By Kempton Smith, Appalachian Alumnus + BGP (and Yosef) Contributor

This Saturday’s homecoming matchup brings new faces to a familiar conference foe.  During the off-season the Warhawks swapped head coach Matt Viator for Terry Bowden (yes, that Terry Bowden).  Bowden brought in Rich Rodriguez as Offensive Coordinator.

Terry Bowden was previously the head coach for Division 1 programs, including Samford, Akron, and Auburn. He is the son of the late Bobby Bowden, long-time coach of the Florida State Seminoles.  He grew up around football and has had a career of “mostly winning” seasons.

App Fans may remember Rich Rodriguez (now the OC at ULM) was the Head Coach at West Virginia.  In the summer of 2004, he hosted Jerry Moore and other coaches from Appalachian as the Mountaineer team investigated the spread offense, next-level training, and different facets of “Rich Rod’s” coaching philosophy. This gathering in ’04 was cited as a factor that set App on its winning ways, leading to the 3 FCS National Championships.  It was good for Rodriguez as well. After the 2007 season and a certain Appalachian victory in Ann Arbor, a coaching change occurred.  Rodriguez accepted the Michigan Head Coach position, a promotion from West Virginia.

No one will argue that App has not had several coaching changes, but the Mountaineers also have a tradition of winning that seems to buffer the transitions.  That is not the case for the Warhawks.  These new coaches have a lot of bad history to get beyond.  It is true; they won the I-AA National Championship in 1987 and won outright or shared the Southland Conference title four times in the 80s.  However, in the 2000s, they have not been good.  Only one season in this millennium was a winning season, standing out at 8-5. That was 2012.  Getting a road win in Boone would propel growth for ULM.  Expect ULM to be prepared.

ULM also has a history of upsetting good teams.  Six times in the last 20 years, ULM has defeated the eventual conference champion or runner-up during the season.  In 2017, Appalachian’s lone conference loss was to ULM.  The Warhawks defeated the Mountaineers 53-45. The one loss caused the conference championship to be shared with Troy.

Athletic Finances

Beyond coaching, ULM receives very little support from the Warkhawk Club as compared to other Sunbelt institutions.  Contributions in 2019 totaled under $800k, as compared to over $4m from Yosef members.  Likewise, ticket sales from sporting events are much lower, with ULM generating only $636k in 2019 compared to Apps $3.2m.  The Warhawks make up for the shortfalls in these areas through more significant competition guarantees and lower football spending.

Football Culture – Parking Lot, Stands, Scoreboard

As reported in a Monroe newspaper (The News Star),

There was a saying around Louisiana-Monroe for a long time. The football team may win, lose or really lose, but the fans have never lost a tailgate.

While that may still be the case, the pregame festivities changed forever following the 2018 season.

Since Malone Stadium opened in 1978, the Grove was the epicenter for countless tailgating, concerts, chili cookoffs, “Hawk Walks” and other events. But the thicket of pecan and oak trees lining the stadium’s south side were demolished …

…Fans were left in the dark for months, but after much handwringing, ULM unveiled plans to relocate tailgating last summer (2019). Relocated to the pecan grove area on the east end of Malone Stadium, the new tailgating hub includes 71 tailgate spaces and 32 RV bays. The original design featured 93 spaces and 41 bays.

App wins the parking lot.

On the campus of ULM, Malone Stadium is about the size of KBS. It does not compare in percent occupied during any recent football games.  The 2019 attendance average at Malone Stadium was 16,728; KBS was 23,806.  The 2021 home game average for ULM (thru 10/22) is 13,986 vs KBS average of 29,887.

Both programs place the student section next to the field, but Malone stadium assignments relegate the students and band from the end zone to the 25 yard line.  App’s student section covers the entire sideline behind the Mountaineer’s bench.

App wins the stands.  The best summation for App State’s dominance in this metric:  KBS recently was recognized as the best home-field advantage in the Sunbelt.

Apps “scoreboard” was previously addressed, and App success over ULM (5-1) would say this is a win.

Summary:

• App Tailgating continues to grow despite challenges, and gameday is amazing.
• The stadium is predominatenly full in KBS as compared to slightly over 50% for some games in Monroe.
• We have the tradition of beating the Warhawks.

This week’s game is an “everything to win, nothing to lose” affair for Bowden and company.  The weather forecast is iffy, and so far in 2021, App has done well with a balance of pass and run offense.  The weather could marginalize the KBS home-field advantage and push the Black and Gold to a run-oriented offense.

KBS needs to be present and be loud, regardless of the weather.  These Super Seniors deserve another shot at the other Louisiana college.  To get there, we need to win out.

And about ULM’s academic background

You can call me Ray…

Formed as Ouachita Parish Junior College in 1931, the institution that became the University of Louisiana Monroe evolved quickly.  After three years, it became the Northeast Center of Louisiana State University.  After 12 years, it changed again to Northeast Junior College of Louisiana State University.  A short one year later (1950) Northeast Louisiana State College. This name remained until 1969 when it became Northeast Louisiana University concurrent with doctoral degrees.  The directional name was dropped in 1999 in preference to the city reference.

Enrollment

In 2020, ULM reports 8,676 students (6,859 undergrads).  89% of these students are in-state. App has a total enrollment of 20,641, and undergrad total is 18,555.

The ULM campus is smaller than Appalachian’s; there are fewer major fields of study and fewer graduate programs, yet ULM compares with doctoral universities on the rating scale.

Arts, Education, and Medical/Health Sciences lead the enrollment by majors.  First-year students enrollment indicates Nursing, Pharmacy, and Biology will continue leading other fields of study at ULM.

Rankings

ULM ranks in the bottom tier of doctoral universities, according to US News.  They are the best Pharmacy program in Louisiana.

Appalachian is number six among regional universities in the south region. It is more highly regarded in educating future teachers (number 2) and nurses (top in NC), and is ranked the most innovative school in the south by US News.