Scouting Northwestern State offense

[PonyPride]

Getting a handle on what to expect from Saturday's opponent: Northwestern State, a Div. I-AA team from Natchitoches, a town located 77 miles southeast of Shreveport. The Demons head to Gerald J. Ford Stadium for Saturday's game with a record of 1-1, a mark that also is hard to figure after a narrow (24-23) victory over Div. II Delta State and a 49-3 loss at national power LSU.

"(The Demons) are a pretty good football team," SMU defensive coordinator Tom Mason said after Wednesday's practice. "Delta State is a Div. II school, but they played for the Div. II national championship, so they're no donkey, and LSU is one of the top two or three teams in the country."

In addition to the 13.5 points per game the Demons are averaging, they also have averaged 56.0 rushing yards and 169.0 passing yards per game for a total of 225 yards per game of total offense. The imbalance between rushing and passing, Mason said, is due in part to the fact that they have fast receivers who can collect significant yards after the catch, and the fact that they were behind so much against LSU that they had to take to the air almost exclusively.

"Their quarterback (5-11, 210-pound junior Brad Henderson, a transfer who earned Junior College All-America honors at East Mississippi CC-Scooba) is a good football player," Mason said. "He throws the ball well, and he's a good athlete who runs pretty well, too. Against LSU, he was their best player.

"He reminds me a little of Joe Webb, the UAB quarterback who is now with the Minnesota Vikings. He's not as big — Webb was something like 6-5 and 230 — but he's that same kind of athlete."

In two games (one start) this season, Henderson has completed 29 of 40 pass attempts (72.5 percent) for 284 yards, one touchdown and one interception.

His favorite target is senior tight end/H-back Justin Aldredge (6-1, 230), who has 10 catches for 155 yards and a touchdown through two games. But his most explosive target, Mason said, might be senior wide receiver T.C. Henry, who has six receptions for 87 yards so far and played his high school ball with SMU linebacker Ja'Gared Davis at Crockett High School.

Davis said his former high school teammate is exactly the kind of player SMU head coach June Jones was referring to when he expressed his concern over the speed on the NSU roster.

"(Henry) can fly," Davis said. "In the film of their game with LSU, he was running away from LSU's DBs. If he gets the ball and you make a mistake or miss a tackle, he's trouble."

The Demons' top rushing threats are 5-11, 201-pound sophomore Rumeall Morris, who has 47 rushing yards on 17 carries; 5-11, 195-pound sophomore D.J. Palmer, who has 40 rushing yards on just six carries; and 5-10, 221-pound senior (from Newman Smith High School in Carrollton, Texas) Sterling Endsley, who has 12 carries for 26 yards ... and both of the Demons' rushing touchdowns this season.

"They mainly run a couple of (rushing) plays," Mason said. "Basically, they're a power-running team, and they have some kids who can run. Their offensive line looks pretty decent, too — they have some good kids on that line. I'd say it's comparable to one of the better offensive lines in Conference USA."

The danger of playing an offense like Northwestern State's, Mason said, is the quick-strike ability afforded by the Demons' overall speed. That ability to score quickly makes any team dangerous, he said.

"We would like to get up on them early, because if you don't, it can get interesting late," Mason said. "I don't want interesting.

"We're not at the point where we can just show up and dominate teams just by being there. We might be in a couple of years, but we're not at that point yet. We have got to show up Saturday and play hard and play well against these guys, because they can be dangerous."

[NastyStang]

I'm sorry, but all this flattery is weak. We are absolutely at a point where we should blow teams like this out of the water.

[SMU 86]

Coach speak.

[ponyscott]

It may be close in the first half but SMU's depth will wear them out in the second half...SMU by 24 points.

[The PonyGrad]

Looks like NW St may be the tougher of our next two games.

[Roach]

You might be right.
I have a friend (LSU alum) who goes to every one of their games. He said LSU (obviously) had better talent and loads more depth, so the final score was "about right."
But he also said "Northwestern State is going to give your team everything you want. They are fast as hell all over the field."
He acknowledged that SMU is deeper and generally bigger and more talented, but he said Northwestern State's speed is "shocking" and compared the Demons to ... Houston.
He thinks we win (I bring him to a game or two every year, when he isn't at LSU games, so he knows a little about our talent), but he said it could be a very close game.
Hope he's wrong.
Great info, PP.

[birddogger]

No way that NSU is the same level as U of H. Not nearly as much size or speed. But the article is spot on about Aldredge. That guy was open all night against a very good LSU defense, and he will probably give us some fits, especially if we have an inexperienced LB covering him. I don't see us shutting out NSU, but they should not score 20. They're badly banged up after the physical beating they took from LSU.

[Junior]

Nachitoches is actually a nice little town. Hosts a nice Christmas festival every year, capped by the Festival of Lights.

Not a Christmas-y as it seems as I spent my last trip in a drunken stupor most of the time.

So it was really just another weekend for me. Just included meat pies this time around. Which are awesome.

[RGV Pony]

Somebody tell the story of the brothers Nacogdoches and Natchitoches

[mrydel]

Somebody tell the story of the brothers Nacogdoches and Natchitoches

Does it start "One time at band camp....."?