McNeese State Cowboys football
The McNeese State 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 State'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 State Cowboys | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
 | |||
| First season | 1940 | ||
| Athletic director | Heath Schroyer | ||
| Head coach | Frank Wilson 1st season, 0–0 (–) | ||
| Stadium | Cowboy Stadium (Capacity: 17,410) | ||
| Field surface | Artificial turf | ||
| Location | Lake Charles, Louisiana | ||
| NCAA division | Division I FCS | ||
| Conference | Southland Conference | ||
| All-time record | 431–252–13 (.629) | ||
| Bowl record | 3–3 (.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
On August 31, 2013, McNeese State 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]
Championships
Southland Conference champions
- 1976, 1979, 1980, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015[3]
Division I-AA championship games
- 1997, L 9–10 to Youngstown State
- 2002, L 14–34 to Western Kentucky
Bowl games
The Cowboys have participated in six bowl games, the first three being College Division bowl games and the last three being against Division I-A teams. They also participated in the Cajun Bowl against the Southern Arkansas Muleriders in 1947, which ended in a scoreless tie.[4]
| Season | Bowl | Opponent | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 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
Central Arkansas
The two teams have met 9 times on the football field with McNeese State leading the series tied 5–4–0. Due to conference scheduling requirements, the most recent game was played in 2015.
| Games played | First meeting | Last meeting | McNeese wins | McNeese losses | Ties | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10 | September 17, 1994 (won 21–7) | October 15, 2016 (lost 0–35) | 5 | 5 | 0 | .500 |
Lamar
The two teams have met 34 times on the football field, with McNeese State holding a 24-9-1 agreement with the two universities and Verizon Wireless.[5]
| Games played | First meeting | Last meeting | McNeese wins | McNeese losses | Ties | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 34 | November 10, 1951 (won 13–7) | November 19, 2016 (won 41–10) | 25 | 9 | 1 | .729 |
Louisiana Lafayette
The Cajun Crown was the name of the rivalry trophy between Louisiana–Lafayette and McNeese State.[6]
| Games played | First meeting | Last meeting | McNeese State wins | McNeese State losses | Ties | Win % |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 37 | September 22, 1951 (lost 14–35) | September 10, 2016 (lost 22–30) | 20 | 16 | 2 | .553 |
Northwestern State
McNeese State leads the series with Northwestern State 45–22–1 through the 2018 season.
Notable former players
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)
- Luke Lawton - various teams (2005–2010)
- B. J. Sams - Baltimore Ravens (2004–2007); Kansas City Chiefs (2008)
- B.J. Blunt - Washington Redskins (2019)
- 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–present)
Future non-conference opponents
Announced schedules as of January 2, 2021.[7]
| Spring 2021 | Fall 2021 | 2022 | 2023 | 2024 |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| at Tarleton State | at LSU | at Rice | vs Tarleton State | at Tarleton State |
| at Youngstown State | vs Alcorn State | at Alcorn State | vs Youngstown State | |
| vs West Florida | at Texas A&M | |||
References
- "McNeese State Athletics Style Guide". Retrieved April 1, 2016.
- Auman, Greg (September 1, 2013). "Division doesn't matter this time". Tampa Bay Times. Retrieved February 21, 2019 – via newspapers.com.
- http://wilson.engr.wisc.edu/rsfc/champs/Southland.txt
- "McNeese State Historical Data". www.cfbdatawarehouse.com. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- "Verizon Wireless Announces Lamar-McNeese State Rivalry Series - LAMARCARDINALS.COM - Lamar Cardinals Official Athletic Site". lamarcardinals.com. Archived from the original on 2014-10-24.
- "College Football Rivalries". www.1122productions.com. Retrieved 8 April 2018.
- "McNeese Cowboys". FB Schedules. USA Today Sports. Retrieved 2 January 2021.