Countdown to Kickoff – Week 10

New coach leads UL-Monroe into 2010

After LSU plays host to Nick Saban’s Alabama Crimson Tide in November, they’ll switch gears and take on an in-state foe that currently has the same number of wins against the Tigers’ former coach since 2007 – one.

That program would be the UL-Monroe Warhawks, who pulled off the biggest win in the school’s history in 2007 with a 21-14 win in Alabama’s Bryant-Denny Stadium.

Although Tiger fans rejoiced in Alabama’s misery before celebrating a national championship later that season, the Crimson Tide’s loss to ULM is presently their second to last regular season loss to date – two SEC West titles and one national championship later.

Long story short, it may be easy sometimes for national powers like the LSUs or the Alabamas of the world to overlook the ULMs when the schedule reads Tennessee, Florida, Ole Miss and Auburn week after week in the SEC.

Just ask Arkansas who needed a touchdown pass with less than two minutes remaining in the game to prevent ULM from catching lightning in a bottle again in 2008.

Although the Warhawks limped to the finish in 2008 with a brutal non-conference schedule featuring the likes of Arkansas, Auburn and Ole Miss, ULM salvaged a 3-4 record in conference play.

ULM improved upon those marks in 2009, going 5-3 in Sun Belt play and finished 3rd in the nine-team league.

But Warhawk faithful were not pleased with the direction of the program and coach Charlie Weatherbie, who never had a winning overall record in his seven years in Monroe, was fired following the season.

Former Warhawk offensive coordinator Todd Berry was hired two weeks later.

During Berry’s stint with the Warhawks from 2004-05, ULM won a share of the conference title in 2005 and quarterback Steven Jyles was named Sun Belt Player of the Year.

Before Berry can lead his next quarterback to conference accolades, he must first decide who’s going to get the nod in ULM’s first game against Arkansas in War Memorial Stadium.

The three-way quarterback battle between senior Trey Revell, sophomore Cody Wells and redshirt freshman Kolton Browning heated up through spring practices, with Browning earning the listing of starter heading into fall practices.

“Competition is a wonderful thing,” Berry said after the spring game to ulmwarhawks.com. “I think that shows, and you guys saw [in the spring game], there is some good competition there. You could throw them in a sack and pick one out and you would be OK.”

Revell and Wells spilt time struggling under center in 2009, combining for 18 touchdowns and 17 interceptions, while Browning redshirted.

None-the-less, Revell was named one of 22 quarterbacks to the Johnny Unitas Golden Arm Watch List, an award presented to the top senior quarterback in the country that acknowledges performance on the field, character, citizenship, integrity and those who honor the game.

With new coaches comes a new system, and Berry said the quarterbacks struggled to grasp the offense in spring football and made plenty of mental mistakes.

“This is pretty much a quarterback-driven offense, and it puts a tremendous amount of pressure on those guys intellectually in what we are asking the quarterback to do, in relation to what they have done in the past,” said Berry.

But Berry said after working with the quarterbacks through spring practices, he knows they will come around.

“We will continue to close that gap, as we have done already in relation to where we started and where we are at now,” he said.

The best friend of any quarterback is a good running game, and luckily for whoever wins the starting job, rushing monster Frank Goodin returns in the backfield.

The senior carried the ball 219 times last year and averaged better than five yards per carry en route to 1,126 yards and 13 touchdowns.

On the outside, the Warhawks will need to replace their two top-targets from last year’s team (LaGregory Sapp and Darrell McNeal) who combined for 78 receptions and nine touchdowns.

St. James native, sophomore Luther Anbrose will look to lead an inexperienced receiving corps in 2010 after he burst onto the scene with a blazing 75-yard touchdown reception in his first collegiate game against the Texas Longhorns a year ago.

Defensively, ULM only returns four starters to a unit that gave up 27 points per game last season

The Warhawks will need senior linebacker Theo Smith and junior defensive end Troy Evans to continue making plays in the backfield after they combined for 14.5 tackles for loss and 10 sacks a year ago.

UL-Monroe Warhawks

2009 Record: 6-6 (5-3 Sun Belt)

Starters Returning: 10

Key Returners: Running back Frank Goodin, quarterback Trey Revell, defensive end Troy Evans, linebacker Theo Smith

2009 STATS

Scoring Offense: 25.6 points per game

Scoring Defense: 27 points allowed per game

Total Offense: 392.3 yards per game

Total Defense: 347 yards allowed per game

Demons trying to record first win under Peveto

It’s often said the offensive line is the stabilizing force behind any team’s success.

The Northwestern State football team hopes that analogy isn’t necessarily true.

Fresh off an already miserable 12 months that saw the Demons go 0-11 in the 2009 season, injuries hit Northwestern State this spring and the team had just a handful of healthy offensive linemen.

How bad was it?

The Demons weren’t able to play a full spring game, but instead had to practice in a 9-on-9 format to compensate for a lack of healthy bodies.

Help is on the way this fall, according to second-year head coach Bradley Dale Peveto.

“We have 29 preseason practices in August and we’ll have 30 new kids involved along with all the guys who are out now,” he said.

But despite the abnormalities, progress was made this spring, according to Peveto.

“Oh, it’s been great. We’ve made it work. We’ve gotten a lot taught,” Peveto told the team’s official website. “We’ve made great progress and gotten our players evaluated in every area.”

To improve and get a coveted first victory in Peveto’s second season, a few key factors will likely have to be addressed.

The first would be turnovers. Northwestern State had a minus-19 turnover margin last year, which means they turned over the football 19 times more than their opponents in their 11 games last season.

“That is horrible, and you’re not going beat anybody with that,” Peveto said. “Offensively we’ve got to protect the football better and defensively we have to create more turnovers. That’s the number one point of emphasis this spring.”

What should work in the Demons’ favor to correct the turnover issues is the team’s experienced quarterback play.

Northwestern State’s quarterback duo of Paul Harris and Tyler Wolfe threw just eight combined interceptions last season in split action.

Harris also serves as a dual threat and recorded more than 500 rushing yards a year ago.

The quarterback might be asked to tote the ball a few more times this year, however, as the Demons will be challenged to replace their starting halfback and Patterson native William Griffin, who rushed for 575 yards a year ago.

In the Tri-parish native’s former spot will now be Sterling Endsley, Sidney Riley and Rickey Courtney.

“I like our talent at tailback,” Peveto said.

On defense, the Demons’ challenges will run a bit deeper, as they will have to replace several players from a unit that struggled as-is in 2009.

Northwestern State will have to replace all three starting linebackers, as well as three of the four spots in the secondary.

Developing new leaders in the wake of having a large graduating class is what concerns Peveto the most about his new-look defense.

“We had some special people in that senior class,” he said. “We’ll be coaching leadership just like we coach technique.”

Whether or not the Demons turn around their program this year is still unknown, but regardless, help appears to be on the way.

Northwestern State had recruiting website Rivals.com‘s No. 4-ranked signing class of all Football Championship Subdivision schools in 2009.

The team signed a total of 35 players, including Rivals three-star prospect quarterback Don Canyon. The team also signed six two-star prospects to pump some much-needed talent into a program that has had just one winning season since 2006.

Northwestern State

2009 Record: 0-11

Starters Returning: 13

Key Returners: Offensive lineman Michael Booker, quarterback Paul Harris, offensive lineman Zach Case and returnman Bradley Brown

2009 STATS

Scoring Offense: 14.4 ppg

Scoring Defense: 36.5 papg

Total Offense: 333.5 ypg

Total Defense: 422.1 yapg

Dallas Cowboys hoping to build on 2009 successes

allas Cowboys’ rookie receiver Dez Bryant hauls in a reception during a recent training camp practice. The team hopes Bryant’s arrival will spark their offense. But they will have to be patient as the rookie is out four weeks with a sprained ankle.With a 4,760-day streak without a playoff victory having been broken in 2009, the Dallas Cowboys are thinking about Lombardi in 2010.

The Lombardi Trophy that is – a trophy America’s Team has hoisted five times in its illustrious history.

With his long-anticipated first playoff victory now under his belt, anything short of Super Bowl will equal failure this year, according to Cowboys’ quarterback Tony Romo.

Afterall, the Super Bowl is in Dallas this year.

“I love the tradition and the history of the game,” Romo recently told the AP following a training camp practice. “So for me, you set out to accomplish certain goals and right at the top the only way to be included in any talk of anything is to go out and win a championship.”

To make Romo’s wish a reality, the Cowboys traded up to draft Oklahoma State standout wide receiver Dez Bryant in the first round of the 2010 NFL Draft.

The Cowboys hope Bryant’s arrival will give Dallas the big-play receiver they’ve lacked since Terrell Owens’ release.

But with a possible big reward also comes a risk – as Bryant was suspended for most of his final season in college because he lied to NCAA investigators about spending time with former NFL great Deion Sanders while in Stillwater.

Even since landing on the scene with Dallas, controversial bubbles have floated to the surface, as Bryant has refused to carry veteran receiver Roy Williams’ pads off the field following training camp practices – a known custom among rookies in the league.

“I feel like I was drafted to play football, not carry another player’s pads,” Bryant said following a recent practice.

But regardless of Bryant’s ability or inability to carry pads, Cowboys’ head coach Wade Phillips believes his first-round pick could put his team over the top, despite already having Williams and Pro Bowler Miles Austin on the roster.

“We thought this guy could make a difference. He’s a playmaker,” Phillips said of the decision to draft Bryant.

If the passing game stalls, Dallas will have a three-headed running game trio of Marion Barber, Felix Jones and Tashard Choice to fall upon in 2010.

Barber got the start in the majority of Dallas’ games last year, but Jones stole most of the thunder by the year’s end. To hold firm, Barber reportedly has lost 10 pounds and looks ripe to try and again be Dallas’ best back.

Jones, on the other hand, has added more muscle to his frame to try and emerge as a more powerful back.

“I always tell them that I want them to be able to run as fast as they can,” Phillips told the Dallas Morning News. “You can see they can play up to their ability even though they’re not as gigantic as they were.”

On defense, the Cowboys remained status quo – keeping in tact a unit that was No. 2 in the NFL in scoring defense a year ago.

Dallas returns four Pro Bowlers on that side of the football, including cornerbacks Terence Newman and Mike Jenkins, as well as linebacker DeMarcus Ware and defensive tackle Jay Ratliff.

Packaging that defense with the hopefully more consistent offense is the formula Dallas will take into the season – a season they hope ends in the new Cowboys Stadium for a Super Bowl bid.

“There are not a whole lot things not to like about the upcoming season,” Cowboys’ owner Jerry Jones told The Fort Worth Star Telegram. “Very few things. But we all know the game, the journey we got ahead of us.”

Phillips agreed with his boss and told ESPN he doesn’t shy away from lofty expectations and knows his future may well hinge on the team’s success this season.

“It’s like being in school. You know what’s expected and when you come home with that report card, it better be what your parents expected,” he said. “It’s the same thing here. There’s pressure to do well, [and] anytime you have pressure to do well I think you do better.”

Dallas Cowboys

2009 Record: 11-5

Starters Returning: 19

Key Returners: Quarterback Tony Romo, tight end Jason Witten, linebacker DeMarcus Ware, cornerback Mike Jenkins

2009 STATS

Scoring Offense: 22.6 ppg

Scoring Defense: 15.6 papg

Total Offense: 399.4 ypg

Total Defense: 315.9 yapg