Post-NWLA News

If you feel like you want to stomach it, here are a few stories the followed the loss on Saturday:

Harris, Morris help lead Demons over Central Ark.

Conque says fumbled kickoff starts slide against Demons

McCollum’s Column: Lots of little things and variables contribute to a stinging loss

Demons stun No. 22-ranked Bears, 24-19

Northwestern State upsets Central Ark.

SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE: UCA can’t overcome miscues

The week that is (10.11.2010)

Well, things keep trucking along. So let’s see what’s on tap for this week.

1. Football

I’m not going to talk much about this for various reason, but let’s just say the Bears have lost 2 in a row [3-2 (0-1)], and now travel to Texas to face nationally ranked SFA at home.  Kickoff is 2pm on Saturday, and the game will be aired on SLC-TV (Channel 42 in LR).

2. Volleyball

Enough really can’t be said about what these ladies (and their coaches) are doing.  In the NCAA RPI that came out last week, the Sugarbears were ranked #62 in the nation! The latest numbers should come out later today.  They currently have a record of 17-6 (7-0).  This past week they started a stretch of conference road games and won both of them.  They even won at UTA for the first time in program history.  This week they travel to Lamar on Thursday and then to McNeese on Saturday.  Lamar is currently 2nd in the SLC East behing UCA with a record of 8-9 (4-2) and McNeese is last in the SLC East with a record of 7-14 (1-5).  The Sugarbears will look to keep the nation’s longest conference win streak (well, tied with Hawaii) alive, it currently sits at 29!

3. Men’s Soccer

The Men’s Soccer team has a record of 3-7 (0-1) on the year.  Their 2-game win streak was snapped by Memphis on Tuesday by a final of 2-1.  This team has lost 6 games by one point this season.  They have 6 games left this season (all MVC games) and only 2 of them are at home. This week they will host Eastern Illinois [3-7 (0-2)] on Wednesday and travel to Illinois to face Bradley [5-6-1 (0-1-0)] on Saturday.

4. Women’s Soccer

The Women’s Soccer team has a record of 4-7-2 (0-3-1).  They have 5 games left in the season, and the next 3 are at home starting with NW St on Sunday the 17th of October.

5. Softball

This past weekend the softball team wrapped up their Fall schedule with a 7-1 record.  The only game they dropped was to Tulsa (by a score of 2-0) in Springfield, MO.  Here is a recap of their fall schedule:

6. Cross Country

This past week the men’s and women’s cross country teams ran in the McNeese State Cowboy Stampede in Lake Charles, LA.  The women placed 3rd in the race behind UTA and LSU, while the men placed 5th behind McNeese, Lousiana Tech, LSU, and UTA.  This week they will run in the Chile Pepper Festival in Fayetteville on Saturday.

Plug for Basketball

Basketball Pick Your Seat Promotion (Farris Center); Tues 10/12 starting at 5 p.m.! One night only BOGO on all Courtside & Reserved seats! Coach Williamson and his team will be on hand for pics & autographs… Watch Coach Matt Daniel and his Sugar Bears workout live!

Scouting: Northwestern State

Northwestern State

Record: 1-4 (0-1)
2009 Record: 0-11 (0-7)
Mascot: Demons
Conference: Southland
Head Coach: Bradley Dale Peveto, 2nd season, 1-15
Located: Natchitoches, Louisiana
Enrollment: 9,244

Last Year: After Scott Stoker’s first winning season in four years, he was fired following the 2009 season. That decision brought Peveto into the head job at NWLA. Things didn’t work out in his first season as the Demons went 0-11.

Last Week: Playing without their starting quarterback, the Demons lost 24-7 to McNeese on their home field last week. After scoring a touchdown on their first possession, they never put another point on the board. McNeese’s defense dominated the second half of the game, and the Cowboys’ offense scored two fourth-quarter touchdowns to pull away.

Players to Watch

• Paul Harris (QB, #13, 6-1/190) – After starting the first four games of the season, Harris missed last week with an ankle injury and also a death in the family. Harris is expected to back this Saturday, but he must improve on his touchdown to interception ratio (4:5) for the Demons to have success. (More on the turnovers later.) Harris is averaging 207 ypg through the air, putting him at 2nd in the conference.
• Sterling Endsley (RB, #32, 5-10/201) – The leading rusher for the Demons. He is averaging 3.8 ypc but less than 40 per game.
• Bradley Brown (WR, #7, 5-10/170) – Brown has taken over as the leading receiver, despite only starting a single game. He has 26 catches for 299 yards. He will be counted on even more this week though as the 2nd (TC Henry) and 3rd (Adrian Reese) receivers are out with injuries. If that wasn’t enough pressure on Brown, he’s also the NWLA punt and kick returner.
• Justin Aldredge (WR, #1, 5-11/211) – Certainly undersized on paper for a tight end, Aldredge will be the only Demon player available who has caught more than one touchdown pass.
• Bradley Russo (P, #42, 5-11/214) – Russo has punted a whopping 38 times. (By comparison, the next closest SLC school has 25.) Russo’s been pretty good though. Only 16 of those have been returned, and he’s put 12 inside the 20.
• Derek Rose (MLB, #56, 5-11/225) – Rose has been an animal for the defense. He’s leading the conference with 64 tackles this season (or 59 depending on where you get your stats). And he had 18 last weekend against McNeese. He also leads the team in tackles for loss with 1.5.
• Yaser Elqutub (WLB, #51, 6-1/202) – Fellow junior linebacker Elqutub is a distant second with 31 tackles, but he’s a close second with 4 tackles for loss.

Required Reading

• NSU Peveto remains confident
• UCA has plenty of prep time for NSU
• Turnovers doom NSU’s chances
• Conque expecting some tight games in conference play

Other Notes

• Turnovers have killed the Demons the last two years. They were -19 in turnover margin a year ago, and through five games this season, they are -6. Definitely an improvement, but the secondary has only forced one interception. Even with the improvement, the Demons are tied for last in the league in turnover margin.
• Natchitoches is just over 100 miles from Arkansas and there are zero players from the state.
• The Demons rank last in scoring offense (15.2ppg) and next-to-last in scoring defense (34.2 ppg) in the SLC.
• They are also the leagues worst rushing team offensively (79 ypg) and defensively (235.4 ypg).
• The NWLA offensive line has allowed the most sacks in the SLC (14).
• On top of all of the other problems, they are the most penalized team in the conference, averaging 10 penalties a game for 100.3 yards.