Frustrated through four incomplete if not unacceptable efforts to begin the season, Lance Guidry requested a vintage McNeese defense — one flying to the football with an unadulterated swagger that’s made it known in years past as the “defense with attitude.”
Oh, did the first-year coach and former defensive coordinator get it Saturday — a throwback performance on a night the Cowboys donned uniforms paying respect to the teams preceding it.
Beleaguered for its inability to finish games and stop the run, the Cowboys defense showed little letup against the Southland Conference’s most talked-about team, suffocating Nicholls State in an emphatic 38-13 win.
“That,” quarterback James Tabary said, pointing at the ground, “is the real DWA.”
Averaging 165 rushing yards through three games — two against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents — Nicholls mustered just 31 against a salty, veteran McNeese front that was aided at the second level by linebackers Ashari Goins and Christian Jacobs’ assault on ballcarriers.
“Defensively, I think they played as well as they could tonight,” Guidry said. “That’s kind of what I expect out of McNeese football. Last couple weeks, that’s not our character. Really good for them, I’m happy for them. We’re hard on them, but I’m really happy for our guys.”
The rushing woes were not limited to solely the Colonels. Both teams combined to rush for just 32 yards on 31 first-half carries — leaving the onus on two New Orleans friends to pioneer their respective offenses in just their fifth game at the helm.
For all intents and purposes, Nicholls’ only hope was in the right arm of freshman quarterback Chase Fourcade. Fourcade and Tabary — both Big Easy natives — grew up close to one another. They played for rival high schools.
The competition rekindled Saturday.
Fourcade never gave himself a chance to win.
Tabary continued to rewrite McNeese’s record book.
The Colonels true freshman who grew up before a nation’s eyes in the Nicholls’ widely publicized close call against Georgia threw two first-half interceptions — the first of which McNeese safety Andre Fuller returned 27 yards for the game’s first points.
His second interception came with his team trailing 7-3 and with its best field position of the second quarter, right at the 50. Fourcade threw wildly and in the direction of no player in Nicholls red, instead finding McNeese corner Damion Morgan, who returned the mistake into Colonels territory.
What followed was commonplace Saturday, a unpretty trudge down the field as the Cowboys attempted to break a Nicholls run defense playing as spirited as their own. Receiver Darious Crawley broke a 15-yard run on a first-play reverse following the pick, the first broken run for any team.
Ryan Ross, who rushed for two touchdowns and was his team’s leading receiver, barrelled in from four yards out 10 plays later, pushing the McNeese lead to 14-3.
“Their defense is really, really scrappy, they did a good job,” Tabary said. “It was hard to open up the field at first with the passing game. I feel like in the second half they made some adjustments that actually helped us. We were able to run the ball a lot better.”
“But the passing game was there, and we took advantage.”
Tabary finished 27-of-44, throwing for 376 yards — the second-most in school history. He tossed an eight-yard touchdown to freshman Parker Orgeron as time wound down in the second quarter. Orgeron caught his first career score on the same night his father, Ed, made his head coaching debut at LSU.
Parker, who doubled as the team’s starting punt returner as Kent Shelby continued to battle turf toe, finished with two catches for 45 yards. His biggest gain was a 33-yard catch and run in the fourth quarter.
That’s the same 15-minute stanza where Jammerio Gross wrestled a scrambling Fourcade to the ground for McNeese’s only sack. Kylon Highshaw ran a hitch-and-go, too, and Tabary gave a shoulder fake. Quarterback hit receiver in stride for an 80-yard touchdown, ballooning the score to 38-6.
No second half letup was to occur. McNeese’s sideline bustled, the starters now relaxing.
“Defense,” a few yelled, “where you at?”
All there.
“That energy, that passion,” Goins said of the sideline. “Everyone was flying around to the ball, relentless. And like I said, we believed in what we were doing and we believed in each other. And tonight we overcame that hump.”
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