Football Preview: McNeese State Cowboys
McNeese Athletics
McNeese State Preview (PDF)
STORYLINES
• Quarterback Daniel Sams appears to be the man behind center heading into the 2015 season. Sams led the team in rushing with 711 yards on 104 carries and completed 46 of 97 passes for 624 yards in playing part-time.
• The Cowboys will look to replace three of their starting defensive linemen with first-team all-conference picks Kevin Dorn, Sean Brown and Everett Ellefsen. Those three combined for eight sacks and 19 tackles for a loss during the season while holding opponents to 112.5 yards rushing per game.
OFFENSE
• Cowboys return all four running backs, including sophomore Ryan Ross, who ranked second on the team with 599 yards rushing and seven TDs last season as a true freshman. Senior Derrick Milton ran for 387 yards, senior Kelvin Bennett 354 and senior Dylan Long 346.
• Combined, McNeese returns a group of backs that rushed for 2,397 yards and 27 TDs in 2014.
DEFENSE
• The DBs will be led by senior Brent Spikes, who led the Cowboys with 83 tackles and four pass interceptions last season while his 156 pass interception return yards set a new school single-season record.
SPECIAL TEAMS
• Punter and place kicker Jean Breaux returns for his senior season and is on the verge of rewriting the McNeese record book. The Cowboys will debut a new full-time field goal kicker and PAT guy with the loss of Alex Kjellsten who transferred to another school. Breaux was 2-for-3 in FGs last season. Redshirt freshman Trent Manuel will be in the running as the field goal kicker.