In that span the Cowboys saw a 17-6 lead over the Jackrabbits disappear. South Dakota State's Parker Douglass sandwiched two field goals, including the game-winner with 14 seconds left, around a 40-yard touchdown pass from Andy Kardoes to JaRon Harris.
The Jacks went home winners, 20-17.
The Cowboys, holding high hopes of returning to the I-AA playoffs a two-year absence, fell to 1-3. Soon after, seventh-year head coach Tommy Tate was forced out.
Matt Viator, elevated to head coach after six-plus seasons as McNeese's offensive coordinator, has a simple explanation for what happened since then.
“Nothing, really,” said the 43-year-old McNeese State grad, who has seen his team win five straight to claim the Southland Conference title. “I just think we're playing better. In this streak I think we're playing pretty solid, on both sides of the ball and in the kicking game.”
The box scores bear him out. After a 27-17 loss at Texas State - TSU benefited from six McNeese turnovers - dropped them to 2-4, the Cowboys edged Stephen F. Austin 20-17 behind Jamie Leonard's 92 yards rushing on Oct. 21.
The next week McNeese rode a 39-yard fumble return by safety Jamelle Juneau to a 31-18 win over Sam Houston State. Carlese Franklin hauled in two touchdown passes in two of the next three games, wins over Southeast Louisiana and Nicholls State. In between, Blake Bercegeay hit five field goals, including the game-winner in overtime, as the Cowboys beat Northwestern State.
During the streak McNeese State committed five turnovers, but got the ball back 16 times. That's a plus-11 turnover margin.
“That always helps,” Viator said.
In short, this was what the Cowboys were expecting: Their 12th I-AA playoff berth in 16 seasons. They just had a few sidetracks on the way to Missoula.
The Cowboys finished 5-4 a year ago, and the SDSU loss dropped them to 10-14 since a stunning 35-3 home loss to Northern Arizona in the 2003 playoffs. McNeese was the I-AA's top seed that season.
Viator has little to say about the coaching change, brought about by McNeese State president Dr. Robert Hebert amid rumors of discipline problems.
“I can tell you we were surprised,” he said. “We all were. Anything else about it, I just don't know.”
“The rumors were flying,” said Whitehead, the Southland Conference's player of the year. “I didn't think it was going to happen until the end of the year. Once that happened, everybody had to do a reality check and look each other in the eyes and decide what we had to do to get it turned around.”
Whitehead feels one change is that the offense became freer. It is a hodgepodge of two-back and one-back sets, with a freshman named Derrick Fourroux (Fuh-ROO) pulling the trigger. He was supposed to back up Mark Fontenot, but a rib injury sidelined the sophomore in fall camp.
Fontenot still plays each game - he has two TD passes in the streak - but Fourroux is the main man. Partly because of injuries at running back - Leonard, who has 605 yards rushing, didn't play last week and may not start Saturday - the QB leads McNeese in carries with 115. Fourroux has gained 474 yards on the ground, lost 104, and thrown for another 1,374.
“He throws real well,” said Whitehead. “He's a redshirt freshman, he's still learning, but he's getting better every game. He brings that element to the game that you can't really prepare for.”
The defense, meanwhile, has keyed things. The Cowboys welcomed back five starting defensive backs in their 4-2-5 look this season. They mix man pressure and zone and ball-hawk well. They have a Buchanan Award candidate in defensive end Bryan Smith, who weighs somewhere between 206 and 216 pounds and high-jumped 6-feet-10 in high school.
“The defense has been tremendous for us,” Whitehead said. “Bryan Smith as the rush end has given a lot of quarterbacks a lot of trouble this year.”
The Cowboys will try to cause trouble Saturday. They have for the Griz in the past. Their three playoff matchups were nail-biters, with the home team (UM once, McNeese twice) winning in the final minutes. The teams also split a home-and-home series in 1990-91.
Look for the Cowboys to dress warm - “We're going to be getting all the Under Armour ColdGear we can buy,” Juneau said Sunday - and leave memories of SDSU, a team the Griz beat 36-7 on Sept. 9, far behind.
“That was the end of coach Tate's era,” Whitehead said. “I kind of felt that it was more of a team effort than a coaching effort that lost us that game. But we've picked it ever since then. We've just been rolling.”
|
 |
 |
Add your comment now! Write your comment in the form below.
(Email address is for verification only. If you'd like to email a story, look for the link above)