The Colonels head home for the homecoming game against the McNeese State Cowboys this Saturday.

The Colonels are winless through their first three games, but head coach Tim Rebowe said they are looking forward to playing McNeese in a friendly environment.

“The last two weeks have been tough going to San Antonio and Colorado, but we are excited to finally play in front of our home crowd,” Rebowe said. “We are playing a very good team in McNeese.”

The Colonels allowed 46 percent of third downs to be converted and only converted 19 percent of their own. Rebowe said the Colonels need to avoid giving up big yardage on third downs.

“We have been good on third and mediums, but third and longs have been a problem,” Rebowe said. “We need to get off the field on third downs.”

The Colonels have only scored 10 points in their first three games. Rebowe said the offense needs to be put in better situations to succeed.

“Field position has been terrible for us,” Rebowe said. “It’s hard to go 80 and 90 yards consistently. I don’t care what level you are.”
Defensive back B.T. Sanders is the second leading tackler on the Colonels’ roster. He said they needed to focus on the little things that make a defense successful.

“We have to practice better and pay attention to detail,” Sanders said. “Our goal is to win every home game, and that’s what we plan to do.”
The Colonels allowed opponents a 5.2 rushing average and 12.9 yards per pass attempt while only gaining 3.7 yards a rush and 8.7 yards a pass attempt. Sanders said they need to finish plays and get off the field.
“We have to make more tackles,” Sanders said. “Missing tackles will extend the play.”
The Colonels defense tightened up in their only conference game, allowing only 294 yards of total offense to the University of Incarnate Word.
“We can’t prepare for everything, but we need to pay attention to those minute details,” Sanders said. “If they come out with something different, we will be ready for it.”
The Colonels went 0-12 last season, but Sanders said the team is still transitioning to the new coaching staff.

“We have to change the mentality of the team,” Sanders said. “We are still caught in the old way, but we have all talent to compete.”

The Colonels allowed 1,523 total yards through three games this season. Sanders said they studied the other teams to prepare for the homecoming game.

“We have to be on the same page and make tackles,” Sander said. “We are looking at film and picking up on tendencies of other teams”
The Colonels have been sacked five times and have accumulated 412 total rushing yards. Offensive lineman Brandon Holmes said the minor errors are holding them back from gaining big yardage.

“It’s our first home game, so everyone is pretty excited,” Holmes said. “We just need to fix all of the small errors because we are one block away from a big play every time. We just need to fix the little errors.”

The Colonels play the Cowboys at 2:30 p.m. this Saturday.

“We have the pieces to compete, they just need to come together,” Sanders said.