NATCHITOCHES – Kickoff times were announced Thursday for two appealing Northwestern State football road games this fall, Sept. 6 at Baylor and Sept. 20 at historic rival Louisiana Tech.
 
The NSU-Baylor game, the second college contest to be played in Baylor's new $260 million McLane Stadium in Waco, will kick off at 6:30 and be televised by Fox Sports Net, with Fox regional network distribution, said Baylor officials. The Bears, the defending Big XII Conference champion, are expected to be ranked in the major college Top 25 polls. It will be the fourth meeting since 2006 between the teams.
 
The Demons' contest at Louisiana Tech will kick at 6 o'clock at Aillet Stadium in Ruston. It is the first meeting in football between the longtime north Louisiana rivals since 1994, a 38-28 win by the Bulldogs, the last of 77 meetings going back to 1907 between the football programs.
 
Official Northwestern State tailgating parties and opportunities to purchase tickets in the Demons' fan section for those games will be announced soon, said NSU officials.
 
Ten of 12 kickoff times for the 2014 Demons schedule are now set, with Southland Conference games at Southeastern Louisiana on Oct. 4 and Central Arkansas on Oct. 25 awaiting announcements from those schools.
 
Northwestern kicks off the season at home Thursday, Aug. 28 with a 6 p.m. contest against Missouri State, the third-place team last year in the Missouri Valley Conference. The Demons pulled out a 23-17 win at Missouri State to open last year, their first under coach Jay Thomas.
 
After going to play Baylor, NSU visits Southern in Baton Rouge in a 6 o'clock contest at Mumford Stadium. Tailgating party and ticket availability in the Northwestern section for that contest will also be announced soon.
 
NSU will host new Southland member Incarnate Word on Oct. 11 at 6 in the Demons' homecoming game. A week later, Sam Houston State visits for a 3 o'clock game at Turpin Stadium.   McNeese comes to Northwestern for a Nov. 1 battle at 6, with the final home game Nov. 15 against Nicholls at 6.
 
Along with visits to SLU and UCA, the Demons' other Southland road games are a 2 o'clock visit to Abilene Christian on Nov. 8 and the traditional regular-season finale against Stephen F. Austin, with a 3 o'clock start in Nacogdoches, Texas, on Nov. 22.