McNeese State Cowboys football
| McNeese State Cowboys | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| |||
 | |||
| First season | 1940 | ||
| Athletic director | Bruce Hemphill | ||
| Head coach |
Lance Guidry 1st year, 6–5 (.545) | ||
| Stadium | Cowboy Stadium | ||
| Seating 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) | ||
| Claimed nat'l titles | 2 | ||
| Conference titles | 14 | ||
| Colors |
Royal Blue and Sunflower Yellow[1] | ||
| Rivals |
Central Arkansas Lamar Northwestern State | ||
| Website | McNeeseSports.com | ||
- For information on all McNeese State University sports, see McNeese State Cowboys and Cowgirls
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. The Cowboys are coached by Lance Guidry.
History
On August 31, 2013, McNeese State opened their season at South Florida by defeating the Bulls 53-21. It was the largest point total by a Football Championship Subdivision team over a Football Bowl Subdivision team in a victory since the NCAA split Division I football into two divisions in 1978. The 32 point difference was also the greatest margin of victory by a FCS team over a FBS team.
Championships
Southland Conference champions
- 1976, 1979, 1980, 1991, 1993, 1995, 1997, 2001, 2002, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2015[2]
Bowl history
The Cowboys have participated in six bowl games, the first three being College Division bowl games and the last three being against Division I-AA teams. They also participated in the 1947 Cajun Bowl vs the Southern Arkansas Muleriders in 1947, which ended in a scoreless tie. [3]
| Season | Bowl | Opponent | Result | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1951 | Cosmopolitan Bowl | Louisiana College | W 13–6 | ||
| 1962 | Golden Isles Bowl | Samford | 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 | ||
| Total | 6 Bowl Games | 3-3 | |||
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 | .556 |
Lamar Cardinals
The two teams have met 34 times on the football field, with McNeese State currently holding a 24-9-1 agreement with the two universities and Verizon Wireless.[4]
| 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 | 71.7% |
Inactive rivalry
Louisiana–Lafayette Ragin' Cajuns
The Cajun Crown was the name of the rivalry trophy between USL and McNeese State.[5]
| 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 30-22) | 20 | 16 | 2 | 56.8% |
Notable former players
Notable alumni include:
- NFL
- Don Breaux - Denver (1963) and San Diego ('64-'65); also coordinated Washington Redskins (1981-89, 1990-93, 2004-07) and various teams
- Tom Sestak - AFL Buffalo Bills (1962-68)
- Leonard Smith - St. Louis/Phoenix Cardinals (1983-1988), Buffalo Bills (1988-1991) (College Football Hall of Famer)
- Stephen Starring - New England Patriots (1983-87), Detroit Lions and Tampa Bay Buccaneers (1988)
- Buford Jordan - New Orleans/Portland Breakers (1984-85) USFL, New Orleans Saints (1986-1992)
- Kavika Pittman - Dallas Cowboys (1996-99), Denver (2000-02), Carolina (2003)
- Zach Bronson - San Francisco 49ers (1997-2003); St. Louis (2004)
- Kerry Joseph - Seattle Seahawks (1999-2002)
- Keith Ortego - Chicago Bears (1985-87)
- Flip Johnson - Buffalo Bills (1988-89)
- Bryan Hicks - Cincinnati Bengals (1980-82)
- Luke Lawton - various teams (2005-2010)
- B. J. Sams - Baltimore Ravens (2004-07); Kansas City Chiefs (2008)
- Vincent Landrum - Barcelona Dragons (1997) WLAF/NFL Europe World Bowl Champion
- Jonathan Mitchell - Birmingham Stallions USFL
- CFL
- Kerry Joseph - Ottawa Renegades (2003-05), Saskatchewan Roughriders (2006-07, 2014), Toronto Argonauts (2008-09), Edmonton Eskimos (2010-13)
See also
References
- ↑ "McNeese State Athletics Style Guide". Retrieved 2016-04-01.
- ↑ http://wilson.engr.wisc.edu/rsfc/champs/Southland.txt
- ↑ http://www.cfbdatawarehouse.com/data/active/m/mcneese_state/index.php
- ↑ "Verizon Wireless Announces Lamar-McNeese State Rivalry Series - LAMARCARDINALS.COM - Lamar Cardinals Official Athletic Site". lamarcardinals.com.
- ↑ http://www.1122productions.com/rivalries/l.html