Colonels back in action at Texas A&M-Commerce looking to stay unbeaten in SLC

The tragic death of Northwestern State University defensive back Ronnie Caldwell which caused the cancelation of last week’s game at Nicholls puts perspective on the games people play.

“Our hearts still go out to the Caldwell family, to the Demon family,” Nicholls coach Tim Rebowe said. “As a head coach, it goes out to Brad Laird, too. You don’t have a clear way of handling that. That’s not something that’s normal. I’ve talked to him a couple of times. He seems to be doing well, and trying to take care of his team, which is tough.”

There also is another reality.

“Unfortunately, we lost a game, also. You are only guaranteed 11 games. You are only guaranteed so many home games, and one of them was taken away from you – which is the right thing to do. But I feel for our players, too,” Rebowe said.

The cancelation of the Nicholls-Northwestern State game also could have implications down the road for naming a potential Southland Conference champion and potential playoff bid.

“The best thing we have to do as coaches is tell our players, ‘let’s just handle the stuff on the field.’ If you beat the teams you are supposed to beat, obviously, it should take care of itself,” Rebowe said.

If any team should be able to deal with an unexpected off week, it’s the Colonels. Nicholls had an open date only three weeks into the season.

“We had to adjust on the fly,” said Rebowe. “Taking from how we handled the previous (open) week, we kind of knew what to expect and what to do and what to practice in and how long to practice and those types of things. I think our guys handled it well.”

Nicholls is 2-3 on the season and playing its best football of the season in winning its last two games to move to Southland contention at 2-0 in the conference.

“We were starting to get into a rhythm and get into a routine and start playing well; you kind of wanted to play this past weekend, and it being a home game. I guess we’ll see how it happens on the field on Saturday,” Rebowe said.

What the unexpected off week did do, was give the Colonels extra time to prepare for a Texas A&M-Commerce team that 1-5 on the season, including 1-1 in the Southland. The Lions defeated McNeese State 41-10 at home in league play before losing last week at ranked University of Incarnate Word 28-11.

“We did get to get a head start on Commerce. We went to work Friday as a staff and put Northwestern to bed and got some stuff ready for them. We had an extra day on them, and we had a chance to watch them play Incarnate Word on Saturday,” Rebowe said.

Commerce is averaging 17 points per game and allowing 31 through five games. In the Lions’ two SLC games, they have averaged 26 points while allowing an average of 19.

“I guess for us, we just have to look at conference,” Rebowe said. “That’s what I tell our players we have to do. I don’t want anybody judging us on our preseason games. When you look at our record, people do that.

“We have to look at where they are in conference. They beat a McNeese team at home and took care of business. They scored 41 points and beat them 41-10.  It’s a tough place to go and play at Incarnate Word, a top-ranked team. It was a one-score game in the fourth quarter.”

“I think they are playing better. I think they are trying to find out some things,” he continued. “They’ve got to settle in at quarterback. The other guy has been playing. I think they are finding out a little bit about who they are and what they can do.”

Commerce has played two quarterbacks this season. Josh Magana and Peter Parrish split time throughout the first three games of the season. An injury to Parrish has Magana in the starter’s role.

Magana is 60 of 104 passing for 749 yards, with seven touchdowns and three interceptions. Parrish is 25 of 49 passing for 212 yards, with four interceptions.

“What I like about (Magana) is he runs the show for them. He’s tough. He knows their offense. He knows what they can do. I think he spreads the ball and I think he extends plays a little bit, and I think they put him in the right situations to do that,” Rebowe said.

The top two runners for the Lions are Reggie Branch and Ra’veion Hargrove. Branch has rushed for 249 yards on 46 carries and Hargrove 220 on 49 attempts. Injuries have given more playing time to Reggie Shamenski, who has 88 yards rushing on 35 carries.

“I think they can really go,” Rebowe said. “I think Reggie Branch is explosive. He can really stretch it if he gets out in the open. Ra’veion Hargrove is good. Now they are going with Shamenski Rucker. I think Hargrove came out the game last week. We have to make sure of that in pregame to see if he will be around.

“We’re not playing against just that one guy. We are playing against that offense. They’ve been a three running back, four running back team so far.”

The top three receivers all have 161 yards or more in receptions. Micaelous Elder leads the way with 178 yards on 22 catches. He also has rushed for 19 yards.

“I think they do a good job of trying to get him the ball,” said Rebowe, referring to Elder. “They use the RPO game, the screen game. We have to be aware of it.  For us, it’s going to be the oldest cliché in the book, we just can’t let any of those guys get behind us and give them a cheap one.

“They are a check-with-me from the sidelines team, trying to get in the right play. They will run counter and run some RPO game out of it.”

Among the top defenders for Commerce is defensive back Max Epps. Epps leads the team in interceptions with four and is second on the team with 31 total tackles.

“They will play man and challenge you on the outside and get some guys inside the box to stop the run,” Rebowe pointed out.

Another defensive back, Daryion Taylor, paces the team in tackles with 44.

The Lions have amassed 19 sacks on the season. Clifford Funderburk has four sacks to lead the team and Levi Drake Rodriguez has three.

“They do some stuff up front. They do some twists and do some things. We have to be ready to handle that and do some different things up front protection-wise. Maybe slide-protect some and do keep some backs in to help them and be ready to upset their pass rush,” said Rebowe.

The mindset going into the game at Commerce, Rebowe said, is it’s just another road trip.

“We took a long bus trip before. That’s nothing to us,” the Nicholls coach said. “I think we went on the road and went to McNeese and won a big conference game. That’s what it will take this week. Don’t make a big deal about it. It’s what we do. It’s what we have to do. We know how to handle it. I think our guys are maturing from that aspect. Being able to handle a trip, it’s a 3:30 kickoff, which right around when we play. I don’t think the trip will be a factor.

“I like so far in the early days (of practice this week) of how the guys are preparing and handling it. Decide the thing on the field.”