M2013CN COWBOYSEESE STATE FOOTBALLUN IVERSITY McNeese Sports Information • Jack Doland Athletic Field House • 700 E. McNeese • Lake Charles, LA • (337) 475-5207 • Fax (337) 475-5202 SID: Matthew Bonnette • [email protected] • @WM_Bonnette • cell (337) 263-4822 • www.McNeeseSports.com 2013 SCHEDULE (0-0, 0-0 SLC) McNeese Cowboys (0-0, 0-0 SLC) DATE OPPONENT TIME/RESULT Aug. 31 at South Florida 6:00/ESPN3 at Sept. 7 ARKANSAS-PINE BLUFF 7:00/CSN-H Sept. 14 WEST ALABAMA 7:00 South Florida Bulls (0-0, 0-0 AAC) Sept. 21 WEBER STATE 7:00 Sept. 28 at Northern Iowa 4:00 Raymond James Stadium (65,857) • Tampa, Fla. Oct. 5 *at Central Arkansas 3:00/SLC-TV Aug. 31, 2013 • ESPN3 • Gator 99.5 FM Oct. 19 *SAM HOUSTON STATE 7:00/ESPN3 Oct. 26 *at Nicholls 3:00 Game Information McNeese Cowboys South Florida Bulls Nov. 2 *SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA 7:00 Streaming: . McNeeseSports .com Rankings (TSN/Coaches) . RV/RV. Rankings (AP/Coaches) . .NR/NR TV: . ESPN3 2012 Record: . 7-4/4-3. SLC 2012 Record: . 3-9/1-6. Big East Nov. 9 *at Stephen F. Austin 3:00 Radio: . McNeese. Radio Network Last Game: . Nov. 17 vs . Lamar Last Game: . Dec . 1 vs . Pittsburgh Nov. 16 *NORTHWESTERN STATE 7:00/ESPN3 (Tom Hoefer, play-by-play; Johnny Suydam, color; Richard Dow, sideline) . .W 35-0 . L 27-3 Nov. 23 *at Lamar 6:00 Live Stats: . www .McNeeseSports .com Head Coach: . Matt Viator Head Coach: . Willie Taggart * Southland Conference games Twitter: . .@McNeeseFootball Record at McN (yrs): . 52-24 (8th) Record at USF (yrs): . 0-0. (1st) all times are Central The Series: . USF leads 1-0 Career Record: . Same Career Record: . .16-20 (4th) vs . USF: . 0-0 as head coach vs . McN: . .0-0 2013 QUICK FACT S Quick Hits Location: . Lake Charles, Louisiana Founded: ............................1939 • McNeese State will be kicking off its 70th season of football... 8th under head coach Matt Viator... 42nd as a member of the Southland Conference . Enrollment: . .8,900 • McNeese is the dean of the Southland Conference, having joined the league in 1972. Nickname: ........................Cowboys • McNeese has compiled a 43-24-2 record in season openers. Mascot: . Rowdy • The Cowboys are 3-3 under Viator in season openers - 3-0 vs. non-FBS members and 1-2 against FBS teams... Viator Colors: . Blue (287) and Gold (116) took over as head coach of the Cowboys after the fifth game of the 2006 season . Stadium (Capacity): ......Louis Bonnette Field at • Cowboys have won 13 Southland championships - more than three times more than the next current league foe . .Cowboy Stadium (17,810) • The team played in the 1997 and 2002 FCS national championship game - falling 10-9 to Youngstown State in 1997 Surface:..................Artificial, GeoMax2 and 34-14 to Western Kentucky in 2002 . Conference: . Southland (Division I FCS) • The Pokes have made 14 FCS playoff appearances, more than double the amount of the next Southland team Joined Southland: . .1972 • McNeese is 3-12 against FBS schools since 2000... those wins are against Sun Belt Conference members Louisiana- President: . Dr. Philip C. Williams Monroe (24-19 in 2002), Louisiana-Lafayette (38-17 in 2007), and Middle Tennessee (27-21 in 2012) . Athletics Director:..............Bruce Hemphill • This will be the second meeting between McNeese and USF with the Bulls taking the first meeting by a 41-10 score Head Coach:... Matt Viator (McNeese State, 1986) to open the 2006 season . • McNeese assistant head coach and defensive coordinator Lance Guidry was a member of new USF head coach Willie Seasons:......................... 7 Taggert’s staff at Western Kentucky in 2011 and 2012... Guidry was the interim coach of the Hilltoppers in their 24-21 Career Record: . .52-24 loss to Central Michigan in the 2012 Little Caesars Pizza Bowl . Seasons at McN: ...8th as HC; 15th overall • Taggart was WKU’s co-offensive coordinator and quarterback’s coach in 2002 when the Cowboys and Hilltoppers Record at McNeese:..............52-24 played for the FCS national championship (WKU won 34-14) . 2012 Overall Record: . 7-4 • Senior quarterback Cody Stroud is beginning his third season as the starting QB for McNeese. Stroud threw for 2,102 SLC Record/Finish:.................. 4-3/4th yards and 19 tds last season and will enter the season ranked 6th on the team’s all-time career passing yards list with First Year of Football:...................1940 4,697... he’s looking to become just the fifth player in school history to pass for more than 5,000 yards in a career. All-time Record (years): . 454-269-13 (69) • The University of South Florida isn’t the only football school from Tampa McNeese has played in its football history... First Year of SLC Football:................1972 from 1952-1965, the Cowboys faced the University of Tampa eight times and compiled a 5-2-1 record against the All-time SLC Record (years): . .192-85-5 (42) Spartans . Tampa defeated the Cowboys by a 16-12 score in the very first game in Cowboy Stadium (Sept . 18, 1965) . SLC Championships (last): . .13 (2009) Tampa discontinued its football program in 1975 . FCS Playoff Appearances (last): . .14 (2009) • A slew of newcomers will be looked upon to make an immediate impact... one of those is junior tight end Nic Jacobs who transferred in from LSU . Jacobs, a native of Many, La ., stands 6-5 and weighs 255 pounds and has great speed . Letterwinners Returning/Lost: . 62/23 at LSU, he played in 19 games and made one start and caught 5 passes for 58 yards . he was selected as a preseason Offensive Starters Returning/Lost: .........8/3 all-Southland Conference second team selection by the league coaches . out of high school, he was rated as the No . 10 Defensive Starters Returning/Lost:.........7/4 tight end prospect in the nation by Scout .com . McNeese Cowboys Football August 31, 2013 • at South Florida 2013 Opponent Tracker COWBOYS ON WAT C H LISTS , PRESEASON HONORS South Florida (0-0) A total of seven McNeese players have been named to various College Football Performance Last Season: 3-9 Awards watch lists and another 12 players have been voted onto the preseason All-Southland This Week: vs . McNeese Conference teams as well as other organization all-conference and all-America teams . Arkansas-Pine Bluff (0-0) Arinze Agada (OG) Antonio McGhee (DL) • First Team preseason All-Southland Conference • CSM preseason SLC Freshman of the Year Last Season: 10-2 • College Sports Madness Preseason All-American This Week: at Arkansas State • CSM preseason All-Conference (1st team) Guy Morgan (CB) • Sports Network preseason All-Conference (1st team) • CFPA Defensive Back Watch List West Alabama (0-0) • Phil Steele preseason All-Conference (1st team) • First Team preseason All-Southland Conference Last Season: 9-4 • Sports Network preseason All-Conference (1st Team) This Week: Open Jean Breaux (K/P) • CSM preseason All-Conference (2nd Team) • CFPA Punter Watch List • Phil Steele preseason All-Conference (2nd team) Weber State (0-0) • Second Team preseason All-Southland Conference Last Season: 2-9 • CSM preseason All-Conference (2nd team) Javaris Murray (RB/KR) This Week: vs . Stephen F . Austin • Second Team preseason All-SLC (KR) Terence Cahee (S) • CSM preseason All-Conference (3rd Team - RB, KR) at Northern Iowa (0-0) • First Team preseason All-Southland Conference Last Season: 5-6 • CFPA Defensive Back Watch List Diontae Spencer (WR) This Week: at Iowa State • CSM preseason All-Conference (1st Team) • First Team preseason All-SLC (WR) • Sports Network preseason All-Conference (1st Team) • Sports Network preseason All-Conference (1st Team) Central Arkansas (0-0) • Phil Steele preseason All-Conference (1st team) • CSM preseason All-Conference (2nd Team - WR) Last Season: 9-3 This Week: vs . Incarnate Word (Thurs .) Everett Ellefsen (DE) Cody Stroud (QB) • CFPA Defensive Line/End Watch List • CFPA Quarterback Watch List Sam Houston State (0-0) • CSM preseason All-Conference (1st Team) Last Season: 11-4 • Second Team preseason All-Southland Conference Deonte Thompson (LB) • Phil Steele preseason All-Conference (2nd team) • First Team preseason All-Southland Conference This Week: vs . Houston Baptist • Sports Network preseason All-Conference (1st Team) Nicholls State (0-0) Antoine Everett (OT) • CSM preseason All-Conference (2nd Team) • First Team preseason All-Southland Conference Last Season: 1-10 Marcus Wiltz (RB) This Week: at Oregon Nic Jacobs (TE) • CFPA Running Back Watch List • Second Team preseason All-Southland Conference • Second Team preseason All-Southland Conference Southeastern Louisiana (0-0) • CSM preseason All-Conference (1st Team) Last Season: 5-6 Chris Loveless (DE) • Phil Steele preseason All-Conference (2nd team) This Week: vs . SE Missouri (Thurs .) • CSM preseason All-Conference (2nd Team) • Second Team preseason All-Southland Conference Stephen F. Austin (0-0) Last Week: W 34-17 vs . Northwestern St . VIATOR REA C HES MI L ESTONE WIN This Week: Season Complete With the 35-0 win over Lamar on Nov . 17, head coach Matt Viator has now notched 52 victories Northwestern State (0-0) in his career at McNeese . Last Season: 4-7 • 4th on the school all-time career win list... needing 6 more to tie Les DeVall for 3rd This Week: at Missouri State (Thurs .) • Second fastest head coach to get to 50 wins in career in school history • Most wins among Southland head coaches at their respective schools Lamar (0-0) • 8th on the SLC list for all-time wins Last Season: 4-8 • Has never had a losing season This Week: vs . Okla . Panhandle COWBOYS pl AYING IN NFL STADIU M S Saturday’s game at South Florida, played at the Tampa Bay Buccaneer’s Raymond James Sta- dium, will mark the fourth time McNeese has played in a NFL stadium - the second at Raymond James Stadium .