Routine helps football prepare for 2017 schedule

Playing against a Southland Conference opponent on the opening weekend of their season is something out of the ordinary for the Nicholls State University football team.

After the 2015 and 2016 seasons opened with a bye week for the Colonels, Head Coach Tim Rebowe said he was excited when he got the chance to reconfigure the team’s schedule and face a conference opponent on week one.

“Going into season has been a little different because the last two years we never had a game on the opening date. That was tough because you’re practicing for three or four weeks before you actually play anybody,” Rebowe said. “McNeese was scheduled for week 3 and they were looking to move a game and we were looking to move a game. We had an opportunity to just go ahead and play the first week on a Thursday night.”

Rebowe explained that playing against a conference opponent first meant the Colonels had no time to waste. Although it is not done all the way across the country, certain teams have opened against a conference opponent before.

In order to be prepared for every team they face, Rebowe said sticking to a routine is key.

“What we’ve been trying to do to get our guys ready [for the season] is to stick with a routine,” Rebowe said. “As athletes, there’s always a routine of what you do.”
Ultimately, the team’s schedule and weekly opponents will not change what they do day-to-day at practice. Rebowe said they are focused on approaching one game at a time and sticking to the routine that they know.

“You’re always going to tweak certain things offensively or defensively as far as what schemes the other team is running, but we aren’t going to change just because we’re going to play A&M or Prairie View as we would go play McNeese or Sam Houston or anybody else,” Rebowe said. “It’s a one-game schedule and we’re going to do what we do.”