R A I N B O W _ F O O T B A L L

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Indians waiting to take flight

Northeast Louisiana is still going through growing pains in Division I

By Paul Arnett
Star-Bulletin

After opening with a home win over Nicholls State, Northeast Louisiana University went on a month-long road trip only a truck driver could love.

The Indians played at such outposts as Fayettville, Ark., Rustin, La., Athens, Ga., and Stillwater, Okla., before returning home to Monroe, La., to play Northwestern State.

If a disc jockey held a trivia contest asking listeners to name the college football teams in those four cities, only an editor of College Football Magazine would come up with the correct answer of Arkansas, Louisiana Tech, Georgia and Oklahoma State, respectively

"We have been to a lot of places this year, but none as nice as this," fourth-year head coach Ed Zaunbrecher said yesterday at Honolulu International Airport.

"Our guys were getting a little cramped flying on a commercial flight from Dallas for eight hours. We took charter flights for our other seven road trips and you can kind of spread out on those.

"But we'll be all right once we get to practice and let them unwind a little bit. One good thing about going on the road as much as we have this year, it teaches you how to live out of a suitcase and learn to like motel food."

Unfortunately for the players, it didn't teach them how to win. The Indians are 1-6 in seven road engagements. The lone victory was at Southwestern Louisiana, a team that beat Texas A&M last year.

They lost the other six to Arkansas, Louisiana Tech, Georgia, Oklahoma State, Mississippi State and Kentucky by a combined score of 198-66.

Northeast Louisiana obviously isn't ready to join the Southeastern or Big 12 conferences, but the 4-7 Indians should be prepared for the University of Hawaii tomorrow night at Aloha Stadium.

"Playing in front of a hostile crowd won't be anything new for us," Zaunbrecher said. "If you can survive playing between the hedges at Georgia, then you can practically play anywhere.

"Our team has enjoyed going to all the different college campuses. And it should help us deal with the distractions a place like Hawaii has to offer."

It certainly is a good place for Zaunbrecher and his family to celebrate his recent contract extension. On Wednesday, athletic director Richard Giannini gave Zaunbrecher a multi-year deal.

"I'm very happy with the contract," Zaunbrecher said. "It has some incentives in it, that if we meet, will keep me around for a while longer."

Zaunbrecher, 47, took over the program when it went to Division I in 1994. He is only 14-30, but Giannini knew it would take time to get the independent Indians competitive.

"Ed's leadership has been particularly important to our program during these formative years," Giannini said Wednesday in a Bloomberg wire story.

The Indians have four freshmen and six sophomores among their 22 starters, including quarterback Daniel Jeremiah. The redshirt freshman from El Cajon, Calif., is one of only a dozen players not from Louisiana. Jeremiah has completed 101 of 192 passes for 1,218 yards and six touchdowns. He needs 294 passing yards to break a 21-year-old freshman team record.

"Actually, we heard about Daniel from a friend," Zaunbrecher said. "Normally, we don't recruit that far away, but he enjoyed the visit and we're glad to have him."

Zaunbrecher also enjoys having running back Marquis Williams, who has rushed for 887 yards and nine touchdowns this season, and big-play receivers Marty Booker and Derrick Bridges. Bridges averages 16.8 yards a reception and Booker leads the team with four touchdown catches.

The defense also has some standouts. Defensive end Steve Foley leads the Indians in sacks with 17 12 and tackles for losses with 24 12. Free safety Brian Taylor leads in tackles with 99.

Northeast Louisiana has won two of its last three games, but is coming off a disappointing 32-19 loss at home to Western Michigan.

"It was disappointing we didn't play better last week," Zaunbrecher said. "We didn't take advantage of some of the things I thought we could. We made some big plays, but we didn't do anything consistently.

"I am worried about Hawaii's team, but the main thing I want to do is get our focus back. With the long trip and the game in Hawaii, it may be harder to stay focused, but we need to remember we came to play a football game."

http://uhathletics.hawaii.edu