Louisiana Monroe Football: Can Terry Bowden turn Warhawks around?

Plenty of changes abound for ULM offense

There is not much good I can say about the Louisiana Monroe offense, but there are going to be plenty of changes coming in 2021. As I mentioned above, Bowden is bringing in Rich Rodriguez to run the offense and you should expect the rushing attack to get better and be the focal point of the offense.

At quarterback, the Warhawks return last year’s starter Colby Suits and he can be considered the front runner for the job. Suits was just ok last season and Rhett Rodriguez, Rich Rodriguez’s son, was brought in as a transfer to compete with Suits. Rodriguez looked better in the spring game, but this is a competition that should carry into the fall and potentially into the season if one of them can’t separate themselves.

The rushing attack was one of the worst in the country last season, but expect that to change somewhat this year. Rodriguez loves to run the ball and just the volume that the Warhawks should be running it will lead to improved numbers. The guy that should get the most carries is Isaiah Phillips, who had a good finish to the season, but another guy that should be factored in will be Kayden Roach, who is an exciting young player for ULM.

The receiving corps will be missing their best player from last season in tight end Josh Pederson and that will be a huge blow. Jahquan Bloomfield and Jonathan Hodoh should be the top wideouts and Malik Jackson should take over for Pederson at tight end. All of these guys have a lot to prove and have not been big playmakers so far in their careers. The offensive line will return three of five starters, but this was not a good unit last season. There is some youth along the line, so there is some potential upside upfront.

This is an offense that was not really good at one specific thing, so building an identity will be critical as the season goes on. Expect a heavy increase in running the ball.