WACO, Texas – Only a couple of times in more than a century of football has Northwestern State faced such a daunting matchup as the Demons do Saturday night in a visit to play the 10^th-ranked Baylor Bears.
 
Kickoff is 6:35 at sparkling new 45,000-seat McLane Stadium, hosting only its second college game. Baylor demolished SMU 45-0 last Sunday night, allowing the Mustangs only 69 yards of offense.
 
The game will be televised live on eight regional networks and Fox College Sports Central nationally. The Demon Sports Network radio broadcast begins with the 6 p.m. pregame show over flagship station 100.7 FM KZBL in Natchitoches, News Radio 710 KEEL in Shreveport, 104.3 The Bridge in Alexandria, 99.9 KTEZ FM in Many and 92.7 The Eagle, KBDV FM  in Leesville. A live free audio stream is available through the NSUDemons.com website.
 
The Demons looked dominant for most of their season opener on Aug. 28, but faltered down the stretch as visiting Missouri State roared back from 17 down to win 34-27.
 
"We have a good football team. At times in the Missouri State game, we were tremendous. We looked great, but we didn't finish them off and credit them for battling through and finding a way to come back," said second-year coach Jay Thomas. "Now we go to one of the great teams in all of college football, and we view it as a great opportunity for our team to line up against those Baylor Bears and compete snap after snap.
 
"Our guys are excited. They came back to work on Monday with a great sense of purpose. We have had a very good week of practice and I think we've made the improvements we wanted," said Thomas.
 
Northwestern rolled up 493 yards offensively, including 318 passing from senior quarterback Zach Adkins. Junior receiver and kick returner Ed Eagan had 181 all-purpose yards, including 107 on nine receptions.
 
Adkins' pass yards were the 10^th best in FCS after week one, and his 32 of 41 passing aim gave him the nation's sixth-best pass completion percentage (73.8).
 
The Demons got 96 yards rushing from sophomore De'Mard Llorens, including a 53-yard touchdown on the game's opening series.
 
NSU's defense was led by Justin Evans, the senior defensive end, who had nine tackles. Evans was lost for the season with a knee injury late in the game. Senior linebacker Marion Chapman also had nine stops and junior safety Chase Collins had eight.
 
The contest is the third time this century the NSU football team has played a Top 10-ranked major college foe. In 2002, the Demons fell 45-7 at No. 4 Georgia, and in 2011, No. 2 LSU beat Northwestern State 49-3.
 
It's the first of four consecutive games away from Turpin Stadium for the Demons, who next Saturday visit Southern and go to Louisiana Tech on Sept. 20 to conclude the non-conference portion of the schedule. After an open date Sept. 27, NSU begins Southland Conference play against defending champion Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond on Oct. 4 before getting back to Turpin for the Oct. 11 homecoming game against Incarnate Word.