Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football


 * For information on all University of Louisiana at Monroe sports, see Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks

The Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football (also referred to as the ULM Warhawks, formerly as the Northeast Louisiana Indians) program is a college football team that represents the University of Louisiana at Monroe (ULM). With a history dating back to 1931, ULM currently competes in the NCAA Football Bowl Subdivision as a member of the Sun Belt Conference (Sun Belt). The Warhawks currently play their home games at Malone Stadium, located on the campus in Monroe, Louisiana. Since December 2009, Todd Berry has served as the Warhawks' head coach.

History
What is now Louisiana–Monroe, originally competed as a junior college from 1931 through 1950. In 1951 the Indians completed their first season in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics (NAIA) as Northeast Louisiana State College. Northeast competed as part of the NAIA through the 1974 season and compiled a record of 87 wins, 138 losses and four ties. From 1974 through 1993, NLU competed at the I-AA division winning four conference championships and the 1987 National Championship before moving up to I-A in 1994.

After competing as an Independent from 1994 though 2000, the Warhawks joined the Sun Belt Conference for the 2001 season. In 2007, the Warhawks upset the Alabama Crimson Tide in Bryant–Denny Stadium 21–14, despite being 25-point underdogs and expected to lose by as much as 38. It has since been called "one of the most important wins in school history".

Football classifications

 * 1931–1950: National Junior College Athletic Association
 * 1951–1974: NAIA
 * 1974–1993: NCAA Division I-AA
 * 1994–present: NCAA Division I-A

Conference affiliations

 * 1931–1950: National Junior College Athletic Association
 * 1951–1952: NAIA Independent
 * 1953–1971: Gulf States Conference
 * 1972–1977: Independent
 * 1982–1993: Southland Conference
 * 1994–2000: Division I-A Independent
 * 2001–present: Sun Belt Conference

National championship
Led by first team All-America Stan Humphries, the 1987 Indians squad completed the regular season with an overall record of 9–2. The losses came against Lamar and Southwestern Louisiana of Division I-A. The Indians also finished 6–0 to capture their first outright Southland Conference championship. En route to the championship game, NLU defeated North Texas, Eastern Kentucky and Northern Iowa. Played at the MiniDome in Pocatello, Idaho, the Indians faced off against the Marshall Thundering Herd for the I-AA National Championship. In the championship game, Marshall took a 42–28 lead into the fourth quarter only to have Humphries lead the Indians to a pair of late touchdowns and captured the championship with their 43–42 victory.

Conference championships
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==Year-by-year results ==
 * Statistics correct as of the end of the 2011-12 college football season

All-time Sun Belt records

 * Statistics correct as of the end of the 2011-12 college football season

This table includes all Sun Belt games from 2001, the year ULM joined the Sun Belt Conference. It includes only games that were Sun Belt conference games, and does not include postseason games.

Overtime

 * Statistics correct as of the end of the 2011-12 college football season

Following the 1995 season, the NCAA changed the rules to allow for overtime on games tied at the end of four quarters. Until that time, ULM had tied 8 times. Since then, ULM has participated in four overtimes game and has won two of those games for a winning percentage of .500.

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Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns
The Battle on the Bayou is the annual rivalry game between Louisiana–Monroe and Louisiana–Lafayette. The wooden boot-shaped rivalry trophy was created in 2002 to be awarded to the victors.

Arkansas State Red Wolves
Both schools were nicknamed the Indians until the NCAA banned the native American nickname. ULM changed their nickname to the Warhawks in 2006, and ASU changed their nickname to the Red Wolves in 2008. Arkansas State leads the overall series against ULM (19-14). ASU won the first meeting in Jonesboro in 1959, 15-0. ASU and ULM have been conference foes in the Southland and the Sun Belt. The rivals shared the Sun Belt title in 2005. The series is alternates every year between Jonesboro and Monroe, Louisiana.

Northwestern State Demons
In the 1992 edition of the rivalry game, the teams' mascots Vic the Demon and Chief Brave Spirit got involved in a fight that distracted television cameras to the point that the entire altercation is caught on video. In the scuffle, Vic the Demon's head is ripped off as the two crashed to the ground behind one of the end zones, which according to the video clip breaks a "cardinal rule" of being a mascot. The melee was broken up by college police without further incident.

Professional players
The program has sent several players into the professional ranks, including Stan Humphries, Bubby Brister, Chris Harris, Doug Pederson, Marty Booker and Smokey Stover into the National Football League, Steven Jyles into the Canadian Football League and Raymond Philyaw into the Arena League.

Current NFL players