SLC Predictions - Week Twelve

[TexasTerror]

Rivalry Week featuring Cajun Corner battle, Chief Caddo and K(C)at Fight!
SLC Championship Game!
Bearkats vs Bobcats on Thursday night!

TT's Predictions
OOC Record: 22-10
SLC Record: 20-4
Overall: 42-14

Stephen F Austin @ Northwestern State - The Demons will be looking to finish off their home slate with a 4-1 record at Turpin. The Jacks could end up with no wins on the season. This is a rivalry game and you would like to think the records could be thrown out, but I have not seen any fire in the Jacks this year, the SHSU rivalry game included. NWST has shown some life as of late. NORTHWESTERN STATE

Sam Houston St @ Texas State - San Marcos - This game is a fun one. Two teams that had higher expectations this year. Last time the Bearkats were in San Marcos, they almost knocked the Barrick Nealy led Bobcats out of a playoff spot. This team wants to finish the season on a high note and an improvement over last year. And the performance at Nicholls did nothing to make me think other than going with SAM HOUSTON STATE

Nicholls St @ Southeastern Louisiana - The Colonels and Lions in the Cajun Corner battle. The Colonels started off the season as if they may end up in the playoffs and enter this game with nothing to play for. They will be pumped up for this one and I think there's a few seniors on the Colonels side who will want to put an exclamation point on their careers that included a 2005 playoff bid. SELA is just running on fumes right now. Lots of young guys who are producing, but the Colonels running game will get going. NICHOLLS STATE

Central Arkansas @ McNeese State - The Southland Conference Championship game. Why does the SWAC need a title game with all the teams playing each other if your bound to get one? SLC is lucky to have it in the last week. McNeese has more than the outright SLC title on the line, but a top four seed and some comfortable surroudings in the playoffs. You can not bet against that. McNEESE STATE

[McCowboyFan]

Yep, I agree with those; but, if we play UCA like we played Northwestern, it's gonna be a long night... plus, we lost Quentin Lawrence and Bryan Smith in the game. Hopefully, they'll be able to play this week.

[Freightliner]

xrulesx Freightliner's Record xrulesx
OOC Record: 24-8
SLC Record: 21-3
Overall: 45-11

Stephen F Austin @ Northwestern State - Chief Caddo Stays in Nachitoches. SFA is just AWFUL this year.

Sam Houston St @ Texas State - ugh...I gotta pick the Cats...It will be a close one.

Nicholls St @ Southeastern Louisiana - Colonels just too strong against a banged up demoralized SLU.

Central Arkansas @ McNeese State - Don't think UCA will match up very well against the heavyweight McNeese here.

[patssle]

NWST and Nicholls are easy picks. Texas State and SHSU are 2 faced teams...who knows which team will show up.

UCA vs. McNeese is the SLC game of the year...should be a fun one. McNeese has had an easy schedule this year...this should be a good test before heading into playoffs.

[MaximumBobcat]

Stephen F Austin @ Northwestern State - The Jacks will go 0-11 this year.

Sam Houston St @ Texas State - Texas State will win against the Fighting Bomars, er, the Fighting Hicks, again. Make it a threepeat puh-lease.

Nicholls St @ Southeastern Louisiana - Nicholls is just a tad better then SELA from what I've seen. Colonels by a FG.

Central Arkansas @ McNeese State - McNeese will probably win, but my pick is UCA. Nathan Brown has the firepower to beat the Cowboys, but can the UCA defense put the hurt on the cowboys QB?

[Frosty The Snowbuff]

Stephen F Austin @ Northwestern State - The Jacks will go 0-11 this year.

Sam Houston St @ Texas State - Texas State will win against the Fighting Bomars, er, the Fighting Hicks, again. Make it a threepeat puh-lease.

Nicholls St @ Southeastern Louisiana - Nicholls is just a tad better then SELA from what I've seen. Colonels by a FG.

Central Arkansas @ McNeese State - McNeese will probably win, but my pick is UCA. Nathan Brown has the firepower to beat the Cowboys, but can the UCA defense put the hurt on the cowboys QB?


Which one????

They play Two at times....

[Frosty The Snowbuff]

xrulesx Freightliner's Record xrulesx
OOC Record: 24-8
SLC Record: 21-3
Overall: 45-11

Stephen F Austin @ Northwestern State - Chief Caddo Stays in Nachitoches. SFA is just AWFUL this year.

Sam Houston St @ Texas State - ugh...I gotta pick the Cats...It will be a close one.

Nicholls St @ Southeastern Louisiana - Colonels just too strong against a banged up demoralized SLU.

Central Arkansas @ McNeese State - Don't think UCA will match up very well against the heavyweight McNeese here.

I'll take these....

[McNeese_beat]

Stephen F Austin @ Northwestern State - The Jacks will go 0-11 this year.

Sam Houston St @ Texas State - Texas State will win against the Fighting Bomars, er, the Fighting Hicks, again. Make it a threepeat puh-lease.

Nicholls St @ Southeastern Louisiana - Nicholls is just a tad better then SELA from what I've seen. Colonels by a FG.

Central Arkansas @ McNeese State - McNeese will probably win, but my pick is UCA. Nathan Brown has the firepower to beat the Cowboys, but can the UCA defense put the hurt on the cowboys QB?

Picking the upset is reasonable, especially considering McNeese's health but this — "McNeese will probably win, but my pick is UCA" doesn't make sense...
xrolleyesx

[Frosty The Snowbuff]

Picking the upset is reasonable, especially considering McNeese's health but this — "McNeese will probably win, but my pick is UCA" doesn't make sense...
xrolleyesx

Makes Perfect Sense....

He expects ya to blow one......

Someday....

[McNeese_beat]

Makes Perfect Sense....

He expects ya to blow one......

Someday....

Hey, they tried, they tried against the Demons.

Seriously, your guys played great. They played hard. They deserve credit.

For example, On the long Carlese Franklin catch-and-run where he fumbles at the end, McNeese fans are right to say he should have had the ball in the proper (outside) hand. Northwestern fans are right in saying Riggs made a great play. He could have given up on catching Franklin and let him go, but he hustled to the end.

Same with the fourth quarter fumble that Northwestern recovered for a touchdown. McNeese's Marcus Brown should have fallen on it instead of trying to scoop it. But at the same time, Northwestern deserves credit for continuing to hustle to the football and creating the mad scramble.

So both sides of the "we should have played better"/"we deserve credit" debate are right..

[MSU_77]

I'm not going to make a prediction until we learn more about the health of Bryan Smith and Quinten Lawrence.

[MaximumBobcat]

Picking the upset is reasonable, especially considering McNeese's health but this — "McNeese will probably win, but my pick is UCA" doesn't make sense...
xrolleyesx

I expect you guys to win, but I'd like to see UCA win and as a gesture of some sort of good luck, they are my pick.

[msusig]

I've heard that both Bryan Smith and Quinten Lawrence are not done for the season and most likely should be ready to play next week. So my prediction is that McNeese wins after getting a wake up call from Northwestern. And even if they do try to take out Fourroux we still have Fontenot.

[McNeese75]

I've heard that both Bryan Smith and Quinten Lawrence are not done for the season and most likely should be ready to play next week. So my prediction is that McNeese wins after getting a wake up call from Northwestern. And even if they do try to take out Fourroux we still have Fontenot.

Fourroux runs with the ball every week and has come through injury free and I doubt anyone is going to try and take him out.

[msusig]

Unless they try to poke out his eye like SELA tried to do.

[Frosty The Snowbuff]

Hey, they tried, they tried against the Demons.

Seriously, your guys played great. They played hard. They deserve credit.

For example, On the long Carlese Franklin catch-and-run where he fumbles at the end, McNeese fans are right to say he should have had the ball in the proper (outside) hand. Northwestern fans are right in saying Riggs made a great play. He could have given up on catching Franklin and let him go, but he hustled to the end.

Same with the fourth quarter fumble that Northwestern recovered for a touchdown. McNeese's Marcus Brown should have fallen on it instead of trying to scoop it. But at the same time, Northwestern deserves credit for continuing to hustle to the football and creating the mad scramble.

So both sides of the "we should have played better"/"we deserve credit" debate are right..


McNeese gets nothing but credit from me.....

Though I will admit....the next time Brown wants to knock a ball into the EZ and let us fall on it for a TD...We'll gladly take it xlolx xlolx xlolx (Sorry...da play was Hilarious)

As you saw....We needed all the points we could get....

I just hope yall don't play like that in the Playoffs.....

[McNeese_beat]

McNeese gets nothing but credit from me.....

Though I will admit....the next time Brown wants to knock a ball into the EZ and let us fall on it for a TD...We'll gladly take it xlolx xlolx xlolx (Sorry...da play was Hilarious)

As you saw....We needed all the points we could get....

I just hope yall don't play like that in the Playoffs.....

Next time you guys play your scout team quarterback, I'm sure McNeese will remember to hit him a few times after the throw to help him move the team down the field...if you had gone to the intramural QB McNeese may have picked him up and carried him over the goal for a TD...sheesh...

[MSU_77]

McNeese gets nothing but credit from me.....

Though I will admit....the next time Brown wants to knock a ball into the EZ and let us fall on it for a TD...We'll gladly take it xlolx xlolx xlolx (Sorry...da play was Hilarious)

As you saw....We needed all the points we could get....

I just hope yall don't play like that in the Playoffs.....

It was pretty funny. I heard Coach Viator made him write 100 times "I will fall on the ball instead of trying to pick it up." :)

[McNeese72]

The smoke hanging over the field even made the play look even more surreal.

http://www.geauxcowboys-eastside.org/images/nsu07gdumbplay11.jpg

http://www.geauxcowboys-eastside.org/images/nsu07gdumbplay12.jpg

http://www.geauxcowboys-eastside.org/images/nsu07gdumbplay13.jpg


Doc

[FormerPokeCenter]

The other two, in that last photo, look like they're doing dance steps from the "Soulja Boy" video...

[Frosty The Snowbuff]

The other two, in that last photo, look like they're doing dance steps from the "Soulja Boy" video...

xlolx xlolx xlolx

I just noticed that.....

Where did that smoke come from??? I doubt McNeese fired a cannon because of a fumble....

Maybe someone figured the game was over and was having an afterparty cookout or something????

Or maybe it was fog from Thibodoux (sp) making a special trip to cast a spell to make McNeese players do the Soulja Boy dance.....You know strange things happen at that place.....

Oh well...On to SFA.

[GeauxLions94]

Unless they try to poke out his eye like SELA tried to do.

Easy Seabiscuit! xrotatehx It was an unfortunate injury after he got tackled on the first series by Connors. DF made it back and finished out the game, though his passing numbers were off. And it wasn't as if you guys had any drop off ... Fontenot and the receivers were hitting on all cylinders.

Saturday's game against UCA is going to be fun to watch with Fourroux and Nathan Brown going at it.

[McNeese72]

xlolx xlolx xlolx

I just noticed that.....

Where did that smoke come from??? I doubt McNeese fired a cannon because of a fumble....

Maybe someone figured the game was over and was having an afterparty cookout or something????

Or maybe it was fog from Thibodoux (sp) making a special trip to cast a spell to make McNeese players do the Soulja Boy dance.....You know strange things happen at that place.....

Oh well...On to SFA.

Well, they had the cannon in the bottom of The Hole instead up on the rim next to the base of the scoreboard pointed directly at TV Camera men in the lift. And the air was real heavy with humidity and the wind wasn't blowing. So the smoke from the cannon shot after Pendland's TD run, just spread out and stayed over the field forever..

Doc

[McNeese72]

The smoke did make for some neat photos. :)

http://www.geauxcowboys-eastside.org/images/nsu07gsmoke2.jpg

Doc

[GeauxLions94]

Stephen F Austin @ Northwestern State
SFA can't go 0-11 can they??? If the game were in Nacogdoches (nack-ud-doe-chus), I'd be willing to go with the Jacks, but the game's in Natchitoches (NACK-a-tish) so Chief Caddo will set up shop for the next year east of the Sabine .... NORTHWESTERN STATE

Sam Houston St @ Texas State
It's the premier game (or a good 'ole fashioned Cat fight) in the Texas State system as SHSU and Texas State battle in a Thursday contest ... should be a good QB matchup with Brett Hicks and Bradley George ... RB's not bad either with Chris Poullard and Karrington Bush ... take the non-home team ... SAM HOUSTON STATE

Nicholls St @ Southeastern Louisiana
It's the third game in the renewal of the River Bell Classic and Nicholls' option attack might struggle early against a young (emphasize YOUNG), but active defensive front that could see as many as seven true freshmen on the field at one time ... but Colonels should take over late despite another great effort from Jay Lucas, who should garner votes for SLC Offensive Player of the Year ... NICHOLLS STATE

Central Arkansas @ McNeese State
McFans might want to bring track shoes to this one as both teams can put points on the board ... sure McNeese didn't play its best game last week, but it still won and I don't think they'll be flat with the playoffs around the corner and a possible high seed on the horizon ... UCA will bring its "A" game, but so will the Pokes ... McNEESE STATE

[JohnStOnge]

The smoke did make for some neat photos. :)

Doc

I like the photo you have up at the geauxcowboys.com main page:

http://www.geauxcowboys.com/images/game_box_uca.jpg

[BEAR]

Let's compare offenses and defenses for both UCA and McNeese.

UCA strong offense. Great field spread on the pass. Can run it if the defense is weak on the run. Defense is pourous. The achilles heal for sure. McNeese should have no problem running for big plays but the secondary is phenomenally fast to play catch up and red zone is usually tight. Pass coverage is adequate.

How about McNeese? (give an honest assessment, don't state you have 22 All Americans who haven't allowed a point in 3 years.xlolx ...Just kidding...but be honest with what you've seen.xthumbsupx xlolx )

[McNeese72]

Let's compare offenses and defenses for both UCA and McNeese.

UCA strong offense. Great field spread on the pass. Can run it if the defense is weak on the run. Defense is pourous. The achilles heal for sure. McNeese should have no problem running for big plays but the secondary is phenomenally fast to play catch up and red zone is usually tight. Pass coverage is adequate.

How about McNeese? (give an honest assessment, don't state you have 22 All Americans who haven't allowed a point in 3 years.xlolx ...Just kidding...but be honest with what you've seen.xthumbsupx xlolx )

Okay.

McNeese strength this year is on offense. We are very balanced both running and passing. We run plays out of the spread formation passing and running the option. We can also line up in the I formation and pound the ball especially in the second half with a lead and the other defense tired. We also run play action passes out of the I. Our QB is a very good runner and can pass adequately. We have a great depth at WR with some burners even with the SLC Player of the Year Steven Whitehead out for the year. Our TE's can catch and we do throw to them. We also throw to our backs out of the backfield in the flats.

We have a good stable of runningbacks even with our leading rusher from last year gone for the year. We have some power runners in Kris Bush and Neeley Hubbard. Toddrick Pendland is a scat back with surprising power. Elrick Jones doesn't get much playing time but is a slasher with some power.

On Defense we play have played more of a vanilla base defense so far not blitzing as much and not as much man to man in the backfield as in years past. We play both some 4-2-5 and some 4-3. We try not to give up big plays but force teams to try to drive the length of the field on us and then we tighten up in the redzone. We can usually can get pressure on the Qb's with Bryan Smith on the outside and Vaalyn Jackson getting pressure up the middle. Teams have run on us some up the middle. We do have some excellent team speed on defense. Even though we give up a some yards we are very good scoring defense average.

Doc

P.S. Last I heard Quinten Lawrence was back at practice today at almost 100%. Byran Smith's MRI on his ankle was negative and depending on how much he heals this week will more than likely be probable.

[JohnStOnge]

Let's compare offenses and defenses for both UCA and McNeese.

UCA strong offense. Great field spread on the pass. Can run it if the defense is weak on the run. Defense is pourous. The achilles heal for sure. McNeese should have no problem running for big plays but the secondary is phenomenally fast to play catch up and red zone is usually tight. Pass coverage is adequate.

How about McNeese? (give an honest assessment, don't state you have 22 All Americans who haven't allowed a point in 3 years.xlolx ...Just kidding...but be honest with what you've seen.xthumbsupx xlolx )

In general, McNeese has a defense that has done a good job of keeping people off the scoreboard. It's allowed a maximum of 21 points and is 9th in FCS scoring defense at 16.2 points per game.

However, McNeese has done that (I think) by making a lot of negative plays and getting turnovers. Teams have been able to move the ball (41st in total defense) and, in particular, run the ball (50th in rush defense).

On offense, McNeese is very balanced and has a lot of good skill people. The Cowboys average 207 yards per game rushing and 234 passing. The Cowboys are also 4th in FCS passing efficiency offense.

Whether or not two players who had to leave the game against Northwestern State can play and play at or near full speed could make a difference. Quinten Lawrence, a receiver, is McNeese fastest player and stretches the field. Bryan Smith, a defensive end, gets a lot of sacks and tackles for loss.

Right now I don't know how badly they were hurt or whether or not they'll be able to play at or near full speed in the upcoming game.

[MSU_77]

Right now I don't know how badly they were hurt or whether or not they'll be able to play at or near full speed in the upcoming game.

That's why I'm reluctant at this point to make a prediction for this game. I think the loss of Bryan Smith would have a bigger impact on the game than the loss of Quinten. Brown is a very dangerous passer and I dread the thought of him having time in the pocket to choose his receivers. Quinten is very talented, but we have other talented receivers. There's only one Bryan Smith.

This is the first game all year that I'm genuinely concerned about (aside from ULL - in retrospect that seems silly). I'm less concerned that the team will be looking ahead than I am that Brown will have a big game. One of the reasons Bomar was ineffective was that he was under pressure, or flat on his back.

That being said, I think McNeese will score a lot of points. But, getting pressure on Brown is I think key to holding down UCA's scoring.

[TexasTerror]

Lost out on the SELA/Nicholls game...another 3-1 week

TT's Predictions
OOC Record: 22-10
SLC Record: 23-5
Overall: 45-15