The McNeese Cowboys football program is the intercollegiate American football team for McNeese State University located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and are members of the Southland Conference. McNeese's first football team was fielded in 1940. The team plays its home games at the 17,410 seat Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, Louisiana.
| McNeese Cowboys football | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
 | |||
| First season | 1940 | ||
| Athletic director | Heath Schroyer | ||
| Head coach | Gary Goff 3rd season, 4–18 (.182) | ||
| Stadium | Cowboy Stadium (capacity: 17,610) | ||
| Field surface | Artificial turf | ||
| Location | Lake Charles, Louisiana | ||
| NCAA division | Division I FCS | ||
| Conference | Southland Conference | ||
| All-time record | 482–304–13 (.611) | ||
| Bowl record | 3–3–1 (.500) | ||
| Playoff record | 11–14 | ||
| Conference titles | 14 | ||
| Rivalries | Central Arkansas (rivalry) Lamar (rivalry) Louisiana (rivalry) Northwestern State (rivalry) | ||
| Colors | Royal blue and gold[1] | ||
| Fight song | "On Mcneese" | ||
| Mascot | Rowdy | ||
| Marching band | "The Pride of Mcneese" | ||
| Website | McNeeseSports.com | ||
History
editThis section needs expansion. You can help by adding to it. (January 2013) |
On August 31, 2013, McNeese opened their season by defeating the South Florida Bulls, 53–21. It was the largest margin of victory (32 points) by a Football Championship Subdivision (FCS, formerly I-AA) team over a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS, formerly I-A) team since the NCAA split Division I football into two divisions in 1978.[2]
McNeese State football played some of their original games at a stadium now named Lake Charles Boston High School Cougar Stadium.[3]
Championships
editSouthland Conference champions
edit- 1976, 1979, 1980, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015[4]
Division I-AA championship games
edit- 1997, L 9–10 to Youngstown State
- 2002, L 14–34 to Western Kentucky
Bowl games
editThe Cowboys have participated in seven bowl games.[5]
| Season | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1947 | Cajun Bowl | Southern Arkansas | T 0–0 |
| 1951 | Cosmopolitan Bowl | Louisiana College | W 13–6 |
| 1962 | Golden Isles Bowl | Howard (AL) | W 21–14 |
| 1971 | Grantland Rice Bowl | Tennessee State | L 23–26 |
| 1976 | Independence Bowl | Tulsa | W 20–16 |
| 1979 | Independence Bowl | Syracuse | L 7–31 |
| 1980 | Independence Bowl | Southern Miss | L 14–16 |
Rivalries
editThe two teams have met 13 times on the football field with Central Arkansas leading the series 7–6–0. Due to conference scheduling requirements, the most recent game was played in 2019.
| Games played | First meeting | Last meeting | McNeese wins | McNeese losses | Ties | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 13 | September 17, 1994 (won 21–7) | October 12, 2019 (lost 31–40) | 7 | 6 | 0 | .538 |
The two teams have met 40 times on the football field, with McNeese State holding a 28-11-1 agreement with the two universities and Verizon Wireless.[6]
| Games played | First meeting | Last meeting | McNeese wins | McNeese losses | Ties | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 40 | November 10, 1951 (won 13–7) | November 19, 2022 (won 24-20) | 28 | 11 | 1 | .713 |
The Cajun Crown was the name of the rivalry trophy between Louisiana and McNeese State.[7]
| Games played | First meeting | Last meeting | McNeese State wins | McNeese State losses | Ties | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 38 | September 22, 1951 (lost 14–35) | September 10, 2016 (lost 22–30) | 20 | 16 | 2 | .553 |
McNeese State leads the series with Northwestern State 48–23–1 through the 2021 season.
| Games played | First meeting | Last meeting | McNeese State wins | McNeese State losses | Ties | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 72 | October 6, 1951 (won 38–21) | November 20, 2021 (lost 20–24) | 48 | 23 | 1 | .674 |
Notable former players
editNotable alumni include:
- NFL
- Don Breaux - Denver (1963) and San Diego ('64-'65); also coordinated Washington Redskins (1981–1989, 1990–1993, 2004–2007) and various teams
- Tom Sestak - AFL Buffalo Bills (1962–1968)
- Leonard Smith - St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals (1983-1988), Buffalo Bills (1988–1991) (College Football Hall of Famer)
- Stephen Starring - New England Patriots (1983–1987), Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1988)
- Buford Jordan - New Orleans/Portland Breakers (1984–1985) USFL, New Orleans Saints (1986–1992)
- Kavika Pittman - Dallas Cowboys (1996–99), Denver (2000–2002), Carolina (2003)
- Zach Bronson - San Francisco 49ers (1997–2003); St. Louis (2004)
- Kerry Joseph - Seattle Seahawks (1999–2002)
- Keith Ortego - Chicago Bears (1985–1987)
- Flip Johnson - Buffalo Bills (1988–1989)
- Bryan Hicks - Cincinnati Bengals (1980–1982)
- Jimmy Redmond – various teams (2001–2006)
- Luke Lawton - various teams (2005–2010)
- B. J. Sams - Baltimore Ravens (2004–2007); Kansas City Chiefs (2008)
- B. J. Blunt - Washington Redskins (2019)
- Diontae Spencer - St. Louis Rams (2014), Pittsburgh Steelers (2019), Denver Broncos (2019–2021), New York Jets (2022-2023)
- Adam Henry - Assistant coach: Oakland Raiders (2007-11), San Francisco 49ers (2015), New York Giants (2016-2017), Cleveland Browns (2018-2019), Dallas Cowboys (2020-2021), Buffalo Bills (2023-present)
- CFL
- Kerry Joseph - Ottawa Renegades (2003–2005), Saskatchewan Roughriders (2006–2007, 2014), Toronto Argonauts (2008–2009), Edmonton Eskimos (2010–2013)
- Diontae Spencer - Toronto Argonauts (2015–2016), Ottawa Redblacks (2017–2018)
Future non-conference opponents
editAnnounced non-conference opponents as of May 22, 2024.[8]
| 2025 | 2026 | 2027 | 2028 | 2029 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| at Louisiana | at LSU | at South Dakota | South Dakota | at LSU |
| Weber State | ||||
| at Utah State |
See also
editReferences
edit- ^ "McNeese State Athletics Style Guide" (PDF). January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
- ^ Auman, Greg (September 1, 2013). "Division doesn't matter this time". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 21, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- ^ "Groundbreaking held for Cougar Stadium renovations". kplctv.com. December 22, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
- ^ http://wilson.engr.wisc.edu/rsfc/champs/Southland.txt [bare URL plain text file]
- ^ http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2022/Bowls.pdf [bare URL PDF]
- ^ "Verizon Wireless Announces Lamar-McNeese State Rivalry Series - LAMARCARDINALS.COM - Lamar Cardinals Official Athletic Site". lamarcardinals.com. Archived from the original on October 24, 2014.
- ^ "College Football Rivalries". www.1122productions.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
- ^ "McNeese State Cowboys Football Future Schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024.