2012 Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football team

The 2012 Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football team represented the University of Louisiana at Monroe in the 2012 NCAA Division I FBS football season. The Warhawks were led by third-year head coach Todd Berry and played their home games at Malone Stadium. They were a member of the Sun Belt Conference. They finished the season 8–5, 6–2 in Sun Belt play to finish in a three-way tie for second place. They were invited to the Independence Bowl, the first bowl appearance in school history, where they were defeated by Ohio.

2012 Louisiana–Monroe Warhawks football
Independence Bowl, L 14–45 vs. Ohio
Conference	Sun Belt Conference
2012 record	8–5 (6–2 Sun Belt)
Head coach	Todd Berry (3rd season)
Offensive coordinator	Steve Farmer (3rd in succession, 8th overall season)
Offensive scheme	Multiple
Defensive coordinator	Troy Reffett (4th season)
Base defense	3–3–5
Home stadium	Malone Stadium (Capacity: 30,427)

2012 Sun Belt Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
Arkansas State $		7	–	1					10	–	3
Louisiana–Monroe		6	–	2					8	–	5
Middle Tennessee		6	–	2					8	–	4
Louisiana–Lafayette *		4	–	2					5	–	4
WKU		4	–	4					7	–	6
Troy		3	–	5					5	–	7
North Texas		3	–	5					4	–	8
Florida Atlantic		2	–	6					3	–	9
FIU		2	–	6					3	–	9
South Alabama **		1	–	7					2	–	11
$ – Conference champion * – Louisiana–Lafayette vacated 4 wins due to NCAA violations. ** – South Alabama was inelible for conference title or bowl game as part of their transition to the FBS.

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 8	6:00 pm	at No. 8 Arkansas*	War Memorial Stadium Little Rock, AR	ESPNU	W 34–31 ^OT	53,089
September 15	11:00 am	at Auburn*	Jordan–Hare Stadium Auburn, AL	SECN	L 28–31 ^OT	85,214
September 21	7:00 pm	Baylor*	Malone Stadium Monroe, LA	ESPN	L 42–47	31,175^A
September 29	3:30 pm	at Tulane*	Mercedes-Benz Superdome New Orleans, LA	CST	W 63–10	18,063
October 6	2:30 pm	at Middle Tennessee	Johnny "Red" Floyd Stadium Murfreesboro, TN	SBN/CSS	W 31–17	21,067
October 13	7:00 pm	Florida Atlantic	Malone Stadium Monroe, LA	SBN/CSS	W 35–14	16,782
October 20	3:00 pm	at WKU	Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	ESPN3	W 43–42 ^OT	22,323
October 27	6:00 pm	South Alabama	Malone Stadium Monroe, LA		W 38–24	14,556
November 3	3:00 pm	Louisiana–Lafayette	Malone Stadium Monroe, LA (Battle on the Bayou)	SBN/CSS	L 24–40	20,203
November 8	6:00 pm	at Arkansas State	Liberty Bank Stadium Jonesboro, AR	ESPNU	L 23–45	30,243
November 17	3:00 pm	North Texas	Malone Stadium Monroe, LA		W 42–16	14,079
November 24	5:00 pm	at FIU	FIU Stadium Miami, FL		W 23–17 ^OT	12,115
December 28	1:00 pm	vs. Ohio*	Independence Stadium Shreveport, LA (Independence Bowl)	ESPN	L 14–45	41,853
*Non-conference game Rankings from AP Poll All times are in Central time

Schedule Source:[1]

• ^A Denotes the largest crowd in Malone Stadium history.

Game summaries

@ Arkansas

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Warhawks	7	0	7	14	6	34
#8 Razorbacks	7	14	7	0	3	31

The Warhawks came into War Memorial Stadium as 30.5 point underdogs. In regulation, the Warhawks played the Razorbacks to a tie. Arkansas, who had three starters (including QB Tyler Wilson) injured in the game, was held to a field goal in the 1st overtime. ULM faced a 4th and 1 in same overtime period, and elected to pursue a first down. The result was a ULM QB Kolton Browning game-winning touchdown run. Browning finished with 481 total yards, three touchdowns passing, and one touchdown rushing.

Louisiana-Monroe's victory over #8 Arkansas marked the first victory by any Sun Belt Conference team over a top-ten opponent and the first victory over any ranked opponent since 2004.[2]

@ Auburn

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Warhawks	7	7	0	14	0	28
Tigers	7	14	7	0	3	31

Baylor

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	24	10	13	47
Warhawks	14	7	7	14	42

@ Tulane

	1	2	3	4	Total
Warhawks	21	14	21	7	63
Green Wave	0	3	0	7	10

@ Middle Tennessee

	1	2	3	4	Total
Warhawks	7	10	14	0	31
Blue Raiders	3	0	7	7	17

Florida Atlantic

	1	2	3	4	Total
Owls	0	7	0	7	14
Warhawks	7	14	7	7	35

@ WKU

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Warhawks	0	21	0	14	8	43
Hilltoppers	7	21	0	7	7	42

South Alabama

	1	2	3	4	Total
Jaguars	7	7	7	3	24
Warhawks	0	21	7	10	38

Louisiana–Lafayette

	1	2	3	4	Total
Ragin' Cajuns	7	14	7	12	40
Warhawks	10	7	0	7	24

@ Arkansas State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Warhawks	7	3	7	6	23
Red Wolves	14	3	21	7	45

North Texas

	1	2	3	4	Total
Mean Green	0	3	7	6	16
Warhawks	7	7	7	21	42

@ FIU

	1	2	3	4	OT	Total
Warhawks	7	3	7	0	6	23
Panthers	0	7	3	7	0	17

Ohio–Independence Bowl

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bobcats	14	10	14	7	45
Warhawks	0	7	7	0	14

Rankings

ULM shocks #8 Arkansas in War Memorial Stadium, 34-31 OT

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	14	Final
AP	NR	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Coaches	NR	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	RV	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR
Harris	Not released						RV	RV	RV	RV	NR	NR	RV	RV	NR	Not released
BCS	Not released							NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	NR	Not released

References

1. "2012 LSU Tigers Football Schedule". Retrieved December 29, 2011.
2. "Louisiana-Monroe shocks No. 8 Arkansas with fourth-down TD in OT". ESPN.com. September 9, 2012. Retrieved September 10, 2012.