AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo.—Northwestern State coach Bradley Dale Peveto figures a side trip will help sidetrack the thoughts of his players.
That’s why he’s promised them a little sightseeing excursion into the mountains when the Demons arrive a day before facing the Air Force Falcons on Saturday.
Anything to temporarily distract his team from the task in front of them.
The Demons, coming off an 0-11 season, enter as vast underdogs against the Falcons, who have never lost to a Football Championship Subdivision squad.
Even more, Air Force routed Northwestern State’s Southland Conference brethren Nicholls State, 72-0, in the 2009 opener.
Not that Peveto needs any reminding. Seeing the film of the Falcons is quite enough.
“We know we better have our ankles taped and go in there ready to get after it,” said Peveto, who took over last year at the school that’s located in Natchitoches, La. “We understand that Air Force is a great challenge. It’s a great opportunity.”
The temptation would be for the Falcons to simply dismiss the Demons, especially after drubbing Nicholls last year. And especially with Mountain West Conference foe BYU looming next weekend.
But Air Force coach Troy Calhoun is motivating his team through mind games, lecturing about how Northwestern State has produced more NFL talent than the Falcons and about how the Demons knocked off TCU, 27-24, nine years ago.
That got their attention.
“We’ve got to play. We’re going to have to play at a very high pitch, play extremely well,” said Calhoun, who’s 3-0 in season openers since arriving at Air Force. “You realize you better be so razor sharp every single time you play, and you better not leave anything to chance. … We’re playing against an extremely capable opponent.”
The Demons return a solid nucleus on offense, relying heavily on their offensive line and quarterback Paul Harris, who threw for 978 yards and rushed for another 537 in 10 games.
Their defense, though, is green and in for quite a test as it faces an option offense that’s always proved difficult to defend.
The Falcons averaged nearly 284 yards on the ground last season, the third-best mark in the country. They return fullback Jared Tew, who led the team with 970 yards rushing, along with quarterback Tim Jefferson and tailback Asher Clark. The team may also incorporate backup QB Connor Dietz into some packages, giving Northwestern State yet another look.
All those different combinations and wrinkles have been keeping Peveto and his staff up at night, trying to figure out a scheme to contain it.
“Very fast tempo and so many different formations—that’s how they’re different than your typical wishbone,” said Peveto, a former co-defensive coordinator at LSU. “You have to line up and defend and make sure your eyes are right, make sure you are taking care of those responsibilities.”
Air Force is simply looking forward to lining up against someone other than those wearing familiar blue and white uniforms.
Ready or not, a change of scenery is needed.
“As a coach, you can always say we need six more weeks or 15 more months and whatnot, to get ready to go. We don’t,” Calhoun said. “We’ve game planned for this game as much as we have for any other game we’ve ever played since we’ve been here at the Academy. … We just need to get to a point where it’s a live Saturday, where our guys get a chance to go play.”
For the Demons, it’s about seeing the mountains and then attempting to pull off a mountain of an upset.
“It will be a unique experience for us, a very neat experience,” said Peveto, who’s taking his squad in a day early to help acclimate the players to the higher altitude. “It’s going to be a great trip.”
