn.
Auburn corners vs. ULM receivers: Auburn will be talented, if a bit young at corner this season. Sophomore Carlton Davis is locked in at one starting spot, after a stellar freshman campaign. A battle is still on for the other spot, between redshirt freshman Jamel Dean, senior T. J. Davis, freshman John Broussard, and redshirt freshman Javaris Davis. One could also see senior Joshua Holsey at corner, if necessary. All of these guys showed great things this spring. Senior Walter Holley and sophomore Marcus Green get the nods on the outside, after going for 60 and 63 catches last season, respectively. Both are smaller, quick receivers. Advantage: Auburn.
Auburn safeties vs. ULM secondary receivers and quarterback: I’m going to put senior starting Auburn nickelback Jonathan Ford here with the safeties, and it’s really not certain at this time who’ll be back there with him. Senior Joshua Holsey and junior Tray Matthews are veterans, but both are coming off surgery. Junior Stephen Roberts came off the bench last season to replace the fallen, and he looked good this spring. Junior Nick Ruffin held down the other safety spot this spring. Auburn should have a good bit of depth, here. Sophomore quarterback Garrett Smith was easily ULM’s most consistent player in 2015, when he was healthy. He shows a strong arm, a quick release, and is a threat to scramble as well. ULM hopes that sophomore slot receiver R. J. Turner has the speed to burn defenses, this season. Advantage: Auburn.
Punting: Senior Kevin Phillips returns to punt again for Auburn, but he is being challenged by redshirt freshman Ian Shannon this summer. Phillips averaged 41.0 yards on 55 punts, with 5 touchbacks and 17 balls killed inside the 20. Auburn gave up only 7 returns all last season for a 12.4 yard average, but one of them was an average-inflating 53 yard touchdown. Senior Marcus Davis handled all Auburn punt returns last season, for a healthy 11.9 yard average. Redshirt freshman Alex Prince takes over the punting duties for ULM this season. He averaged just 38 yards per punt in the ULM spring game. ULM gave up 26 punt returns last season for a 10.5 yard average, and managed just 2.2 yards per return on 11 returns. Advantage: Auburn.
Kickoffs: Daniel Carlson was very good kicking off last season, notching 49 touchbacks on 69 kickoffs. When other teams did return the ball, the Auburn coverage held them to 21.2 yards per return. Auburn was dangerous returning the ball, averaging 27.9 yards per return, despite not having one go for a touchdown. Jonathan Ford and sophomore Kerryon Johnson return, here, sporting last season averages of 28.6 and 27.6, respectively. Last season, Craig Ford managed just 6 touchbacks on 56 kickoffs for ULM, and he’ll reprise that role this year in his sophomore season. ULM gave up just 16.3 yards per return last season, while managing 19.4 yards per return. Advantage: Auburn.
Place kicking: Auburn junior Daniel Carlson is the man for Auburn. Carlson was 23 of 27 on field goals, and perfect on extra points last season. In his freshman season in 2015, Craig Ford hit 9 of 14 field goal attempts, and all of his extra points. Advantage: Auburn.
Auburn offensive line vs. ULM defensive line: The Tigers retool this year under new line coach Herb Hand. They’ll go with junior Austin Golson at left tackle, senior Alex Kozan at guard, senior Devonte Danzy at center, junior Braden Smith at right guart, and senior Robert Leff at right tackle. This should be a veteran, dominating bunch. ULM hopes to shore up a line that was gashed last season for 208 yards per game on the ground. They’ll go with junior David Elias and senior Colton Moorehead inside, and junior Caleb Tucker and sophomore Shaquile Warren at ends. Collectively, this bunch averages just 252 pounds across the front. Advantage: Auburn.
Auburn backs vs. ULM linebackers: Senior Jovon Robinson looks to be Auburn’s feature-back next season, after coming on strong down the stretch last season. He’ll be joined in the backfield by a brutal tandem of H-backs, in sophomores Kamryn Pettway and Chandler Cox. Both of those guys are a threat with the ball in their hands, also. Pettway and Cox may also be featured as tailbacks behind Robinson. ULM is very young at linebacker, and will likely start sophomore David Griffith and redshirt freshman Chase Day. Advantage: Auburn.
Auburn receivers vs. ULM corners: Auburn appears set at the outside receiver spots coming out of spring, with senior Marcus Davis and junior Jason Smith as starters. The Tigers could be helped by an influx of talented true freshmen this fall. The rest of the group really didn’t impress, on A-Day. Senior Lenzy Pipkens is a veteran, experienced corner for ULM, and he’ll be joined by sophomore Marcus Hubbard, who is undersized, but very fast. Advantage: Even.
Auburn secondary receivers and quarterback vs. ULM safeties: Auburn has potential threats here, in Darius Slayton, Logan Rice, and Ryan Davis. Tight ends will likely be used more, this season, and freshman Landon Rice reportedly has good hands. Still, none of these guys has much experience. Auburn is still unsettled at quarterback, having not named a starter coming out of spring drills. Tallying up the various rumors has sophomore Sean White at the top of the heap, but this decision won’t be made till fall. ULM is experienced in the back end, with senior Justin Backus at bandit, and senior Tre’ Hunter at free safety. Sophomore Wesley Thompson had a good freshman campaign on the strong side. Advantage: ULM.
On paper, Auburn should maul this squad. However, at McNeese State, Coach Viator’s teams had a history of giving higher classification schools fits. Looking at common opponents from last season, ULM lost 34-0 early in the season to Alabama, and lost on the road at Idaho, 27-13. Of Louisiana Monroe’s 2016 signees, none rated over 3 starts, and none appear likely to crack the starting lineup.
Prediction: Auburn gets a breather from SEC play, and tunes up on the Warhawks, 38-10.
The post ULM Marks Five in a Row at Home. (Auburn vs. ULM preview.) appeared first on Track 'Em Tigers, Auburn's oldest and most read independent blog.
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