By BRAD WELBORN, Northwestern State Athletic Communications
COMMERCE, Texas – Two challenging weeks to open the season have left Northwestern State eager for a fresh start.
That opportunity arrives Saturday.
The Demons (0-2) open their Southland Conference schedule with a road trip to East Texas A&M (0-2, 0-1), beginning a nine-game conference slate and giving them a chance to turn the lessons from the first two weeks into a new chapter.
Kickoff is 6 p.m. at ET’s Memorial Stadium. The game can be seen on ESPN+ or heard on 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches and on the BDCRadio.com website.
NSU hopes to find its stride after being routed at Louisiana Tech last week.
“There were a lot of things to learn from that game,” third-year coach Blaine McCorkle said. “And with 10 games still to go there’ll be some lessons from last week that may show up six or seven weeks from now that we need to lean on.”
The Demons enter their first FCS matchup turning their attention to the portion of the schedule that will ultimately determine their destiny.
They know Saturday’s opponent is more dangerous than its record may indicate.
East Texas A&M enters the game 0-2, but the Lions have faced a difficult opening stretch.
They opened the season at Mercer, taking the nationally ranked Bears down to the wire before narrowly missing a chance to force overtime.
A week later, East Texas A&M started Southland play at defending conference champion Stephen F. Austin, currently No. 9 in the latest FCS Coaches’ Poll.
“They’ve probably had the toughest two-week stretch in the country without playing an FBS opponent,” McCorkle said. “To travel over to Mercer on an opening night game and take it down to the wire and have a chance to go to overtime, is all you need to know. I give them a lot of credit. They’ve got a good team.”
The Lions also have recent history on their side.
Each of the past two seasons, East Texas A&M has entered its meeting with Northwestern winless and emerged with its first victory of the season.
“They’ve played well against us and we have not,” McCorkle said. “We recognize that and we have to show up and play after a great week of preparation.”
East Texas A&M rushed for 148 yards against Mercer, led by EJ Oakman’s 87 yards and a touchdown. Oakman also had a strong performance against the Demons a year ago, scoring three times with 75 yards on the ground.
“He’s a good back. A thick, big-bodied kid that had a great night against us last year,” McCorkle said. “But another big part of their run game is the quarterback. He’s been around for a while and he’s a dynamic passer but when he tucks the ball he can get vertical in a hurry.”
That quarterback run threat with veteran Eric Rodriguez is something the Demons will have to account for while also dealing with one of the conference’s top receiving threats.
Lion receiver Micah Simpson leads the league with 14 catches for 226 yards. He was particularly productive in the season opener against Mercer, catching 10 passes for 168 yards and a touchdown.
“They’ve got great athletes all over,” linebacker Danny Sears said. “Their receiver (Simpson) is a heck of a player. Their quarterback can get out of the pocket and move. When you play a team like that you really have to go back to day one basics. Tracking the near hip and playing all around defense.”
For the Demons, the challenge is finding a way to keep the Lions from keying on any one aspect of their offense while finding consistency in their execution.
Quarterback Abram Johnston enters the conference opener ranked fourth in the Southland in completion percentage at 63.6 percent, third in passing yards per game at 180.5 and second in total offense at 205.5.
Johnston has spread the ball around through the first two games, connecting with 11 different receivers. Dylan Rhodes leads the group with eight catches for 79 yards, while only three Demons have caught at least five passes.
“We do feel like we have the ability to distribute the ball to a lot of different people, a lot of different ways,” McCorkle said. “That helps. Because now as a defense gameplan wise you can’t cue in on one thing.”
With conference play beginning, the Demons’ focus is not on the road trip, the last two weeks or outside noise.
It is on Saturday night.
“These games just mean more,” Sears said. “There’s a little bit of a rivalry between each team in the conference and this is one of those games for us. Everyone is really focused on this game because we know that it’s one of those that we need to have.”
For Rhodes, the objective is even simpler.
“Win the game,” Rhodes said. “That’s what we need right now. All the talk and critics we’ve faced the past two weeks I think we can all put that to an end if we go out and do what we’re supposed to do on Saturday and win this game.”