2018 Northwestern State Demons football team

2018 Northwestern State Demons football
Conference Southland Conference
2018 record 2–3 (1–2 Southland)
Head coach Brad Laird (1st season)
Offensive coordinator Brad Smiley (1st season)
Defensive coordinator Mike Lucas (2nd season)
Home stadium Harry Turpin Stadium
(Capacity: 15,971)
2018 Southland Conference football standings
Conf  Overall
Team W L    W L 
No. 6 McNeese State  4 –0     5 –1  
No. 15 Central Arkansas  3 –1     4 –2  
No. 14 Sam Houston State  3 –1     4 –2  
Incarnate Word  3 –1     3 –3  
No. 20 Nicholls  3 –2     4 –3  
Southeastern Louisiana  3 –2     3 –4  
Abilene Christian  2 –3     3 –4  
Northwestern State  1 –3     2 –4  
Lamar  1 –3     2 –4  
Stephen F. Austin  1 –4     1 –5  
Houston Baptist  0 –4     1 –5  
Rankings from STATS FCS Poll

The 2018 Northwestern State Demons football team represents Northwestern State University in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Demons are led by first-year head coach Brad Laird and play their home games at Harry Turpin Stadium. They are a member of the Southland Conference.

Previous season

They finished the season 4–7, 4–5 in Southland play to finish in a tie for sixth place.

On November 17th, it was announced that the contract of head coach Jay Thomas would not be renewed after the season.[1] He finished at Northwestern State with a five-year record of 21–36.

Preseason

Preseason Poll

On July 19, 2018, the Southland announced their preseason poll, with the Demons predicted to finish in eighth place.[2]

Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1Sam Houston State187 (10)
2Nicholls State173 (6)
3Central Arkansas170 (5)
4McNeese State159 (1)
5Southeastern Louisiana119
6Stephen F. Austin90
7Abilene Christian89
8Northwestern State86
9Incarnate Word53
10Lamar52
11Houston Baptist32

Schedule

DateTimeOpponentSiteTVResultAttendance
August 307:30 p.m.at Texas A&M*
SECNL 7–5995,855
September 86:00 p.m.Grambling State*
W 34–713,525
September 156:00 p.m.at Lamar
ESPN+W 49–486,021
September 297:00 p.m.at Southeastern Louisiana
CST/ESPN3L 17–245,118
October 66:00 p.m.No. 12 Nicholls
CSTL 10–287,055
October 136:00 p.m.No. 15 Sam Houston State
  • Harry Turpin Stadium
  • Natchitoches, LA
CST/ESPN+
October 206:00 p.m.at Central Arkansas
October 276:00 p.m.Houston Baptistdagger
  • Harry Turpin Stadium
  • Natchitoches, LA
November 3at Abilene Christian
November 106:00 p.m.McNeese State
  • Harry Turpin Stadium
  • Natchitoches, LA (rivalry)
November 156:00 p.m.at Stephen F. Austin
ESPN3
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time

Source: [3]

Game summaries

at Texas A&M

1 2 3 4 Total
Demons 0 0 0 7 7
Aggies 7 28 17 7 59
Overall record Last meeting Result
First meeting

Grambling State

1 2 3 4 Total
Tigers 0 7 0 0 7
Demons 21 6 0 7 34
Overall record Last meeting Result
1–3 2017 GRAM, 23–10

at Lamar

1 2 3 4 Total
Demons 14 14 7 14 49
Cardinals 0 14 14 20 48
Overall record Last meeting Result
12–8–1 2017 NWST, 35–28

at Southeastern Louisiana

1 2 3 4 Total
Demons 3 0 0 14 17
Lions 7 14 3 0 24
Overall record Last meeting Result
29–32 2017 SELA, 49–20

Nicholls

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 12 Colonels 0 14 7 7 28
Demons 3 7 0 0 10
Overall record Last meeting Result
28–17 2017 NICH, 14–10

Sam Houston State

1 2 3 4 Total
No. 15 Bearkats 0
Demons 0
Overall record Last meeting Result
20–20 2017 SHSU, 40–36

at Central Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total
Demons 0
Bears 0
Overall record Last meeting Result
3–8 2017 UCA, 45–17

Houston Baptist

1 2 3 4 Total
Huskies 0
Demons 0
Overall record Last meeting Result
1–0 2017 NWST, 10–7

at Abilene Christian

1 2 3 4 Total
Demons 0
Wildcats 0
Overall record Last meeting Result
6–6 2017 NWST, 26–23

McNeese State

1 2 3 4 Total
Cowboys 0
Demons 0
Overall record Last meeting Result
20–45–1 2017 MSU, 44–24

at Stephen F. Austin

1 2 3 4 Total
Demons 0
Lumberjacks 0
Overall record Last meeting Result
44–26–3 2017 NWST, 38–21

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. ( ) = First place votes.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Final 
STATS FCS NR NR RV RV NR NR  
Coaches NR NR NR NR NR NR

References

  1. ↑ "Jay Thomas out as Northwestern State head coach".
  2. ↑ "Sam Houston State Voted to Top Spot in 2018 Football Preseason Poll".
  3. ↑ "2018 Football Schedule". Northwestern State University Department of Athletics. Retrieved March 10, 2018.
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