By Malcolm Butler
For an entire generation of Louisiana Tech and ULM fans, one of the state’s most natural football rivalries simply didn’t exist.
That changes on October 17.
For the first time since 2000, the Bulldogs and Warhawks will square off on the gridiron, and for the first time ever, they’ll do it as Sun Belt Conference rivals. It’s also the first time the schools, separated by only about 30 miles, have been conference rivals since competing in the Southland Conference in 1986.
Louisiana Tech coach Sonny Cumbie said Wednesday during Sun Belt Football Media Days that he’s long wondered why the two schools stopped playing.
“For over 26 years, we haven’t played, and I’ve always wondered a little bit why,” said Cumbie, whose Bulldogs will make the trek east to Monroe this year in the first league game of the season. “We’re right down the road from one another. And now we’re playing each other in a conference game. It’s going to have a lot of impact.”
The rivalry returns with considerably more at stake than in previous meetings. Rather than a nonconference matchup, the annual contest now carries league implications as both programs begin their first season together in the Sun Belt.
Cumbie said that has only heightened the importance of the game.
“As I’ve gone through the state of Louisiana talking to alumni and lettermen, anytime we played a school within the state, it was typically a nonconference game, and it was, ‘You better win this game,'” Cumbie said. “Now you look at our schedule, and that’s being said about a lot of our games.”
The proximity between Ruston and Monroe only adds to the anticipation.
“ULM is 30 minutes down the road,” Cumbie said. “We have a lot of alumni that live there. There’s a lot of crossover.”
It’s one of four in-state matchups for Tech this year which also plays host to Northwestern State (Sept 5) and UL-Lafayette (Oct. 10) and travels to LSU (Sept. 12). It’s these types of contests, especially with conference implications, that will once again fuel the fire of the fan bases.
“I think the environment is going to be electric,” he said. “We get to stay in our own home hotel and then drive over there the day of the game. Our fan base is excited about going over there. There’s a lot of bragging rights on an annual basis from that standpoint.”
Louisiana Tech has held the bragging rights for a quarter-century, winning eight straight over the Warhawks, including a 42-19 victory in Monroe in 2000. The Bulldogs lead the all-time series 30-13.
The schools were scheduled to meet in Shreveport in 2020, but ULM canceled the game during the week of the contest because of a COVID-19 outbreak within its program.
While conference standings will be on the line, Cumbie knows the game will mean much more to fans across North Louisiana.
“For our kids to be able to play each other and compete in a conference game,” Cumbie said, “I think it’s going to be special.”
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