In 2008, the McNeese State Cowboys broke numerous school records, but the season ended in disappointment as the Cowboys finished 7-4 and missed the playoffs for the first time since 2005. The players don’t want that to happen again, and they seem to be headed in the right direction.
“The attitude during the off-season has been fantastic,” said head coach Matt Viator. “We’ve had great participation. We could not have asked any more out of our players. I think the excitement is there. The enthusiasm is there. We’re looking forward to starting the season.”
The strength of the team is in the offensive backfield with senior quarterback Derrick Fourroux and senior running back Toddrick Pendland. Last season Pendland set a new single season rushing mark with 1,431 yards, and he scored a team leading 15 touchdowns.
Last year was also a banner year for Fourroux, who set career highs in passing yards, pass completions,and passing and rushing touchdowns. Fourroux did not just set individual records. The Erath, LA native, led an offense that set school records for total yardage gained per game (464), passing yards gained per game (236), and points scored per game (37.5). Fourroux has started every game since his freshman year, and he’s on pace to break many career records held by former Cowboy great, Kerry Joseph.
“He has won games. He does what he needs to do in our offense, and he doesn’t turn the ball over,” said Viator. “I don’t think I’ve seen a kid be as productive as he has, and turn the ball over less than he has. Derrick is just a winner. He has the respect of his teammates. He has the respect of his coaches, and hopefully he can have another big year for us.”
Fourroux will be throwing to a group of wide receivers that haven’t necessarily started a lot of games, but they all have game experience (Immanuel Friddle, Bernardo Henry, Chad Davis and Richard Conner). It appears that the Cowboys are loaded at tight end.
“I think we are more talented than we’ve been at tight end with Wes Mangan, Corday Clark and Brandon Broussard,” said Viator. “We’re excited about who we have catching the ball.”
The biggest question mark for the offense looks to be up front where only one of five starters returns on the offensive line. It helps that the lone returning starter is senior Casey Richter, who is considered one of the elite tackles in the Southland Conference.
“We have some new faces on the offensive line, but they are guys that we think have talent. We’re excited about them,” said Viator.
There will also be plenty of new faces on defense. Only three starters return from a defense that performed rather poorly in 2008. The Cowboys allowed nearly 30 points per game, and surrendered at least 35 points in five games.
“I think we have a chance defensively. We have some really good players who are not necessarily returning starters, but we’re not going to put anyone out there who hasn’t played,” said Viator. “I think we’ll have some speed. I think overall what we have to improve on is tackling. We have to have a better tackling team than we had, and I think we will.”
For the Cowboys to improve on their 7-4 record from one season ago, they have to find a way to win the close games.
“We lost to North Carolina by seven points and out gained them,” said Viator. “We lost by three points to Texas State, lost by three points to Nicholls and had a chance to beat Central Arkansas in the last game of the year. The games that were close, we lost. The year before in 2007, we won those games. Last year we lost them. So we have to figure out a way to win those games.”
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