Texas State looks to keep bowl hopes alive against ULM

The road to Bowl Season continues for Texas State as it makes a trip across state lines into Monroe, La. to take on the Louisiana-Monroe Warhawks.

With just four games left in the season, the Bobcats need to win three out of their next four games to remain bowl eligible which makes this month exciting for head coach Jake Spavital.

“These next four games are about team football,” Spavital said. “It’s about how you can find a way to win … that’s why we love the month of November because it’s getting down to crunch time and you are playing for something.”

The Bobcats, however, will also need to win their first road game this season, which Texas State hasn’t done since the regular-season finale against Arkansas State last year. Spavital said he wants his team to figure out how to win away from Bobcat Stadium.

“We have to learn how to win on the road,” Spavital said. “I’m not going to sit here and look at other things. We need to focus on what we gotta do to win this weekend but these kids understand it. They are locked in and I love the energy they have with them being a close group. From a cultural standpoint there are on point with everything from the buy-in to the way they prepare, the dialogue within the team and leadership standpoint. We just have to execute and find a way to win on the road.”

Senior transfer defensive lineman Nelson Mbanasor agrees.

“We need to be more detail oriented,” Mbanasor said. “I feel like every week our coaches put together a great game plan. It’s just a matter of if we can go out there and execute. There has been a three to four play set where we give up an explosive play and it has really cost us on the road.”

Going up against ULM, the Warhawks are led by quarterback Chandler Rogers who has thrown for 1,601 yards, 12 touchdowns and five interceptions.

Rogers is also third on the team in rushing with 95 carries for 239 yards and three touchdowns.

Malik Jackson is the leading rusher for the Warhawks with 97 carries for 367 yards and five touchdowns.

“I think they are a talented offense,” Spavital said. “They are very explosive and just seem to always hit a 50 plus yard touchdown in the first 15 plays of a game. Their quarterback Chandler Rogers is a very dynamic guy. He understands the system very well. He scrambles when needed, extends plays, and he can throw the ball extremely well.”

Since moving up to FBS in 2012, ULM is Texas State’s second most played opponent in FBS with 18 games played right behind North Texas who the Bobcats have played 39 times.

The history between the schools started in 1986 when Texas State, then-Southwest Texas State, took on ULM, then-Northeast Louisiana, in non-conference action.

The two schools became conference rivals in 1987 when Texas State, Northwestern State, Sam Houston State, and Stephen F. Austin left the Gulf Star Conference to join the Southland Conference which at the time included ULM, North Texas, and McNeese State.

From 1987-1993, the two teams battled from Southland Conference with ULM dominating the series winning seven out of the eight games played with Texas State winning their only game against the Warhawks in 1989.

ULM’s football program made the jump to Division 1A in 1994, while the rest of their athletic programs stayed in the Southland which halted the series for six years.

The series was reunited for only one game between 1994-2012 when ULM hosted Texas State in non-conference action in the 2000 season.

Despite being in different divisions, Texas State dominated ULM 27-7 for its first victory in Monroe.

Texas State and ULM were reunited as conference rivals in 2013 as the Bobcats moved from the WAC into the Sun Belt conference.

Unlike their time in the Southland, the series has been much closer through nine games with ULM winning five and Texas State winning four including the Bobcats taking the last two contests in 2020 and 2021.

Texas State at ULM

• When: Saturday, Nov. 5, 4 p.m.
• Where: Malone Stadium, Monroe, La.
• TV: ESPN3
• Radio: 89.9 FM, KTSW