By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Associate Athletic Director for External Relations; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
NATCHITOCHES – When first-year Northwestern State football coach Blaine McCorkle looks at Texas A&M-Commerce, he sees plenty of similarities to his Demons.
McCorkle’s first Demon squad will host the Lions in Northwestern’s Southland Conference home opener Saturday at 2 p.m. on ESPN+ in a meeting of two teams that have had incredibly similar starts to the season. In addition to being the SLC opener, Saturday’s game is the annual “Fork Cancer” game for the Demons. The first 100 fans will receive a Fork Cancer T-shirt and fans can make a donation to the Natchitoches Regional Medical Cancer Center by texting ForkCancer and whatever amount they choose to 41444.
“We’re both searching for our first win – that’s probably the biggest similarity,” McCorkle said. “We’ve played two FBS teams, two Top 25 (FCS) teams, a SWAC team and a conference game. They’ve played two Top 25 (FCS) teams, an FBS team, a SWAC team and a conference game. We’ve got one more game that them, but it’s been a very similar track so far. Their scores have been a little bit closer than ours. It’s a great challenge for us. Both teams will come here very excited to play at a high level and get that first win. Hopefully, lessons learned from last week – we’ll start faster and give ourselves a chance.”
Since scoring first in each of its first two games under McCorkle, the Demons (0-6, 0-1) have fallen behind initially in each of their four most recent games. In its Southland opener against Stephen F. Austin, the Demons were down 24-0 after one quarter of play.
“That was probably the most disappointing thing – you have your conference opener against your most heated rival and you start slow,” McCorkle said. “That’s probably a sign of immaturity within our program. It is part of the growing pains of rebuilding his thing. Our guys need to understand the importance of a game like that and what it takes to win a game like that. We did settle in. There were some bright spots – and those are encouraging – but we definitely have to get off to a faster start moving forward.”
Statistically, the Northwestern offense put together its best outing of the season against the Lumberjacks and will attempt to build on that against a Texas A&M-Commerce (0-5, 0-1) team that dropped its Southland Conference opener 21-9 at Southeastern this past weekend.
After a first half of the season that was built on growth, the Demons kick off the second half at home, rotating their final six games in home and away fashion.
“We always knew we had growing to do,” said junior linebacker Landry Huddleston, a Belhaven transfer who made his first start as a Demon against SFA. “We’re going to take that and put it all together, put it in the back half of the season and take home some conference wins.”
Following their only back-to-back road games of the season, the Demons are eager to return home, especially for a conference home opener.
In Northwestern’s 37 seasons of Southland membership, it has posted a 22-15 mark in Southland Conference home openers at Turpin Stadium.
“Our six games, including two FBS games, we’ve had the best atmospheres of anywhere we’ve been at home,” McCorkle said. “That’s a testament to how much people care about Northwestern State football. With everything we’ve been through the last few years – and we’ve been struggling on the field – people are still showing up and supporting these guys. The band’s out there making a great atmosphere. It takes all of us to make Turpin Stadium a special place.”
Turpin indeed could be a special place if the Demons are able to deliver what they are envisioning.
“We’re ready to come here and make a statement,” junior wide receiver Ty Moore said.