Northwestern State Season Preview
It has happened before, and recently, in the Southland Conference. So, it can happen again. Not often would Northwestern State's friendly but fierce rival Stephen F. Austin serve as inspiration for the Demons, but when it comes to football success, that's exactly the case. In 2007, SFA was winless. Two years later, the Lumberjacks shared the 2009 Southland championship and reached the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs.
What looked from outside like a total collapse for the Northwestern football program in 2009, an unprecedented O-fer season, was far from reality. Instead of gaping cracks occurring in the foundation of Demon football, there were pillars for success established, standards set and put to the most severe tests.
The Demons did not win a football game last fall, but they hardly fell apart. In four of the last five games, when a fractured team would collapse, Northwestern had chances to win in the fourth quarter, falling by a combined total of 23 points. It took four intense quarters for SFA to prevail 19-10 and claim its share of the conference title in the regular-season finale.
"We're not where we want to be, no doubt about it," Peveto said during last season. "But you can either be a front-runner as a team and a coaching staff, or you can look it in the eye and work hard and keep doing the right things. We think our process is right. If you stick to that and don't waver, good things will happen."
Everyone in the Northwestern camp is convinced that forecast will begin to hold true on the field in 2010.
Fourteen true freshmen from what Rivals.com recruiting analysts rated as 2009's top FCS signing class took the field for the Demons last fall, with half earning starts. That youthful experience will serve Northwestern well this fall and in the next three seasons.
Northwestern returns 55 letterwinners in 2010, with 30 on defense despite having to replace eight graduated starters. Peveto and defensive coordinator Brad Laird get a boost with the addition of defensive line coach Jay Thomas, a highly regarded head coach who spent the last five years at league-rival Nicholls who was the 2005 Southland Coach of the Year.
Anchors of the Purple Swarm's 4-3-4 alignment should include second-team all-conference defensive end Ledell Love, rugged nose tackle Dennis "Tank" Landry, hard-hitting middle linebacker Derek Rose and veteran cornerbacks Jeremy Lane and Cashas Pollard.
Seven offensive starters are back, including six offensive linemen with extensive starting experience from 2009 and before, providing a strong foundation for the Purple Strike multiple attack designed by offensive coordinator Todd Cooley.
Northwestern used three quarterbacks last season. An injury ended senior John Hundley's season in early October. Junior transfer Tyler Wolfe played gallantly with an injured shoulder all year but is now back to the level that made him one of the south's more highly sought-after prospects as a prep senior. Wolfe threw for 307 yards and three touchdowns in his first action and only full game for the Demons against North Dakota. The returning starter this fall is true sophomore left-hander Paul Harris, whose run-pass combination gave foes fits much of the last half of the year.
Preseason All-America offensive guard Michael Booker and preseason all-conference pick Zach Case lead an experienced offensive front. At tight end, playmaking Justin Aldredge is back after scoring both receiving and rushing TDs last year.
Out wide, Cooley is counting on a horde of receivers led by 6-foot-7 Adrian Reese and speedy Bradley Brown, a preseason all-conference kick returner. In the backfield, junior Sterling Endsley was lost for the season before September last year with an injury after he had won the starting tailback's job, and he's back at 100 percent this year.
Both kicking specialists return, sophomore placekicker John Shaughnessy and senior punter Bradley Russo.