Dooley’s Dozen: 12 things you need to know about McNeese State Cowboys
The good news for Florida’s football team is that the next three games are at home.
Yeah, we’re reaching a little here after the Gators laid an egg to start the season. The smell was familiar. Florida is now 7-18 in its last 25 games against Power Five teams.
Sorry if I made you throw up in your mouth a little there, but the truth hurts.
You can’t blame Billy Napier for all of it. But you can for some of it.
The Gators won’t face a Power 5 team on Saturday night, but Napier could use a feel-good game in his 15th one as the Florida coach.
The Dooley’s Dozen takes a look at this week’s opponent with 12 things you need to know about the McNeese State Cowboys.
You thought Florida had a rough opener
McNeese didn’t get off to a great start either, losing 52-34 at home to Tarleton State. If you know where Tarleton State is located, you win a warm handshake (Stephenville, Texas). The Texans outscored McNeese 35-17 in the second half.
The Cowboys were equal opportunity defenders
They couldn’t stop the pass and couldn’t stop the run. Tarleton ended up with 554 yards and 30 first downs, rushed for 210 yards, passed for 344 and ran an interception back 71 yards for a score. McNeese also had eight penalties for 80 yards.
Their coach was a little stunned
Gary Goff came to McNeese from Valdosta State where he went 22-3 as the Blazers head coach. In his first season at McNeese, he won the last three games of the season to finish 4-7. So, he didn’t see a 35-0 run coming against his team. “I stood there shell-shocked a little bit,” Goff said after the loss.
The quarterback is probably sore
Junior Nate Glantz, a transfer from Iowa State, didn’t have a lot of time to throw in the opener with six sacks against him for a total of 48 yards in losses. “He was trying too hard and we were not sharp,” Goff said. The Cowboys went to backup Tre Simmons to try to find a spark and he threw a pick-six.
They know Florida
Simmons is one of eight players listed on the McNeese roster from the state of Florida (Temple Terrace). That includes wide receiver Marcus Peterson from nearby Lake City. A majority of the team is from Louisiana and Texas. In fact, 11 players are from Lake Charles, Louisiana, where the school is located.
Keep an eye on No. 9
There are two No. 9s on the team and McNeese hopes they are not both on the field at the same time. But Cam Thomas is a dangerous kick returner who was named the Southland Conference special teams player of the week after he returned his first kickoff ever 91 yards for a touchdown. He also carried the ball three times.
It was a junior college
McNeese was originally called Lake Charles Junior College before being renamed McNeese Junior College. In 1970, it became McNeese State. McNeese has won 14 Southland Conference titles (the most recent in 2015), and played in six bowl games and two Division 1-AA championship games.
So, who is McNeese?
John McNeese was an educator and the first superintendent of schools in Imperial Calcasieu Parish. McNeese lost both of his parents when he was nine from tuberculosis and eventually settled in the area when a cattle drive was stopped short of its destination. He received a law degree from Tulane and advanced education in his parish using taxes to fund parish schools.
The payout is OK
McNeese is opening the season with three straight non-conference games (Tarleton, at Florida, at Alcorn) before settling into their Southland Conference schedule. For making the trip to Gainesville, the Cowboys will collect $500,000. A year ago, Florida paid Eastern Washington $750,000, but travel is different from Washington than from Louisiana.
It’s a drivable game
Not that many of us would do it to see this gem (good luck finding a spread), but it is doable and a trip many Gator fans have taken in reverse to go to games in Baton Rouge and New Orleans. Lake Charles is 714 miles straight down I-10 for the Cowboys fans planning to come. Just take a right at I-75. You can’t miss it.
This is a first
These two teams have never played but the Cowboys have played Billy Napier’s old school Louisiana 29 times. Just none of them happened when he was there. This will make it the seventh team Florida will have played from the state of Louisiana with Florida having a 56-39-5 overall advantage (bunch of LSU games in the mix).
There aren’t a lot of famous alums
The school has only been around since 1939, a mere puppy by southern standards, but it is known as one of the better universities in the country in terms of bang for the buck. Bobby Kimball, the front man for Toto, went to school, there as did basketball Hall of Famer Joe Dumars and former Texas A&M coach RC Slocum.
Follow us @GatorsWire on Twitter and like our page on Facebook to follow ongoing coverage of Florida Gators news, notes and opinions.
