Box Score NATCHITOCHES – Missed tackles, misfires and missed opportunities, especially before halftime, combined with encountering an outstanding performance from visiting Central Arkansas to doom Northwestern State's chances to play for the Southland Conference football title in the final two weeks of the season.
 
Saturday's 45-20 loss in Turpin Stadium had a lot of contributing factors as UCA scored the game's last 31 points after the Demons held a 20-14 halftime lead and had been more dominant than that margin reflected, outgaining the Bears 232-130.
 
“We didn't win the rushing battle (123-87), we didn't win the turnover battle (4-0 to UCA), and they outplayed us and outcoached us in the second half in every phase of the game. We had a bad third quarter and didn't recover,” said third-year Northwestern coach Bradley Dale Peveto.
 
“We played real well in the first half, but we left some points off the board that we should have had with the ball inside the 10 (settling for John Shaughnessy field goals of 29 and 28 yards),” he said.  “We did not get off the field on third down all afternoon (the Bears were 8 of their first 12 on third down conversions, finishing 9 of 17) and that was a key factor.”
 
So was the quality of the opponent, said Peveto. Central Arkansas (7-3 overall, 6-1 in the Southland) will certainly rise in the Sports Network Top 25 from their No. 25 spot after wrapping up league play at NSU (5-4, 3-2) and ending the Demons' three-game win streak.
 
“You have to give UCA credit for executing, taking care of the ball, and they were the best team on Saturday,” he said.
 
Defensive coordinator Brad Laird, whose unit entered the game second in the conference with a 35 percent success rate on third down, saw UCA score four touchdowns against a defense that had allowed only seven in the last five games.
 
“We've got to get off the field on third down. You look at their scoring drives and they had great success on third down. We talked about that as a key to success and they did a better job on third down.
 
“We missed too many tackles, close to 20, and we haven't been doing that. Missed tackles, yards after contact, were big factors in their third-down success, and a couple of touchdown plays. A good quarterback like (UCA's) Nathan Dick is going to complete some balls, but we missed way too many tackles, and looking back, that was the tell-tale in the game.”
 
NSU was not without standout performances defensively, holding UCA to 340 total yards as All-America linebacker Derek Rose had 13 tackles and defensive tackle Quinn Anthony made eight stops.
 
“As we won the last three games, we were making tackles and creating turnovers and we did not do enough of that Saturday,” said Laird.
 
NSU's offensive coordinator, Todd Cooley, bemoaned having to settle for a field goal after a first-and-goal at the 3 just before halftime.
 
“It was definitely a tale of two halves. We executed pretty well in the first half, whose unit scored on all four of its possessions in the first two quarters. “We didn't cash in right before the half, and not getting into the end zone, that was a big turning point,” he said.
 
It was bigger than anyone could have imagined. UCA stuffed the Demons in the first four possessions after halftime, allowing a net of only five yards on 15 plays.
 
“UCA did a good job of making plays when we didn't. Our protection suffered, and we got behind the eight ball. We missed some opportunities to make plays,” said Cooley.
 
On the heels of another miserable third-quarter showing a week earlier in a 23-10 win at Texas State, Cooley and his offensive staff will see if there are any common factors producing a third-quarter swoon.
 
“We'll discuss it this week, but I think it's more a mentality of playing each play like it's the last play. The second time we got the ball in the third quarter, we got across midfield but we stalled with a sack. We had uncharacteristic mistakes, and let's not fail to give UCA's defense a ton of credit for what happened,” said Cooley.
 
While the outcome combined with another win by Sam Houston State (9-0, 6-0) to deny the Demons any chance at the Southland Conference title this season, Peveto said his team will have a hungry approach moving forward, beginning Saturday at 3 at Sam Houston.
 
“We have a lot to play for in the last two games, but we always focus on the next game. We're playing one of the very few unbeaten teams in the country at their place, what an opportunity to make a statement about who we are,” he said. “We can still win seven games this season which would be a great year and the right way to send out our seniors. We have a big challenge, we'll have to be much better for four quarters, but we have that opportunity next Saturday afternoon. There is no conference championship within our reach, but we have a lot to play for.”