Minnesota Football: First Look at the Northwestern State Demons
The Minnesota Golden Gophers are 1-0 in the 2025 season after a 23-10 win over the Buffalo Bulls, and now will turn their attention to the FCS’s Southland Conference opponent, Northwestern State Demons.
Gophers Nation takes a first look at the Demons below.
Game / Broadcast Details
Where: Minneapolis, Minnesota
Stadium: Huntington Bank Stadium (50,805)
Time: 12:00 p.m. CT
Television: BTN
Radio: KFAN 100.3 | Mike Grimm, Darrell Thompson, Justin Gaard
Odds: No odds have been released for the game and won’t be until Friday night or Saturday morning. The Massey ratings predict a 49-0 win for the Gophers.
Northwestern State’s 2025 Results
| Date | Opponent | Result | Record |
| 8/28 | vs Alcorn State | 20 -10 win | 1-0 |
The Demons broke their 20-game losing streak in week one with a 20-10 win over Alcorn State. The Demons were outgained in the game 301 to 270, but used a 13-point first quarter to carry themselves to victory. Notably, the Demons ran for 185 yards on 40 carries, with Abram Johnston leading the team with 69 yards on 17 carries.
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Series History
This will be the first-ever matchup between the Golden Gophers and Demons. That being said, according to Winspedia, the Gophers are 159-26-9 all-time against current non-FBS / inactive opponents.
Northwestern State has pulled off several upsets since 1980, including a 30-27 win over Louisiana Tech in 2018.
Head Coach Profile: Blaine McCorkle
Head coach Blaine McCorkle is in his second season as the head coach of Northwestern State. It’s the 49-year-old Annistan, Alabama native’s second head coaching job after spending time at the Division III program Bellhaven in Jackson, Mississippi.
At Bellhaven, McCorkle turned the program around from 2-8 in 2018 and 2019 to an 8-2 and 9-2 team in the 2022 and 2023 seasons.
His first year at Northwestern State was a tough one, however, with a 0-12 record. One of those 12 losses included an 87-10 loss to South Alabama, which was the most points scored by an FBS team in a single game since 1991.
It was an extremely young team, as of Northwestern State’s 98 players, 59 were considered freshmen through redshirt sophomores. They only had 39 total players who were true juniors through redshirt seniors.
Player to Watch: LB Fernando Washington
Perhaps the most dangerous player to watch on the Northwestern State roster for Saturday’s matchup is junior linebacker Fernando Washington, who is in his first season with the program. The former JUCO product from Copiah-Lincoln Community College was outstanding in the Northwestern State 20-10 win over Alcorn State.
In that win, Washington had eight tackles, including six solo tackles. He was also a menace in the Alcorn State backfield, including two tackles for loss and one sack. It was a strong first impression for Washington to say the least after recording 50 tackles, including seven tackles for loss and one sack for Copiah-Lincoln Community College in 2024.
Storylines to Watch:
Gophers get a tune-up game before California
After coming out on top in a 23-10 win over the Buffalo Bulls last Thursday, the Gophers will get the opportunity to clean up their game ahead of their week three matchup against California. This weekend’s matchup will be a game in which the Gophers are heavily favored; it may be the biggest spread of a P.J. Fleck era game in reality.
In a game in which the Gophers will have severely outmatched the Demons, Saturday’s game offers an opportunity for Minnesota to work on the small things. Use the game as a way to clean up and improve upon their mistakes from week one. After Northwestern State, the schedule will get increasingly more difficult with California, Rutgers, and Ohio State all on the horizon.
How will Drake Lindsey follow up his strong debut?
We’ve talked about Drake Lindsey’s debut as the Gophers’ starting quarterback throughout the last several days. It was, without a doubt, an impressive performance that should give Minnesota fans plenty of hope not just about the 2025 season but beyond as well. This Saturday’s game should be the easiest matchup of Lindsey’s redshirt freshman season, which makes it intriguing to see how the Arkansas native will perform. We’re not necessarily going to be looking for video game numbers out of Lindsey, but instead, we’re going to be looking for efficiency. He likely won’t throw too many passes, if we had to gauge only upwards of 20-23, but of those limited attempts, a completion percentage upwards of 65-68%+ would be ideal considering the opponent.
Which depth players / younger Gophers will make their season debut?
These buy-games for FBS programs and especially Power Four programs are not only used as tune-up games, but also provide programs the ability to get younger players and depth players valuable in-game experience.
Last season against Rhode Island, 65 different Gophers saw the field. In comparison, in their week one matchup against North Carolina, only 39 saw the field. When they took on Iowa two weeks later, that number dropped back down from 65 to 38 once again.
With that being said, after seeing 38 different Gophers play against Buffalo, we should see upwards of 60-70 playing against Northwestern State on Saturday afternoon. But which players will we get to see?
Some notables likely to make their season or Gophers debut, quarterback Max Shikenjanski, Emmett Morehead, running back Fame Ijeboi, wide receiver Malachi Coleman, offensive tackle Kahlee Tafai, defensive end Steven Curtis, defensive tackle Riley Sunram, linebacker Jeff Roberson, cornerback Naiim Parrish, and safety Zahir Rainer.
But this will surely go on beyond those select few; overall, Saturday’s game will present a tremendous opportunity for the Gophers’ depth pieces.
Stay Tuned
Stay tuned to Gophers Nation as we bring the latest updates on the Golden Gophers’ upcoming matchup against Northwestern State.
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