Rebuilding starts at home - an article by Jim Gazzolo

 

The season is still over two months away, but with expectations running high, we take an early look at McNeese’s schedule.

Gary Goff’s second year as head coach starts at home but has roadblocks in the way.

Tarleton State

Sept. 2, 7 p.m.

A year ago McNeese began the season on the road against the No. 3 team in FCS, Montana State.

That began the Goff era the hard way.

This year’s opener will at least be at home as they welcome the Texans for just the second time ever. McNeese is 2-0 all-time against Tarleton, which like the Cowboys have thoughts of one day moving up the college football levels. So this will be a very good first test for a McNeese team that has thoughts of turning the corner.

Bring your rosters folks, there will be a lot of new names on the field for the Cowboys who hit the transfer portal and junior college circuits hard in the offseason. McNeese needs a good start for this is the only home game in the season’s first 28 days.

At Florida

Sept. 9, 6:30 p.m.

Unless you are the team’s accountant there is never a good time to play an SEC school.

With that said, the Cowboys make their first trip ever to the Swamp at a fairly good time all things considered.

Florida will open the season at Utah and play Tennessee in its SEC opener the week after the Cowboys leave town. So maybe they will not get the rebuilding Gators’ full attention. Still, this is one of those money games that helps keep a program like McNeese funded.

Playing solid and getting nobody hurt is the biggest deal in this one.

It is also a game that the McNeese players love because they get a chance to see how they stand against one of the big boys. As for Cowboy fans, they can dream of what might be.

The game is on ESPNU so the nation will see if the Pokes can make it interesting.

At Alcorn State

Sept. 16, TBA

This is the game that should show if progress has been made from last season. A year ago Alcorn became the first SWAC team ever to beat McNeese and the Braves did it in the home opener.

The loss was a bad one for the Cowboys, who started last season 0-3. McNeese played poorly in the 30-19 defeat as the Pokes committed eight penalties for 90 yards, a few of them key to Alcorn scoring drives.

If McNcNeese is truly improved this game would be key to showing it. Last year the Cowboy offense could not keep drives going while the defense made too many mistakes in key moments. Getting back to winning ways against Alcorn and the SWAC is a must for the program to move forward.

At Eastern Illinois

Sept. 17, 2 p.m.

If the Cowboys were on the struggle bus last year the Panthers were likely driving it.

The two former FCS powers were both rebuilding when McNeese won in Lake Charles last season. That win began a three-game streak at the end which gives momentum to the Pokes heading into this year.

Eastern should also be improved after hitting the transfer portal as well in the offseason. It just seems the Panthers have further to go than McNeese.

This is likely the last game for McNeese in the scheduling agreement between the Southland Conference and Ohio Valley. Winning it would be a nice ending to a three-game road trip one week before SLC play opens.

Nicholls

Sept. 30, 7 p.m.

The Colonels are on a similar path as McNeese, trying to raise their program back to contending for the league title. In the Southland opener for both teams, this is a big game to see which one of these teams is ahead of the other in their rebuilds.

McNeese lost last year’s game 40-35 but has had a good history against Nicholls, holding a 32-15 record against the Colonels all time.

Getting off to a winning start could go a long way in building confidence for the young Cowboys who would be playing just their second game at home to date.

At Texas A&M-Commerce

Oct. 7, TBA

A year ago this game was a shocker. Up 15-7 over the SLC and Division I newcomer, McNeese watched the Lions score the game’s final 33 points over the last 34 minutes.

At least the Pokes won’t have to worry about star receiver Andrew Armstrong, who torched them for 113 receiving yards and two scores. He left through the transfer portal.

With a new head coach and lots of roster moves, the Lions, like a lot of this league, are an unknown.

You can expect McNeese to post more than 228 yards of total offense this time around, maybe even by half.

UIW

Oct. 21, 7 p.m,

Returning home after a bye week, the Cowboys take on the new-look Cardinals in perhaps the biggest game of the season. UIW went to the FBS semifinals last year, but with a new coach and new quarterback they have questions to answer before we find out just how good this team is.

For the Cardinals, this is the third straight season they will have a different head coach but their fans believe they have built a program to withstand such losses.

If McNeese wants to return to one of the league’s true contenders this is a team they must get over. The Cardinals have become the SLC’s latest bullies.

Northwestern State

Oct. 28, 7 p.m.

The rivalry is back on. After late conference moves forced this game to be missed last season, the two will be once again playing each other this fall.

The Demons were a surprise team last year in the Southland before faltering down the stretch. They hope to have learned from that for this season. Their starting QB leaving for Southeastern in the offseason won’t help.

Still, it is good to see the old foes back battling, even is so much has changed since they last played in 2021. The Demons won the season finale and helped fuel a number of changes that followed at McNeese.

Last year the Demon fans seemed more upset about the game not taking place than McNeese followers. This year McNeese made the Demons their Homecoming guests.

At Southeastern

Nov. 5, 3 p.m.

A trip to Hammond and date with the defending SLC champs awaits the Cowboys, who could be making a playoff push if all things go right.

After flirting with the idea of moving over to Lamar, SELA head coach Frank Scelfo elected to stay put. A new contract surely helped the landing.

Now comes the hard part for Scelfo, who has to rebuild a team that saw more than a few good players leave when it looked like the coach was heading to Texas.

If Incarnate Word isn’t the biggest football bully on the block these Lions are. This is also the school and fan base which desperately wants to beat any and every McNeese program, making things fun each time they meet.

Houston Christian

Nov. 12, 7 p.m.

The Huskies have had little success since moving up to the Division I level and the SLC. This year looks like a struggle as well, with a new head coach and lots of holes to fill.

That can’t matter to McNeese, which has had its way against HCU in the past despite its own recent troubles.

This is the last scheduled game at home unless dreams of a playoff game can become a reality. That might be a long stretch but winning this game would be a must either way.

McNeese is 5-0 against the Huskies and has outscored them by a 37-17,2 average.

At Lamar

Nov. 19, TBA

Lamar is the fourth team in the league with a new head coach. Pete Rossomondo takes over a program that has really struggled of late. Part of that might be the flipping back and forth between the Southland and Western Athletic Conference.

Now clearly back in the SLC, the Cardinals hope to get back on solid footing behind Rossomondo.

This has become the annual season-ender for the teams and this could be important to McNeese if they are to become a surprise playoff club.

The Cowboys are 25-10-1 against the Cardinals and even better in Beaumont. They are 14-3-1 all- time at Lamar.