2022 McNeese Cowboys football team

The 2022 McNeese State Cowboys football team represented McNeese State University as a member of the Southland Conference during the 2022 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by first-year head coach Gary Goff, the Cowboys compiled an overall record of 4–7 with a mark of 2–4 in conference play, placing sixth in the Southland. McNeese State played home games at Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

2022 McNeese Cowboys football
Conference	Southland Conference
Record	4–7 (2–4 Southland)
Head coach	Gary Goff (1st season)
Offensive scheme	Air raid
Defensive coordinator	Tony Pecoraro (1st season)
Home stadium	Cowboy Stadium
Seasons ← 2021 2023 →

2022 Southland Conference football standings

v t e	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 12 Southeastern Louisiana +^		5	–	1					9	–	4
No. 3 Incarnate Word +^		5	–	1					12	–	2
Northwestern State		4	–	2					4	–	7
Nicholls		3	–	3					3	–	8
Texas A&M–Commerce *		3	–	3					5	–	6
McNeese		2	–	4					4	–	7
Houston Christian		1	–	5					2	–	9
Lamar		1	–	5					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant * – Texas A&M–Commerce ineligible for FCS postseason play due to transition from NCAA Division II Rankings from STATS Poll

Preseason

Preseason poll

The Southland Conference released its preseason poll on July 20, 2022. The Cowboys were picked to finish fourth in the conference.^[1]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Southeastern Louisiana	90 (7)
2	Incarnate Word	86 (7)
3	Nicholls	79 (2)
4	McNeese	61
5	Northwestern State	44
6	Texas A&M–Commerce	39
7	Lamar	25
8	Houston Christian	24

Preseason All–Southland Teams

Schedule

Date	Time	Opponent	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 3	7:00 p.m.	at No. 4 Montana State*	Bobcat Stadium Bozeman, MT	ESPN+	L 17–40	21,687
September 10	6:30 p.m.	at Rice*	Rice Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN3	L 10–52	18,629
September 17	7:00 p.m.	Alcorn State*	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA	ESPN3	L 19–30	11,425
September 24	7:00 p.m.	Mississippi College*	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA	ESPN+	W 32–17	10,105
October 1	6:00 p.m.	at No. 11 Incarnate Word	Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium San Antonio, TX	ESPN+	L 20–48	2,542
October 15	7:00 p.m.	Texas A&M–Commerce	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA	ESPN+	L 15–40	9,202
October 22	3:00 p.m.	at Nicholls	Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA	ESPN+	L 35–40	5,788
October 29	7:00 p.m.	Southeastern Louisiana	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA	ESPN+	L 27–28	8,068
November 5	7:00 p.m.	Eastern Illinois*	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA	ESPN+	W 29–15	7,520
November 12	2:00 p.m.	at Houston Christian	Husky Stadium Houston, TX	ESPN+	W 21–10	1,355
November 19	7:00 p.m.	Lamar	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA (Battle of the Border)	ESPN+	W 24–20	6,901
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[2][3][4]

Game summaries

At No. 4 Montana State

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	0	10	0	7	17
No. 4 Bobcats	0	17	16	7	40

See also: 2022 Montana State Bobcats football team

At Rice

See also: 2022 Rice Owls football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	0	0	10	0	10
Owls	10	21	14	7	52

McNeese State Cowboys (0–1) vs. Rice Owls (0–1)

at Rice Stadium • Houston, TX

• Date: September 10th
• Game time: 6:30 P.M CST
• Game attendance: 18,629
• Referee: Ed Ardito
• TV: ESPN3

Statistics	McNeese State	Rice
First downs	14	26
Plays–yards	51–263	74–487
Rushes–yards	30–172	43–209
Passing yards	91	278
Passing: comp–att–int	8–21–2	21–31–0
Time of possession	21:48	38:12

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
McNeese State	Passing	Know Kadum	5/12, 65 yards, 1 INT
	Rushing	Deonta McMahon	5 carries, 101 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Mason Pierce	3 receptions, 37 yards
Rice	Passing	TJ McMahon	20/29, 274 yards, 4 TD
	Rushing	Ari Broussard	17 carries, 71 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Bradley Rozner	3 receptions, 101 yards, 2 TD

Scoring summary

Quarter Time Drive Team Scoring information Score Plays Yards TOP McNeese State Rice 1st 7:23 4 -1 0:57 Rice 28-yard field goal by Christian VanSickle (#31) 0 3 1st 4:38 4 35 1:35 Rice Bradley Rozner (#2) 13-yard touchdown reception from TJ McMahon (#7), Christian VanSickle (#31) kick good 0 10 2nd 10:17 11 70 7:07 Rice TJ McMahon (#7) 9-yard touchdown run, Christian VanSickle (#31) kick good 0 17 2nd 6:59 1 91 - Rice Interception returned 91 yards for touchdown by Gabe Taylor (#26), Christian VanSickle (#31) kick good 0 24 2nd 3:26 5 20 2:05 Rice Ari Broussard (#30) 2-yard touchdown run, Christian VanSickle (#31) kick good 0 31 3rd 14:31 2 77 0:23 McNeese State Deonta McMahon (#20) 62-yard touchdown run, Garrison Smith (#37) kick good 7 31 3rd 14:20 1 75 0:11 Rice Bradley Rozner (#2) 75-yard touchdown reception from TJ McMahon (#7), Christian VanSickle (#31) kick good 7 38 3rd 9:35 6 80 2:57 Rice Jack Bradley (#87) 17-yard touchdown reception from TJ McMahon (#7), Christian VanSickle (#31) kick good 7 45 3rd 3:10 7 60 1:41 McNeese State 23-yard field goal by Garrison Smith (#37) 10 45 4th 13:14 11 75 4:56 Rice Juma Otoviano (#8) 15-yard touchdown reception from TJ McMahon (#7), Christian VanSickle (#31) kick good 10 52 "TOP" = time of possession. For other American football terms, see Glossary of American football. 10 52

Vs. Alcorn State

See also: 2022 Alcorn State Braves football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Braves	0	21	3	6	30
Cowboys	0	3	14	2	19

Alcorn State Braves (0–2) vs. McNeese State Cowboys (0–2)

at Cowboy Stadium • Lake Charles, LA

• Date: September 17th
• Game time: 7:00 P.M CST
• Game attendance: 18,629
• Referee: Ed Ardito
• TV: ESPN3

Vs. Mississippi College

See also: 2022 Mississippi College Choctaws football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	8	10	7	7	32
Choctaws	7	0	7	3	17

Mississippi College Choctaws (1–2) vs. McNeese State Cowboys (0–3)

at Cowboy Stadium • Lake Charles, LA

• Date: September 24th
• Game time: 7:00 P.M CST
• Game attendance: 10,105
• Referee: Gary Leeper
• TV: ESPN+

At No. 11 Incarnate Word

See also: 2022 Incarnate Word Cardinals football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	0	10	3	7	20
No. 11 Cardinals	14	7	7	20	48

Game information

First Quarter UIW – 12:10 Lindsey Scott Jr. 7 yard run, Carson Mohr kick UIW 7–0 Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 2:50 UIW – 0:44 Lindsey Scott, Jr. 7 yard run, Carson Mohr kick UIW 14–0 Drive: 6 plays, 19 yards, 3:05 Second Quarter MSU – 10:04 Garrison Smith 39 yard field goal UIW 14–3 Drive: 13 plays, 53 yards, 5:40 MSU – 2:12 Deonta McMahon 3 yard run, Garrison Smith kick UIW 14–10 Drive: 10 plays, 42 yards, 4:52 UIW – 0:04 Taylor Grimes 11 yard pass from Lindsey Scott Jr., Carson Mohr kick UIW 21–10 Drive: 8 plays, 62 yards, 2:00 Third Quarter MSU – 10:58 Garrison Smith 47 yard field goal UIW 21–13 Drive: 10 plays, 45 yards, 4:02 UIW – 3:40 Taylor Grimes 33 yard pass from Lindsey Scott Jr., Carson Mohr kick UIW 28–13 Drive: 8 plays, 81 yards, 2:31 Fourth Quarter MSU – 12:13 Josh Parker 1 yard run, Garrison Smith kick UIW 28–20 Drive: 12 plays, 56 yards, 6:17 UIW – 8:20 Lindsey Scott, Jr. 5 yard run, Kevin Nguyen run failed UIW 34–20 Drive: 12 plays, 74 yards, 3:45 UIW – 2:22 CJ Hardy 23 yard pass from Lindsey Scott, Jr., Carson Mohr kick UIW 41–20 Drive: 10 plays, 61 yards, 3:08 UIW – 0:40 Taylor Grimes 6 yard pass from Lindsey Scott, Jr., Carson Mohr kick UIW 48–20 Drive: 3 plays, 32 yards, 1:03 Passing MSU – Knox Kadum 13/26, 144 YDS UIW – Lindsey Scott Jr. 25/35, 347 YDS, 4 TD Rushing MSU – Deonta McMahon 17 ATT, 88 YDS, 1 TD UIW – Marcus Cooper 25 ATT, 135 YDS Receiving MSU – Mason Pierce 5 REC, 60 YDS UIW – Taylor Grimes 8 REC, 115 YDS, 3 TD

McNeese State Cowboys at Incarnate Word Cardinals

at Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium, San Antonio, TX

• Date: October 1
• Game time: 6:05 p.m.
• Game weather: Temperature: 88 • Wind: E 8 mph • Weather: Clear
• Game attendance: 2,542
• Referee: Craig Helser
• TV announcers (ESPN+): Paul Alexander (play-by-play), Karl Schoening (analyst) and Sam Kaman (sideline)
• Box Score

Vs. Texas A&M-Commerce

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	7	10	3	20	40
Cowboys	8	7	0	0	15

See also: 2022 Texas A&M-Commerce Lions football team

At Nicholls

See also: 2022 Nicholls Colonels football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	0	22	7	6	35
Colonels	7	7	20	6	40

McNeese State Cowboys at Nicholls Colonels

at Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium, Thibodaux, LA

• Date: October 22
• Game time: 3:00 p.m.
• Game weather: Sunny
• Game attendance: 5,788
• Referee: Nolan Dumas
• TV: ESPN+

Vs. Southeastern Louisiana

See also: 2022 Southeastern Louisiana Lions football team

Quarter	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	7	7	7	7	28
Cowboys	6	14	7	0	27

Southeastern Louisiana Lions at McNeese State Cowboys

at Cowboy Stadium, Lake Charles, LA

• Date: October 29
• Game time: 7:00 p.m.
• Game weather: Cloudy
• Game attendance: 8,068
• Referee: Gary Leeper
• TV: ESPN+

Vs. Eastern Illinois

	1	2	3	4	Total
Panthers	0	7	0	8	15
Cowboys	10	9	7	3	29

See also: 2022 Eastern Illinois Panthers football team

At Houston Christian

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	0	7	7	7	21
Huskies	0	7	3	0	10

See also: 2022 Houston Christian Huskies football team

Vs. Lamar

See also: 2022 Lamar Cardinals football team

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cardinals	0	17	3	0	20
Cowboys	0	21	0	3	24

Statistics

Statistics	Lamar	McNeese
First downs	19	13
Total yards	369	314
Rushing yards	219	268
Passing yards	150	46
Turnovers	2	0
Time of possession	35:47	24:13

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Lamar	Passing	Nick Yockey	19-27; 150 total yards; long 18 yards
	Rushing	Major Bowden	11 attempts; 92 total yards; long 30 yards
	Receiving	Major Bowden	2 receptions; 35 total yards; long 18 yards
McNeese	Passing	Ryan Roberts	6-14; 46 yards total; long 14 yards
	Rushing	Deonata McMahon	20 attempts; 241 total yards; long 79 yards
	Receiving	Jon McCall	2 receptions; 22 total yards; long 14 yards

References

1. "SOUTHEASTERN VOTED TO TOP SPOT IN SOUTHLAND FOOTBALL PRESEASON POLL". Southland Conference. Retrieved July 20, 2022.
2. "Football schedule change adds UIW, Lamar". McNeese State University Athletics. Retrieved July 13, 2022.
3. "McNeese Cowboys Schedule 2022". ESPN. Retrieved February 19, 2023.
4. "2022 Football Schedule". McNeese State University Athletics. Retrieved February 19, 2023.