McNeese State head football coach Lance Guidry approached Sports Information Director Matthew Bonnette after Saturday morning’s scrimmage at A.I. Ratcliff Practice Fields and gave him a succinct recap of the live practice.
“That was the polar opposite from yesterday,” Guidry said.
A day after Guidry lauded the Cowboys’ offense for their performance in practice, the McNeese defense dominated a majority of Saturday’s scrimmage, getting to the quarterbacks seemingly at will and forcing multiple turnovers.
“(Friday) in practice I thought our offense had a lot of energy,” Guidry said. “Of course, we weren’t tackling, so the defense always gets frustrated during those times. It was good to see the defense come out here and have a lot of energy, tackle really well and defend the deep ball.”
The first-string offense, led by quarterback James Tabary, failed to earn a first down in its first four drives and the running game struggled against the defense’s front seven.
“We challenged our offense to be able to run the football and our defense to stop the long plays,” Guidry said. “I thought the defense did their part, but we couldn’t get any running game going on offense, so the defense is up right now in the spring.”
Among the defensive standouts during the scrimmage was senior defensive back Andre Fuller who pulled down a pair of interceptions.
Fuller said he and the defense were excited to show what they could do in front of a crowd, and that helped lead to their success.
“After a long time of holding it in, we finally got to let loose,” Fuller said. “It feels good when you get to play free and just go and play football.”
Fuller said he cherishes the moments he gets a chance to step up in big situations, and with fans in attendance, Saturday’s scrimmage was the perfect place to make a statement.
“We had fans out here, so I wanted to rise to the occasion like on game day,” Fuller said. “When the stadium is packed full of fans, you can’t shrink. You have to rise to the occasion. That’s how I look at it.”
Tabary applauded the defense, saying they made his job hard.
He said the offense needs to use the struggles it has had moving the ball as a learning opportunity and a source of motivation moving forward.
“They know all of their assignments and coach Guidry really brings energy to their squad,” Tabary said. “It definitely puts a challenge on us, but we can’t use that as an excuse. We see it every day. We just have to keep stacking days and be more consistent.”
While fans got a taste of football, the stage will be set higher Saturday with the annual spring football game in Cowboy Stadium, offering another chance for players like Fuller to show fans, coaches and teammates what they can do.
“The spring game is just going to go to another level,” Fuller said. “Pretty much every time we got on the field to day we wanted to crank it up some more. … Come spring game, when we’re on the turf in the stadium, and fans are coming … oh yeah, we’re going to rise to the occasion.”
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