Box Score NATCHITOCHES – It's been an interesting, far-reaching and revealing four-game stretch to open Jay Thomas' first season as football coach at Northwestern State, with the Demons making a good impression with their 2-2 start.
 
Not since 1991 has NSU opened the year with games in four different states. They've rallied to capture a close game on the road (23-17 at Missouri State), posted a runaway win (55-14 at home over Southern), been blown out (66-9 at Cincinnati) and rebounded to show progress this past Saturday in a 52-28 loss at UAB.
 
“I saw us be a lot more competitive in this game than the last one.  The things we wanted to improve upon after the Cincinnati game, not just schematically but more so in our approach, we did improve,” said Thomas Sunday. “We did good things in all three phases at times.
 
“We made some good adjustments at halftime, particularly on offense. Driving the ball downfield after the kickoff and scoring so fast, getting it back to a 10-point game, was a good statement. We went down swinging.”
 
The diverse early slate has helped Thomas and his staff evaluate their team and identify potential changes.
 
“There's always something you need to focus on schematically, and maybe there are some positional changes we'll consider going into this week's game,” said Thomas, whose team hosts NAIA foe Langston at 6 Saturday night in Turpin Stadium. “We're starting to get a good feel for who we are and how to get better.
 
“I'm very encouraged by what we're doing, that we have a good football team,” he said. “We have to get better but we're not bad at all.
 
“The train is not off the track. We need to refuel, get a new head of steam, and put all three phases together and go win a ballgame for the first time in three weeks at home Saturday night against a dangerous Langston team that has a lot of Louisiana players on it,” he said.
 
At UAB, the Demons were digging out of a two-touchdown hole less than five minutes into the game, with a high punt snap giving the Blazers a first-and-goal series to open the game, and a 63-yard punt return for a 14-0 lead after NSU's second offensive series.
 
“The high snap was unfortunate. The punt return was a great play by their guy (Jemarcus Nelson), who we knew was a special player coming in. We got a good kick, we had seven guys around him, and we missed him 3-4 times,” said Thomas. “We basically spotted them 14 points, but we battled and we were close to drawing it back to a three-point game.”
 
Defensively, the Demons had their moments, and were in position to contain the Blazers much more so than a week earlier at Cincinnati. But UAB ballcarriers were often tough to bring down.
 
“We missed 25 tackles so tomorrow, I'm ordering a tackling sled. We've got to get better at it,” said Thomas. “You also have to credit UAB and their players. The running back (Darrin Reaves, who had 178 yards and two touchdowns) is a big, physical, talented guy. We were hitting him and sliding off a lot of times. Their receivers are big and tough to take down. Still, if you're in position and you're really fundamentally sound, you'll not miss that many tackles.”
 
After consecutive road games at FBS venues, the Demons are happy to be home, and Thomas is wary of his team's mindset going from underdog to favorite.
 
“If you allow it to be a trap game, it will be a trap game. We need to understand we have to be better in every phase,” he said. “We have a ton of improvement we need to make. We need to focus on what we need to do, and we know they will give us their best shot.”
 
NSU had a light workout Sunday evening before the team's day off Monday as coaches devise the game plan for Langston.