ULM Warhawks: A day that lives in infamy

Iowa's next football opponent is Louisiana Monroe. No hyphen. Did you know there's no hyphen? Do you really know the ULM Warhawks?

No? Well, wake up and smell the jambalaya.

On Nov. 17, 2007, the Alabama football program was shamed. It lost at home to the ULM Warhawks 21-14. Which prompted this billboard to be put up in Monroe at a cost of $12,000 to a Monroe car dealer who was pretty, pretty proud.

We'll get back to that game later in this post. But Hawkeye fans, don't be duped into thinking ULM is a perennial giant-killer. It is quite the opposite.

Since 1998 when the BCS came into existence, the Warhawks have played 37 teams from BCS conferences. That Alabama game was their lone win.

This season, ULM lost at Florida State, 34-0, and at TCU, 38-17. Those were gentle defeats compared to many the program has absorbed in its quest to get the big paychecks to serve as something other than war-mongering birds. Some examples:

1998: Kansas State 62, ULM 7

2000: Tennessee 70, ULM 3

2002: Kansas State 68, ULM 0

2003: Mississippi 59, ULM 14

2003: Auburn 73, ULM 7

2007: Texas A&M 54, ULM 14

2008: Mississippi 59, ULM 0

2010: Auburn 52, ULM 3

2010: LSU 51, ULM 0

Total all the points from those 37 "contests," and ULM loses by an average of 35 points.

No wonder then first-year Alabama Coach Nick Saban was so down in the mouth after his team fell to ULM four years ago.

The Warhawks did lead TCU 17-14 after the first quarter Saturday in Fort Worth and gained 189 yards in that period. But they managed just 125 yards and zero points in the final three.

If Iowa doesn't win Saturday in Kinnick Stadium, its victory over Pittsburgh will be changed from "show of great character" to "crazy fluke." I doubt any editing will be necessary.