McNEESE GAME NOTES
NICHOLLS GAME NOTES

THIBODAUX – The wait is finally over.
 
McNeese will open up its 2017 football season with a Southland Conference game at Nicholls on Thursday at 7:05 p.m., the earliest kickoff for a conference game for the Cowboys in the 73-year history of the program.
 
The game will air live on ESPN3 as well as the McNeese Radio Network (92.9 The Lake).
 
"We're excited to get things started," said head coach Lance Guidry who is in his second season at the helm. "We had a couple of really good practices on Monday and Tuesday at ULL at their indoor facility that allowed us to get some good work in during the storm."
 
Hurricane turned Tropical Storm Harvey altered McNeese's practice schedule but officials at ULL offered up their indoor practice facility to the Cowboys which allowed them to get full-speed work in.
 
The Cowboys (6-5 in 2016) will enter the season in good shape both offensively and defensively as they return 16 starters, eight from each side of the ball.
 
A total of eight Cowboy players were named to the All-SLC preseason team while McNeese was picked for a third place finish by the league coaches and sports information directors.
 
Newly converted tight end Lawayne Ross, and free safety Andre Fuller, were selected on the first team while defensive linemen Jammerio Gross-Whitaker and Chris Livings, wide receivers Kent Shelby and Darious Crawley, defensive back Dominique Hill and offensive line transfer Andy Dodd were all named to the second team.
 
Sam Houston State and Central Arkansas were picked 1-2 ahead of the Cowboys in the poll.
 
Gross-Whitaker, Livings and Hill are three members of the DWA (Defense With Attitude) to return as starters joining cornerbacks Jermaine Antoine and Colby Burton, linebackers Ashari Goins and Christian Jacobs, and safety Damion Morgan.
 
Gross-Whitaker and Livings combined to record 15.5 sacks and 27 tackles for a loss last year for the Cowboys and will enter the season arguably the most dominant defensive end duo in the league.
 
After missing all of the 2016 season with an injury, senior defensive lineman Antonio McGhee returns to the starting lineup to help boost and already strong defensive line.
 
In the backfield, transfer BJ Blunt (Garden City Community College) has taken little time to jump into a starting spot at weak safety and brings size and speed to the position. Blunt, who originally signed with the Cowboys in 2014, picked off eight passes last season to help lead GCCC to a junior college national championship.
 
Offensively, quarterback James Tabary posted one of the best seasons by a QB in school history with his 3,036 passing yards, 33 shy from setting a new single season school record. He set new school marks for most completions (249) and attempts (415) along with most 300-yard passing games in a season with four.
 
He'll have two of the best targets in the league with wide outs Crawley (41 catches for 701 yards) and Shelby (40 for 509), who became the first McNeese duo to catch 40 or more passes in the same season.
 
Sophomore running back Justin Pratt will start in the backfield after posting a productive true freshman campaign where he ranked second on the team with 457 rushing yards while leading the backfield with 6.0 yards per carry.
 
The offensive line is inexperienced but it made huge strides in the preseason camp thanks to new line coach Ben Norton. The starting five average 6-foot-3 and 312 pounds.
 
Thursday's game will be the 42^nd meeting between the Cowboys and Colonels with McNeese holding a 30-11 lead in the series. The Cowboys have won the last eight matchups against the Colonels and are outscoring them by an average of 43-13 over the last five games.