Warhawks pull off long sought after victory over Arkansas State in Rice Bowl Rivalry
ULM is the inaugural Rice Bowl Champions, following a 28-16 win against Arkansas State on Saturday. This win not only gave the Warhawks their first conference win of the season, but was also the first time that they have defeated Arkansas State since 2009.
“What we need to do? And I told people this last year, I said, we’ve got to build a trophy case. And people looked at me like I was crazy. I said, Guys, we better build a trophy case, because we’re going to put some trophies in there. Now we’ll put our first one, the rice bowl, first ever Rice Bowl champions. we’ll take everyone we can. We’re going to build this program one day at a time,” said ULM football head coach Bryant Vincent. “We’ll make sure we get a really nice trophy case to be prepared, because we’re not done.”
Things started off a bit rough for ULM as quarterback Aidan Armenta threw an interception on the opening drive that was returned for 32 yards and a touchdown by Arkansas State safety Brandon Greil. Following a punt by ULM, Arkansas State quarterback Jaylen Raynor threw an interception of his own to ULM defensive back, Kristopher Robinson. ULM was unable to do anything with the takeaway as they had a three-and-out. Arkansas State and ULM each punted again before the Red Wolves got something going again.
On a big third-down play, Arkansas State was on the ULM 47, and Jaylen Raynor took the sack from Noah Flemmings. Unfortunately for ULM there was a flag on the play, holding on defensive lineman Kamrin Canterbury. This penalty gave Arkansas State new life, and after the defense helped Arkansas State in check, the Red Wolves had to settle for a 51-yard field goal by kicker Clune Van Andrel.
After a rough, yet manageable first quarter, ULM responded very well. ULM had a 12-play, six-minute drive that started with running back Braylon McReynolds breaking away for a 24-yard gain. A costly penalty for Arkansas State gave ULM fresh life and sex up the 8-yard pass by Aidan Armenta to Julian Nixon.
A promising drive by Arkansas State ended up resulting in a turnover on downs after back-to-back pass breakups by Kamrin Canterbury and David Godsey Jr. Following this boost of momentum, ULM responded with a 37-yard touchdown pass from Aidan Armenta to Jake Godfrey. Arkansas State closed out the first half with a missed 23-yard field goal attempt. ULM went into halftime with a 14-10 lead.
To open up the second half, Arkansas State was moving the ball, but quarterback Jaylen Raynor fumbled on the Arkansas State 45-yard line and was recovered by ULM’s Noah Flemmings. ULM responded quickly as Braylon McReynolds scored on an 18-yard rush.
Arkansas State answered back with a 43-yard field goal by Clune Van Andel. Arkansas State then forced a three-and-out and responded with a 30-yard field goal by Van Andel, making it a five-point game, with ULM leading 21-16. Following some big plays, ULM was able to extend its lead and seal the game after Zach Palmer-Smith scored on a 2-yard rush. After a turnover on downs where Arkansas State was on the ULM 8 yard line, ULM was able to call ballgame. Zach Palmer-Smith converted a big 3rd and 10 with a 56 yard rush and Aidan Armenta was able to take a knee and end the game.
HOMECOMING DUB. pic.twitter.com/bhctoPCbB6
— ULM Football (@ULM_FB) September 27, 2025
ULM ran for 218 yards on 32 carries with two touchdowns. Led by Braylon McReynolds (13 carries, 73 yards and one touchdown) and Zach Palmer-Smith (8 carries, 84 yards and one touchdown). Aidan Armenta had a great game (16-25, 175 yards, two touchdowns and one interception). D’Arco Perkins-McAllister had another good game, really showing that he is the face of the defense (five tackles, one sack, one TFL and two passes defended).
“The focus, the preparation, it was tremendous,” said head coach Bryant Vincent. “I thought our coaching staff and our players really owned their preparation going into this game.”
ULM will travel to Evanston, Illinois, to take on the Northwestern Wildcats from the Big Ten. This will be ULM’s final non-conference game of the season. The game will take place Saturday, October 4th at 3:30 p.m./CT from Martin Stadium.
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