By Jason Pugh, Northwestern State Associate Athletic Director for External Relations; featured photo by Chris Reich, NSU Photographic Services
MOBILE, Alabama – For the first time this season, the Northwestern State football team did not score first.
Instead, South Alabama was the team who started quickly inside Hancock Whitney Stadium, and the Jaguars maintained that edge throughout, delivering an 87-10 victory against the Demons in the first meeting between the teams.
“Those games are tough,” first-year head coach Blaine McCorkle said about facing Football Bowl Subdivision teams. “We played two of them in 14 days – two good ones. At the end of the day, I have to take the blame for that. I didn’t have my guys ready to go. Lesson learned on my part. Way back, I agreed – and it was my decision – to play them on a Thursday. It’s probably not the best decision to play an FBS team on a five-day week. Lesson learned by me.
“As our team grows through this thing and our team is growing and learning through it, I have to learn, too. There’s nothing good about tonight except you lose or you learn. Hopefully there are more things we’ve learned about our staff and our program and how our players are going to learn from adversity.”
The Jaguars’ 87 points set a Sun Belt Conference record and were the most allowed by the Demons in program history.
Northwestern (0-3) went three and out on its first possession, snapping a two-game streak of scoring with a 70-yard-plus play on an opening drive. Jamaal Pritchett returned the ensuing punt 66 yards for a touchdown, setting the tone for the Jaguars (1-2).
After the Demons strung together a pair of first downs on their next drive, an interception gave the Jaguars the ball at the Demon 39-yard line. Again, it took one play for South Alabama one play to find the end zone as Gio Lopez found Jeremiah Webb at the goal line for a touchdown and a 14-0 lead.
Although the Demons failed to extend their streak of first-drive scores, they did keep alive a run of big-play touchdowns.
Down 24-3 with 3 seconds to play in the first quarter, the Demons reignited their big-play offense as JT Fayard found a streaking Myles Kitt-Denton free up the seam for a 75-yard, catch-and-run touchdown.
It marked the second straight week for the pair to connect on a touchdown of at least 70 yards, following a 71-yard, first-play score against Prairie View A&M last week. The score was the Demons’ third offensive touchdown of at least 70 yards this season and fourth overall, joining Kennieth Lacy’s 75-yard run and Antonio Hall’s 74-yard blocked field goal return at Tulsa on Aug. 29.
“Myles is doing great,” McCorkle said. “Early in the game, there were a few flashes where we started to get some things going offensively. Our defense really struggled tonight, and when you see that, you have to be able to play complementary football. We changed the way we called the game in order to try to do that.”
From there, the Jaguars – Northwestern’s second FBS opponent in the first three games – opened things up with consecutive 28-point second and third quarters.
The Demons, who had won the turnover battle in each of their first two games, lost the battle 4-0 Thursday night. The Jaguars turned those four turnovers into 28 points.
The Demons return to action in nine days when they host Weber State. Kickoff is set for 6:02 p.m. Sept. 21 in Turpin Stadium.