Positive Start - An Article by Jim Gazzolo

With the second scrimmage in the books, camp is basically closed for the Cowboys as they turn their attention to the season opener against Tarleton State.

“We will change our focus some to game planning,” said McNeese State head coach Gary Goff. 

That leaves us to wrap up what we have seen so far. 

During the two scrimmages, McNeese has shown some big-play ability which was not seen a year ago. Of their 13 touchdowns over 111 plays, four of them have come of plays 40 yards or longer. That is a big change from a grind-it-out offense from a year ago.

“We need to find playmakers and be able to score from all over the field,” said Goff. “I like what I have seen so far.”

The biggest change has been in the wide receiver spot where Jon McCall has stood out. He has seven catches for 229 yards and four touchdowns over the two practice games. Two of his TD’s have come on short grabss that he took the distance.

The other two have been on sliding grabs in the end zone. McCall has been the biggest playmaker in a greatly improved receiving group.

“As a receiver room, we want to be the best in FCS (Football Championship Subdivision) so everybody has stepped up their game,” said McCall. 

Marcus Peterson, the highly-regarded transfer from Cincinnati, has started to show more promise with each passing day. Peterson had four catches for 47 yards and a touchdown during Friday night’s scrimmage. 

“Marcus is coming along and finding his way out there,” Goff said. “He is getting better every practice.”

Another transfer, Jihad Marks, has also had his moments catching passes. Marks, who played at Bakersfield College last year, has six catches for 29 yards during scrimmages.

“That room has been really competitive which has been good,” said Goff of his receiving group. “They all know we can’t play everybody.”

Even the coach’s son has chipped in. Freshman Tyler Goff has four catches for 47 yards. 

Another big plus for the Pokes has been the play of D’Angelo Durham. Coming off a leg injury that cost him the final seven games of last season, Durham looks healthy and has 114 yards on 19 carries including one touchdown.

That all leads to the quarterback, a battle that seems to be playing out with Nate Glantz looking more and more like the starter. He is 26-of-40 for 412 yards and three touchdowns with just one interception.

While scrimmage stats are sometimes not always totally accurate, Glantz has still looked very good while battling Tre’ Simmons (9-17, 214 3 TDs) for the top job. 

Glantz has also rushed for 94 yards and two scores. Simmons has also run the ball 13 times for 71 yards. 

There have also been just enough big plays on defense to keep the head coach happy as well. 

“Defensively we produced some big stops and some turnovers late in the scrimmage, which was a balanced scrimmage looking at it from both sides as a head coach,” Goff said.

All have proven to be positive signs as McNeese looks to rebound from three straight losing seasons and turns its attention to the season opener.

The Pokes begin play on Sept. 2 at home against Tarleton State.

Jim Gazzolo is a freelance writer who covers McNeese athletics. He is the host of Poke Nation on CBS-Lake Charles.