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FACTS & STATS: Site: Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium (30,000) -- Troy, Alabama. Television: None. Home Record: ULM 3-0, Troy 3-0. Away Record: ULM 2-2, Troy 2-2. Neutral Record: ULM 0-0, Troy 0-0. Conference Record: ULM 3-0, Troy 4-0. Series Record: Troy leads, 7-3-1.

GAME NOTES: The top two teams in the Sun Belt Conference will do battle on Halloween night, as the UL-Monroe Warhawks tangle with the Troy Trojans at Movie Gallery Veterans Stadium. Both teams come in undefeated in conference play, with ULM sitting at 3-0 and Troy at 4-0.

The Warhawks had a three-game win streak snapped last week at Kentucky in a 36-13 final, dropping them to 4-3 overall.

Since opening the season with a pair of losses, the Trojans have reeled off five straight wins, the most recent of which was a 50-26 decision against North Texas last weekend.

UL-Monroe was the only SBC team to beat the Trojans last year, inching closer in the all-time series which currently sits in favor of Troy at 7-3-1.

The Warhawks had the unenviable task of playing a SEC squad on the road last week, doing so with a rookie QB making his first career start. Cody Wells filled in for injured starter Trey Revell (broken thumb), and the redshirt freshman completed 21-of-44 passes for 267 yards and a TD. It was the most pass attempts by a UL-Monroe signal-caller since 2005. LaGregory Sapp was Wells' favorite target in the game, as he hauled in seven balls for a season- high 121 yards. Frank Goodin paced the ULM ground attack with 55 yards on 16 carries, and his three-yard scoring run near the end of the third quarter was his 10th of the season. As a team, the Warhawks have rushed for 15 TDs this fall, matching the total the team scored on the ground all of last season. Goodin has rushed for 613 yards through seven games, averaging 4.9 ypc, while Sapp and Darrell McNeal each have 25 receptions for a combined 836 yards and five TDs. As for Revell, he had completed 57.9 percent of his passes for 1,124 yards with eight TDs and five INTs before getting hurt.

Kentucky was held to 330 yards of total offense by the UL-Monroe defense last week, and the Warhawks did a particularly good job against Derrick Locke, the SEC's leader in all-purpose yards, limiting him to just 36 rushing yards on 10 totes. Senior LB Cardia Jackson posted 15 tackles in the setback, giving him a team-best 67 stops on the season, while DB Nate Brown intercepted a pass for the second straight week. ULM is giving up 29.0 ppg this season, but has done a solid job against the run in yielding just 106.4 ypg and an average of only 3.2 ypc. Despite the effort at the line of scrimmage, foes have scored 13 of their 23 TDs on the ground. Jackson is clearly the most active defender for the Warhawks, but he doesn't go it alone as guys like Josh Thomas (47 tackles, two sacks, three PBUs and one fumble recovery), Aaron Morgan (seven sacks) and Darius Prelow (43 tackles, seven PBUs) have all proven to be capable performers.

Troy QB Levi Brown broke a 41-year old school record by throwing for 469 yards in last Saturday's win over North Texas, hitting 14 different receivers along the way. Brown, a 64.6 percent passer on the year who has amassed 2,148 passing yards with 10 TDs against only four INTs, threw just one scoring pass in the win, that going to Tebiarus Gill who finished with three grabs for 67 yards. Jerrel Jernigan led all Trojan receivers with five catches for 83 yards. Not content to simply move the ball through the air, the Troy running game also got in on the act, churning out 205 yards and accounting for five TDs, two of which were credited to leading rusher DuJuan Harris (12 carries, 66 yards). With Brown at the helm, Troy is averaging 28.6 ppg and nearly 460 total ypg. The tandem of Gill and Jernigan pace the receiving corps with a combined 55 catches for 699 yards and six TDs, while Harris has rushed for 377 yards and six scores despite averaging just 3.8 ypc.

Despite their favorable record, the Trojans have had their difficulties on defense this season. Foes are averaging 27.7 ppg on the strength of 384.9 total ypg. Defending the pass has been particularly troublesome with opponents airing it out to the tune of 261.7 ppg, and 14 of the 24 TDs surrendered have come via that mode of attack. Getting off to a fast start and fading later in games has been the m.o. of the Troy defense, as the opposition has scored a total of 17 points in the first quarter of seven games. Boris Lee has been the Trojans' most active defender thus far, logging 54 total stops, while Cameron Sheffield has 4.5 of the team's 15 sacks and Bryan Willis has two of its four INTs. Turnovers have been the one area Troy coach Larry Blakeney would like to see improve as his club has come up with just 11 takeaways in seven games. North Texas threw for 267 yards and two TDs in last week's relatively easy win, and David McDowell led the Troy defensive stand with nine tackles, while Bear Woods had a solid outing by logging six tackles, including the only sack on the day, and he also forced a fumble and came up with an INT.

This should be a highly-entertaining affair between two teams that are evenly matched. The inexperience of Wells at QB for ULM could be the team's undoing, particularly when coupled with the fact that this game is being played on Troy's home field. Give the edge to Brown and the Trojans, although it will be close.

Sports Network Predicted Outcome: Troy 31, UL-Monroe 27