MONROE, La. -- Caleb Evans threw for 346 yards and two touchdowns and scored the game-winner late on the ground and FBS Louisiana-Monroe avoided an upset bid against FCS Southeastern Louisiana 34-31 Thursday night.

In the season opener for both, Evans ran it in from 11 yards out on a quarterback draw with 37 seconds left then ran in the two-point conversion. But on their final drive, the Lions drove 55 yards to set up a 37-yard field-goal attempt by Jonathan Tatum which was blocked by Cal Kee III as time expired. Southeastern Louisiana fell to 0-23 against FBS opponents since the program was revived 15 years ago.

Chason Virgil threw for 358 yards and four touchdowns for the Lions and Juwan Petit-Frere caught five passes for 148 yards and two touchdowns. For the Warhawks, Derrick Gore had 21 carries for 104 yards and a touchdown. For his part, Evans recorded his eighth career game throwing for more than 200 yards.

Louisiana-Monroe outgained Southeastern Louisiana in total yardage 554-437.