Cowboys Looking To Bounce Back In ‘09

By Garrett Lumpkin



I am a football fanatic, and there are thousands of people in Southwest Louisiana just like me who love the game as much as I do. Luckily for us, college football returns in just a few weeks when teams report for August practice.
The McNeese State Cowboys are coming off a 7- 4 season in which they missed the playoffs for the first time since 2005. Watching the Pokes last year was like watching the New Orleans Saints. The games were very exciting with plenty of offense, and unfortunately very little defense.
In 2008, the Cowboys set team records for points scored per game (37.5), and total offense per game (464.1). However, they allowed over 29 points per game, and on five occasions gave up at least 35 points.
The 2009 Cowboy squad will have a much different look with only 9 of 22 starters returning on both sides of the ball (6 on offense, 3 on defense). Despite the big turnover, I think the new cast of characters will be in the thick of the Southland Conference championship race once again.
In football, you don’t have to have a great quarterback to win, but it sure makes things easier if you have a stud behind center. And the Cowboys have exactly that in senior Derrick Fourroux.
Fourroux has started since he was a freshman and is on pace to break Kerry Joseph’s school records for total offense and passing yards. Fourroux doesn’t make many mistakes (17 interceptions in three years), and he makes plays with his arm and legs (67 combined touchdowns in three years). Toughness is Fourroux’s best attribute. He takes a beating throughout the course of a game because he runs with the ball so much, but he always gets up after the big hit.
Most of Derrick’s targets from a year ago are gone. However, all-conference tight end Wes Mangan returns along with wide receiver Immanuel Friddle who I believe is ready for a break-out season.
Running back Toddrick Pendland broke out last season as a junior when he was named the Southland Conference offensive player of the year. Pendland set the school’s single season rushing record with 1,431 yards. Just think of what that rushing total would have been had the Cowboys made the playoffs and won a game or two. Pendland is also a major threat in the passing game. Last year he finished second on the club with 35 catches for 337 yards. He nearly averaged a first down every time he caught the ball out of the backfield.
The Pokes have an outstanding quarterback and running back. However, Fourroux and Pendland won’t be able to do what they do unless they get good blocking from the big boys up front. Offensive linemen never get much credit, but they make everything happen. Of the five starting offensive linemen from 2008, only tackle Casey Richter returns.
Defensively in 2008, the Cowboys were torched on several occasions. They didn’t fare that bad against the run, but maybe that was because opponents knew that they could throw all over McNeese. The Cowboys allowed 26 touchdown passes, and over 230 yards passing per game. The Cowboys were 6-0 when allowing 31 points or less, but they were 1-4 when allowing at least 35 points. There is plenty of room for improvement, and I see things getting better for the MSU defense before things get worse.
The three returning defensive starters from 2008 are defensive end Terrance Freeman, linebacker Deron Minor and defensive back Darrell Jenkins. That’s not many returning starters, but maybe that’s a good thing considering how the unit performed last season.
Freeman led the team in sacks last season with 5.5, Minor finished second on the team in tackles with 89, and Jenkins ranked third on the club with six tackles for loss.
Matt Viator enters his third full season as head coach of the Cowboys. All Viator has done since taking over midway through the 2006 season is win 24 of 31 games. His winning percentage of .774 ranks second in school history behind Ernie Duplechin. Viator has led the Cowboys to a pair of Southland Conference championships, and he has been named the Southland Conference coach of the year twice. About the only thing that Viator has not done is win a playoff game. Something that McNeese has not accomplished since 2002.
For the Cowboys to get back to the playoffs in 2009 the offense doesn’t have to score 37 points per game. But the defense must allow less than 29 points per game. Somewhere around 20 points would be ideal.
I’m not going to make any predictions about the upcoming season yet, but I will say this—I can’t wait for August practice to kickoff!