The Bears lost the shutout in the second half but still managed an impressive season-opening win.
After leading 48-0 at the end of the first half, the Bears basically coasted for the next thirty minutes of game time to end a season-opening win over the Northwestern State Demons. Keeping players healthy ended up being the primary goal of the night, with Seth Russell exiting with 2 minutes to go in the second quarter and true freshman Zach Smith following halfway through the third. Shock Linwood and Terence Williams also left at halftime after putting up a combined 170 yards already.