ULM Stuns Troy 21-14 With Three Touchdowns in the Final 2:34

For 54 minutes on Saturday, ULM looked like a team that had forgotten how to win. Then the Warhawks scored three touchdowns in the final 2:34, and the last one came on a play that Troy started and ULM finished.

With five seconds left and Troy pinned at its own 11, the Trojans tried a hook-and-lateral that went through four sets of hands. Noah Flemmings knocked the ball loose from the last of them, Billy Pullen fell on it in the end zone, and the clock read 0:00.

That was the exclamation point on a 21-14 win for ULM at Veterans Memorial Stadium, a game the Warhawks trailed 14-3 with 6:16 to play. ULM came to Troy at 0-6 and left at 1-6, 1-2 in the Sun Belt. Troy fell to 3-4 and 1-2.

A long afternoon of punts

Troy opened with a 17-play, 77-yard drive that ate 9:31 of the first quarter, and Tucker Kilcrease finished it with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Gavin Griffin. Abram Murray answered with a 35-yard field goal early in the second quarter, and then the game turned into a punting exhibition.

The teams combined for 18 punts. ULM's Makenzie Ryan had a career-high nine of them, and Troy's Evan Crenshaw also punted nine times. Troy's defense held ULM to 62 yards in the first half.

The Trojans had a golden chance to break it open before halftime. Keyshawn Campbell forced a fumble on a punt return, and Jordan Lovett recovered at the ULM 21. On the very next snap, DJ Jester picked off Goose Crowder in the end zone for a career-first interception. Hayden Wolfe's 55-yard field goal try at the end of the half missed, and it was 7-3 at the break.

The third quarter brought five punts and no points.

Troy thought it had it

Troy finally found the end zone again midway through the fourth. Crowder hit TJ Lott for 32 yards on third-and-5 to reach the ULM 11, Griffin converted a fourth-and-1 at the 2, and then Griffin went in from a yard out with 6:16 left. It was 14-3, and with the way both offenses had played, it felt like a lot more.

The Trojans finished with 200 total yards and 47 passing yards, and they converted just 3 of 16 third downs.

The comeback starts on fourth down

ULM's first answer nearly died at its own 28. Facing fourth-and-7 with a little over five minutes left, Aidan Armenta found Nic Trujillo for 18 yards and a first down. From there, Armenta got hot, hitting Darrion Gilliam for 14, JP Coulter for 17 and, after a 7-yard Zach Palmer-Smith run, Bryce Anderson for a 12-yard touchdown with 2:34 left. The two-point try failed, so it was 14-9.

The ULM defense needed one stop. James Smith got it, sacking Kilcrease for 10 yards on third-and-5. A holding penalty on the return left ULM at its own 14 with 1:40 to play.

86 yards in 85 seconds

Armenta's second drive looked like a two-minute drill the Warhawks had been saving all season. Palmer-Smith caught a 13-yard pass and later ran for 14 on third-and-1, and a personal foul on Troy tacked 15 more yards onto that run. Parker Fulghum caught a 19-yard pass to the Troy 16. On the next play, Armenta found Gilliam for a 16-yard touchdown with 15 seconds left.

The two-point try failed again, but ULM led 15-14. It was the first time ULM had scored in the final two minutes to win a game since 2018.

The final 15 seconds

Troy needed a miracle from its own 25. It got a nightmare instead. Kevontay Wells sacked Kilcrease for a 5-yard loss, then got there again with Pullen for a 9-yard loss to the Troy 11. Wells was credited with 1.5 sacks on those final two snaps.

On the last play, Kilcrease threw to Jace Petty, who pitched to Lovett, who pitched to Howard Kinchen, who pitched to Mojo Dortch. Flemmings forced the fumble at the goal line, and Pullen recovered it for the touchdown that made it 21-14.

Flemmings and the defense that kept it close

Flemmings is the reason ULM was still within reach late. The linebacker finished with 15 tackles, a career high, and became the first Warhawk since 2024 to reach 15 in a game. Taijh Overton added 10 tackles and Marcus Ross had seven, and each broke up two passes, according to ULM's official recap (opens in a new tab). Overall, ULM had 93 tackles, six tackles for loss and four sacks.

ULM coach Bryant Vincent pointed to the leaders on that side of the ball. "[Billy Pullen]'s leadership on the field at practice, Kevontay Wells' leadership at practice, their leadership and their care means everything," Vincent said.

The numbers that tell the story

Troy owned the clock at 32:51 to 27:09 and outrushed ULM 153-94, with Lovett leading the way at 70 yards on 17 carries. Troy was also 3-for-3 on fourth down. None of it added up to points, because the passing game never came alive. Crowder went 6-of-14 for 50 yards with an interception, and Kilcrease went 3-of-4 for minus-3 yards with the touchdown, while being sacked four times.

The fourth quarter was a different game. ULM outgained Troy 150-58 in those 15 minutes, and Armenta went 9-of-12 for 119 yards and both touchdowns. Armenta finished 13-of-22 for 147 yards with no interceptions. For the game, ULM outgained Troy 243-200, led 17-12 in first downs and went 3-for-3 in the red zone. A crowd of 23,741 saw all of it. The full numbers are in Troy's box score (opens in a new tab).

Parker does not hold back

Troy coach Gerad Parker was blunt afterward. "You either play winning football, or you don't, and we didn't play winning football," Parker said. "Great effort by our defense early, but a breakdown in passing defense caught up to us at the end. Our offense is truly inept; we can't score."

Parker said splitting time between Crowder and Kilcrease was the plan, partly because Crowder was banged up. On the lack of shots downfield, Parker was just as direct. "There's a complete lack of trust in being able to push the ball down the field," Parker said.

Linebacker Keno Jones, who led Troy with 12 tackles, did not hide the frustration. "We shut them down for most of the game, so the catch at the end really hurts, because I know we should have won," Jones said. "We have to be more connected."

What it means

For ULM, a winless season is over, and the Warhawks are now 2-0 at Troy under Vincent. Vincent praised a group that had every reason to fold. "This team's grit and perseverance... their care for this town and this program... there's no give-in," Vincent said. "I couldn't be prouder of this team and these coaches." Next on the schedule was a home game against Southern Miss.

For Troy, the loss snapped a home winning streak and dropped the Trojans to 3-4. Parker called it a challenge "for the entire organization to find confidence and to find a way back to being resilient after moments like this." The Trojans had a short week before a Thursday trip to James Madison. Troy's game recap (opens in a new tab) has their side of it.

The last word

Vincent had high praise for Armenta, who did most of the damage in the fourth quarter. "For Aidan to come in at the end and make those last couple throws, it tells you a lot about him," Vincent said.

Kilcrease, on the other side, sounded like someone determined not to let one afternoon define a season. "All I can do from here is wake up tomorrow and try to get better," Kilcrease said.

ULM spent six games looking for its first win. It found one in the last 2:34, and in the very last second.

Sources: ULM Athletics recap, Troy Athletics recap, official box score and postgame quotes, The Associated Press and ESPN. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Davis Photography / Troy Athletics.