McNeese Cowboys visit Abilene Christian Wildcats

[McCowboys]

ACU plays its second Southland Conference game after dropping a hard fought nail biter at UCA this past Saturday. McNeese makes the long trek to Abilene as the Cowboys open conference play. The Cowboys have won close matches at home over the two SWAC champions from last year (Southern and Alcorn) and were pummeled by FBS Oklahoma State in Stillwater.

Previous SLC meetings between the two teams have been close contests? Will this be the same or a blowout?

Currently, ACU is a slight favorite according to the odds makers.

(Yes! There is a spelling error/typo in the poll. I do not know how to edit it. Sorry.)

[BEAR]

ACU is a really good team. Their offense is both run and pass equal. Our game they had 35 run attempts and 41 pass attempts. They had 9 different players catch passes but mainly rely on T. Fink for their big plays. Their running back James is a workhorse. He had 21 carries against us. They have a disciplined defense. They can get beat up the middle on passes but short ones are stopped quickly.

McNeese will likely have trouble with them.

Their team chants from the sideline the whole game. On fourth downs they amass on the sideline as close to the play as they can get and make some noise. Pretty cool actually.

I haven't see the Cowboys play yet so I can't tell anything of the matchup but I can say ACU is disciplined and talented at WR, QB, and has a fast defense.

I did however note that their QB threw to spots on occasion instead of to a WR. I know some plays are made that way but we had two picks we dropped that should have either been returned for a TD or for major yards.

[Wildcat1997]

This will be a close contest. McNeese is a good team that won't go down easily. That being said I do think ACU will win. We really need to win this one after blowing the UCA game and I think we'll come out hungry and get the win here.

[McNeese75]

ACU should win at home and with all those cheerleaders on the sideline but I am optimistic to a fault (usally a big ass one) :D

[Puddin Tane]

im thinking ACU will surprise a lot of folks this year

[McCowboys]

im thinking ACU will surprise a lot of folks this year

Welcome, Puddin Tane! I saw your post on the SLC prediction thread about the rain in Beaumont. I honestly believe that there is some kind of paranormal portal just on the outskirts of Beaumont as you are heading from Houston. Weird things happen on that stretch of interstate.

[Daytripper]

ACU is better than people give them credit for... I think they beat McNeese, and pretty handily. Prediction: ACU 35 McNeese 17

[Outsider1]

May the mesquites and the prickly pear bring victory for Wildcats everywhere :) Travel safe ya Cowpokes!!!

[Daytripper]

im thinking ACU will surprise a lot of folks this year

Stick around. It's good to have Lamar represented here. By the way, I know I don't have room to talk after that egg the Bearkats laid in North Dakota, but I had the misfortune of watching Lamar v. MVSU. That may have been the worst display of college football I have ever seen. I haven't seen any other Lamar games, but was that a good representation of what they are this year or are they really closer to what we saw last year?

[McNeese72]

Unless McNeese finds some consistent offense, the defense is going to wear down and we will get our butts handed to us.

Doc

[BEAR]

ACU is better than people give them credit for... I think they beat McNeese, and pretty handily. Prediction: ACU 35 McNeese 17

I don't know about handily. They haven't taken the next step to move up a tier in our conference yet. When they can win close games and consistently finish 2nd or third in conference then I will see smiles on their fans faces. After that it's conference contention every 2 or three years. But for now, and I think their fans might agree, they are just barely over that horizon....xlolx

[Puddin Tane]

Welcome, Puddin Tane! I saw your post on the SLC prediction thread about the rain in Beaumont. I honestly believe that there is some kind of paranormal portal just on the outskirts of Beaumont as you are heading from Houston. Weird things happen on that stretch of interstate.

been raining for last 3 years. I figured Lake Chuck was getting the same

[Puddin Tane]

Stick around. It's good to have Lamar represented here. By the way, I know I don't have room to talk after that egg the Bearkats laid in North Dakota, but I had the misfortune of watching Lamar v. MVSU. That may have been the worst display of college football I have ever seen. I haven't seen any other Lamar games, but was that a good representation of what they are this year or are they really closer to what we saw last year?


Absolutely no clue. We’re bigger, stronger, supposedly faster. Lost all the secondary. Turning into juco U, not a big fan of that. The MVSU game was even worse in person....terrible game and boring. Somehow we ended up with 500+ yds on offense. aTm game, they didn’t really try to do much, in my opinion. I think we oughta give aggy some of the $$ back.

Back to thread, don’t know if McNeese has an offense

[Outsider1]

I don't know about handily. They haven't taken the next step to move up a tier in our conference yet. When they can win close games and consistently finish 2nd or third in conference then I will see smiles on their fans faces. After that it's conference contention every 2 or three years. But for now, and I think their fans might agree, they are just barely over that horizon....xlolx

Agree, we are making progress, but I am still not happy with what I am seeing yet. Sometimes my fellow Cats get mad at me, but even against you guys Saturday I saw OL, Secondary and Special Teams work that needs done. We have to finish better and we have to be able to do it consistently. I hope Dorrel sticks around long enough to see that through because it goes beyond a couple of games or 1-2 seasons.

[Outsider1]

This Saturday is a test for us to see how we come back after a hard loss. Our basketball team learned that lesson last year and it payed off for them.

[McCowboys]

been raining for last 3 years. I figured Lake Chuck was getting the same

Probably so. I'm living in the Houston area, and it's been raining off and on since about 9 this morning.

[Outsider1]

Probably so. I'm living in the Houston area, and it's been raining off and on since about 9 this morning.

Come up this way, I promise you will drive right out of it....

[McCowboys]

Come up this way, I promise you will drive right out of it....

I'm enjoying the cooler temps and the sound of the rain....

[BEAR]

Burn ban in our area. High of 96 today. Hot. Just hot. xbawlingx

[Outsider1]

I'm enjoying the cooler temps and the sound of the rain....

I am kinda hoping you would bring some of that with ya :)

[McCowboys]

Burn ban in our area. High of 96 today. Hot. Just hot. xbawlingx

xbawlingx

[McCowboys]

I am kinda hoping you would bring some of that with ya :)

Tell Doc and Chris! I'm sure they would be glad to do that and will be heading your way. I think all it does in Lake Charles is rain these days -- though there was great sunny weather for both home games so far.

[Outsider1]

I think Doc already said on our thread he couldn't make it. Bummer, I was wishing you all could help make it a great crowd.

[Puddin Tane]

Tell Doc and Chris! I'm sure they would be glad to do that and will be heading your way. I think all it does in Lake Charles is rain these days -- though there was great sunny weather for both home games so far.

yup, weve been lucky on gameday. Beaumont is right around 55" of rain ytd. oughta hit 60" by the weekend! good times

[McCowboys]

One more day to vote! Get your vote in! ACU is the favorite so far a little more than 3 to 1.

[BEAR]

It's hard to decide about McNeese since you guys appear to be so secretive. xlolx I mean IT APPEARS you barely beat Southern and slipped by Alcorn. This doesn't look strong but the scores don't tell the whole story. You steadily scored against Southern every quarter but were blanked in the second half against Alcorn. You had enough to win that game but was it so under control you put in subs? Scary to let another team within 3 when you have them by 17 in the first half. They scored their 2 touchdowns with under 4 minutes left in the game. Makes me think you had subs in and weren't too worried. But I could be wrong.

[MSUBobcat]

yup, weve been lucky on gameday. Beaumont is right around 55" of rain ytd. oughta hit 60" by the weekend! good times

News this morning said Imelda basically parked over Beaumont for 6 hours and dumped 2 FEET. Stay dry and safe down there, folks...

[McNeese75]

It's hard to decide about McNeese since you guys appear to be so secretive. xlolx I mean IT APPEARS you barely beat Southern and slipped by Alcorn. This doesn't look strong but the scores don't tell the whole story. You steadily scored against Southern every quarter but were blanked in the second half against Alcorn. You had enough to win that game but was it so under control you put in subs? Scary to let another team within 3 when you have them by 17 in the first half. They scored their 2 touchdowns with under 4 minutes left in the game. Makes me think you had subs in and weren't too worried. But I could be wrong.

Your guess is as good as ours xlolx

[BEAR]

Your guess is as good as ours xlolx

Good grief! I guess football isn't for the fans anymore. xconfusedx

[McNeese75]

Good grief! I guess football isn't for the fans anymore. xconfusedx

Yep, one think I can pretty much promise is McNeese has NOT been playing possum waiting for conference play to start. Oh, like everyone I am sure there will be some wrinkles coming out on both sides of the ball but nothing that is going to be earth shattering. Reduction of silly penalties (which if that has been done on both Southern and Alcorn those games would not have been close) and stupid mistakes (first play against OSU was a pick six in our face, first play against Alcorn the QB pulled his arm back to pass and the ball just slipped out backwards, fumble recovered by Alcorn but no damage was done).

IMO anything above 6-6 this year is a good for the program in the first season under the new staff etc.

[McNeese72]

Yep, one think I can pretty much promise is McNeese has NOT been playing possum waiting for conference play to start. Oh, like everyone I am sure there will be some wrinkles coming out on both sides of the ball but nothing that is going to be earth shattering. Reduction of silly penalties (which if that has been done on both Southern and Alcorn those games would not have been close) and stupid mistakes (first play against OSU was a pick six in our face, first play against Alcorn the QB pulled his arm back to pass and the ball just slipped out backwards, fumble recovered by Alcorn but no damage was done).

IMO anything above 6-6 this year is a good for the program in the first season under the new staff etc.

Also, people forget before Alcorn's last TD, Cody ran the ball for a first down and then just dropped it and Alcorn recovered the ball deep in McNeese territory.

Doc