November improvement a trademark of WarHawks

TUSCALOOSA | It might sound funny, but the University of Alabama football team might be catching the Louisiana-Monroe WarHawks at the wrong time.

It’s been a trademark of Charlie Weatherbie’s teams at UL-M that they improve in November, something that has not been a hallmark of recent Crimson Tide teams. Part of that is a function of scheduling — UL-M’s toughest games tend to be the out-of-conference games it plays early in the year, while Alabama’s schedule has a notably tough closing stretch in most seasons. Still, with the Crimson Tide coming off two consecutive losses, Saturday’s 1:30 p.m. game against UL-M is no time for complacency.

Weatherbie, however, said at his Wednesday press conference that timing really isn’t an issue.

“Alabama is a good football team,” he said. “They’re a physical team, they play very fast.

“I don’t think anything changes [because Alabama lost to Mississippi State]. I don’t think that anger lasts long after the game starts. We’ve got to take care of what we’ve got control over, not what they’ve got control over. We don’t have any control over Alabama, we just have to go and be ready to play our hearts out.”

The key to UL-M’s success is its offense. Defensively, the WarHawks allow more than 30 points per game, but their offense is multi-dimensional and features one of the better-unknown running backs in the nation in Calvin Dawson.

Last season against Alabama, Dawson rushed 16 times for 118 yards although the Tide easily defeated UL-M 41-7. He has subsequently posted 100-yard games against Arkansas, Kentucky. Clemson and Texas A&M. Overall this season, he has rushed for 1,257 yards and 11 touchdowns, despite sharing time with freshman Frank Goodin, a speedster who has 496 yards and three touchdowns.

“It says a lot for our offensive line as well as Calvin if we can continue to do that,” Weatherbie said when asked about Goodin’s streak of 100-yard games. “It’s important for Calvin to get 100 yards, but it’s more important to win games and we’ll need both backs to do that.

“Frank Goodin brings kind of a different style to the game. He’s more of a slasher-type runner. He’s a physical player for a small-statured young man. If we can keep Frank healthy then maybe he can break all of Calvin’s records.”

A Louisiana-Monroe victory wouldn’t be completely unprecedented, although it would be close. UL-M is 2-29-1 all-time against SEC competition, winning against Kentucky in 1994 and Mississippi State in 1995.

“It’s exciting.” Weatherbie said about the trip to Tuscaloosa. “Our players get excited about the opportunity. Their record is not an indication of how good a football team they are. This year’s team plays very, very hard. In looking at the defensive side of the ball, they run to the ball very well. They are very multiple in what they do. Kevin Steele will do a great job in scheming up their coverages and their fronts. They may be as athletic as any defense we’ve faced.

Tide coach Nick Saban is 1-0 in his career against UL-M.

“We played in 2003 when he was the head coach at LSU,” Weatherbie said. I’ve seen him on the recruiting trail up here in Northeast Louisiana,” Weatherbie said. “That’s about it.”