McNeese Cowboys football

McNeese Cowboys football
2024 McNeese Cowboys football team
First season1940; 84 years ago (1940)
Athletic directorHeath Schroyer
Head coachMatt Viator
11th season, 78–33 (.703)
StadiumCowboy Stadium
(capacity: 17,610)
Field surfaceArtificial turf
LocationLake Charles, Louisiana
NCAA divisionDivision I FCS
ConferenceSouthland Conference
All-time record482–304–13 (.611)
Bowl record3–3–1 (.500)
Playoff record11–14
Conference titles14
RivalriesCentral Arkansas (rivalry)
Lamar (rivalry)
Louisiana (rivalry)
Northwestern State (rivalry)
ColorsRoyal blue and gold[1]
   
Fight song"On Mcneese"
MascotRowdy
Marching band"The Pride of Mcneese"
WebsiteMcNeeseSports.com

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.

History

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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]

The Cowboys (right) line up on offense during a 2024 game against Houston Christian.

Championships

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Southland Conference champions

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  • 1976, 1979, 1980, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015[4]

Division I-AA championship games

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Bowl games

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The 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

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Central Arkansas

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Main article: Red Beans and Rice Bowl

The 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.

McNeese State–Central Arkansas: All-Time Record
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

Lamar

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Main article: Battle of the Border (Lamar–McNeese State)

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]

McNeese State–Lamar: All-Time Record
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

Louisiana

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Main article: Cajun Crown

The Cajun Crown was the name of the rivalry trophy between Louisiana and McNeese State.[7]

Louisiana–McNeese State: All-Time Record
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

Northwestern State

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Main article: McNeese State–Northwestern State football rivalry

McNeese State leads the series with Northwestern State 48–23–1 through the 2021 season.

McNeese State–Northwestern State: All-Time Record
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

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Notable 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

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Announced 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

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References

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  1. ^ "McNeese State Athletics Style Guide" (PDF). January 17, 2023. Retrieved January 24, 2023.
  2. ^ Auman, Greg (September 1, 2013). "Division doesn't matter this time". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 21, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
  3. ^ "Groundbreaking held for Cougar Stadium renovations". kplctv.com. December 22, 2015. Retrieved November 29, 2023.
  4. ^ http://wilson.engr.wisc.edu/rsfc/champs/Southland.txt [bare URL plain text file]
  5. ^ http://fs.ncaa.org/Docs/stats/football_records/2022/Bowls.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  6. ^ "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.
  7. ^ "College Football Rivalries". www.1122productions.com. Retrieved April 8, 2018.
  8. ^ "McNeese State Cowboys Football Future Schedules". FBSchedules.com. Retrieved May 22, 2024.
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