First look at UAB vs Louisiana Monroe

By Steve Irvine

BIRMINGHAM, ALABAMA - September 6, 2026

FIRST LOOK AT LOUSIANA MONROE

Bryant Vincent returns to Protective Stadium on Saturday afternoon. The former UAB offensive coordinator and interim head coach brings his Louisiana Monroe team to town to play UAB in the Blazers home opener.

You think Vincent will be pumped up for this one?

The Warhawks are coming off a 62-13 loss at Mississippi State in the season opener. The Bulldogs outgained ULM, 762-268, in a game that featured no turnovers.

“Obviously very disappointing, doesn't matter who we're playing,” Vincent said in his postgame press conference. “Disappointing. I think, what was it, 3-for-16 on third down? We win a lot of games on third down, doing that offensively and I think we were in 3rd-and-2 maybe four times. Couldn't execute, false starts, you know, not handling the snap. Fourth down, not knowing it's fourth down, and throwing the ball down the field. So that's on me. You know, it's on me. That's a head coaching issue right there.”

The Warhawks played three quarterbacks in the lopsided game with Aiden Armenta getting his 20th career start at ULM. Armenta, who was a redshirt freshman at New Mexico when Vincent was the Lobos offensive coordinator, was 10-of-16 for 67 yards and added 15 yards rushing before being pulled on the second offensive series of the third quarter. Austin Carlisle, a 5-foot-10, 190-pound sophomore transfer from Houston, came on to complete six passes in 10 attempts for 73 yards with a 40-yard scoring pass to Derrick Jameson. Carlisle also had a team-high 50 rushing yards on seven carries and led all three ULM scoring drives. Landon Graves missed both of his passing attempts after being inserted late in the game.

“We wanted to play a lot of guys,” Vincent said. “We wanted to see other guys play all over the team. And I thought Austin, he came in and boom, we scored a touchdown. We converted a 4th-and-2, kicked a field goal (and) had some opportunities on some other drives and missed a field goal. Then there was opportunity for Landon to come in because they've all three shown they can play.”

Defensively, the Warhawks allowed 417 yards passing and 345 yards rushing. The Bulldogs scored four touchdowns on the ground and four more through the air.

“I think we looked like a bad tackling football team,” Vincent said. “I don't think we tackled very well. They were 6-for-6 in the red zone. We were very poor defensively in the red zone. We were very poor defensively tackling and we were very poor defensively covering. We didn't get to the quarterback at all. We did not affect the quarterback at all. They had a lot to do with that, but we did too.”

The Warhawks need to regroup and get ready for Vincent’s second game against his former team. A motivated ULM team beat UAB, 32-6, in 2024, during Vincent’s first season in Monroe. This weekend’s visit will not only be a homecoming for Vincent but also six members of his staff – offensive line coach Cameron Blankenship, quarterback coach Taylor Dupuis, tight end coach Brady Vincent, assistant quarterback coach Brayden Burkhardt and assistant running back coach Jermaine Brown – and a pair of players in safety Carl Fauntroy and wide receiver Brandon Buckhaulter. UAB has a pair of ULM connections in running back coach Hindley Brigham and running back Bam McReynolds, who each spent last season in Monroe.

Last week’s results for remaining teams on UAB’s schedule

Louisiana (1-0) beat Lamar, 38-7 … Louisiana turned the ball over three times but also forced four turnovers in the win.

Navy (1-0) beat Towson, 42-15 … QB Braxton Woodson had 200 of team’s 506 rushing yards and three of six rushing TDs.

Samford (0-2) lost to Southern Illinois, 22-18 … QB Garrad Johnson played well in the one possession loss against a heavy favorite.

Memphis (2-0) beat Arkansas State … Tigers had 335 yards and four touchdowns on the ground.

East Carolina lost to No. 13 Alabama, 48-10 … Pirates had two rushing yards on 22 attempts.

South Florida beat FIU, 19-9 … Defense carried the Bulls as offense produced just 209 yards and one TD.

Charlotte lost to The Citadel, 43-41 in 3 OTs … 49ers had 538 offensive yards in loss to FCS team.

Temple (1-0) beat Rhode Island, 38-14 … Owls RB Keveun Mason gained 158 yards on 20 carries with 2 TDs.

UTSA (1-0) beat UT Rio Grande, 45-16 … QB Owen McCown threw for 275 yards and three TDs.

North Texas (0-1) lost to No. 6 Indiana, 52-16 … Former UAB WR Corri Milliner had team-best 4 catches for 66 yards for Mean Green.