QB keys Cowboy attack
Southeastern coach Mike Lucas likens every week in the Southland Conference as a chess match between scheming coaches.
But this week Southeastern will face a McNeese State team that plays chess with the same opening gambit of moves in its mind - and a hammer in its hand.
"They don't have to try to move around a lot or trick anybody," Lucas said. "They're good enough where they can line up and here we go."
And how. Consider this: the Cowboys are unbeaten and have the league's best scoring offense and No. 2 overall offense - and they are playing without their best running back (Jamie Leonard) and the defending SLC Offensive Player of the Year (WR Steven Whitehead), both of whom had early season-ending injuries.
There are two keys to that, Lucas said - the marauding McNeese defense and the play of quarterback Derrick Fourroux.
"You look at where their scoring drives start, almost all of them are short-yardage drives because their defense sets them up in such field position," Lucas said.
Fourroux, a sophomore, is the No. 3 passer in the SLC behind UCA's Nathan Brown and Sam Houston's Rhett Bomar with 1,355 yards on 88-for-144 passing, which works out to 62 percent accuracy, with 13 touchdown passes against just four interceptions.
But what makes him dangerous is he's also the No. 6 rusher in the SLC and the league's top running quarterback (71-350, 4.9 ypc., 3 TDs).
"He's not one of these guys that will probably win a Punt, Pass & Kick competition. He's just a winner," Lucas said of Fourroux, who led the Cowboys in rushing in last week's 28-7 demolition of Nicholls State - a game in which the Cowboys out-rushed the Colonels' vaunted option offense. "He can throw it, and if everybody's covered he can take it down and run with it. He's a real threat."
The injuries to Leonard and Whitehead have allowed the Cowboys to show off their depth, and a couple of Tangi guys have taken advantage. McNeese uses four running backs, topped by Kris Bush (68-330, 4.9 ypc., 8 TDs), and including former Independence Tiger Neely Hubbard (25-129, 5.2 ypc., 0 TDs).
"They're all interchangeable," Lucas said. "I don't think there's one guy you could say is an inside guy or one guy is an outside guy. The key to that is their offensive line. They're 300-pounders that can run. They're very good up front."
And with Whitehead out, Kentwood's Carlese Franklin (32-488, 15.3 ypc., 2 TDs) has lived up to his preseason All-SLC billing and has been the Cowboys' best receiver along with Quinton Lawrence (20-295, 19.8 ypc., 5 TDs).
Cowboys coach Matt Viator expects the Lions to find a way to attack his big pieces, just as they did last week against Brown.
"We've played against some 3-3 (defensive alignment) teams before," Viator said, most notably UL-Lafayette. "This is a little different, the way Coach Lucas approaches it. From their 3-3 they stem to some different defenses that you normally see, but in the way it starts and the way it's presented, it's going to be different.
"Their defense is very multiple, coming from every angle and mixing it up well. It's a lot to prepare for. And the back end of their defense, like (we saw) last week against Nicholls, is outstanding."
Moreover, Viator is well aware that the Lions always bring their best against McNeese.
"They've given us a lot of trouble over the past several years," Viator said. "I think we're 1-2 in the last three years against Southeastern. We were getting beat 13-3, if I recall, at the half last year, and they turned it over a couple of times and we were fortunate to get out of there with a victory.
"We've just had a hard time against them."
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