2015 McNeese State Cowboys football team

The 2015 McNeese State Cowboys football team represented McNeese State University as a member of the Southland Conference during the 2015 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by Matt Viator in his tenth and final season as head coach, the Cowboys compiled an overall record of 10–1 with a mark of 9–0 in conference play, winning the Southland title. McNeese State received the conference's automatic bid to NCAA Division I Football Championship playoffs, where, after a first-round bye, the Cowboys lost in the second round to fellow Southland member, Sam Houston State. The team played home games at Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, Louisiana.

2015 McNeese State Cowboys football
Southland champion
ConferenceSouthland Conference
Ranking
STATSNo. 7
FCS CoachesNo. 9
Record10–1 (9–0 Southland)
Head coach
Offensive coordinatorTim Leger (9th season)
Defensive coordinatorLance Guidry (3rd season)
Home stadiumCowboy Stadium
Seasons
← 2014
2016 →
2015 Southland Conference football standings
Conf Overall
Team   W   L     W   L  
No. 7 McNeese State $^   9 0     10 1  
No. 3 Sam Houston State ^   7 2     11 4  
Central Arkansas   7 2     7 4  
Incarnate Word *   5 4     6 5  
Lamar   4 5     5 6  
Northwestern State   4 5     4 7  
Stephen F. Austin   4 5     4 7  
SE Louisiana   3 6     4 7  
Abilene Christian *   3 6     3 8  
Nicholls State   3 6     3 8  
Houston Baptist   0 8     2 9  
  • $ – Conference champion
  • ^ – FCS playoff participant
  • * – ineligible for FCS playoffs due to transition from NCAA Division II
Rankings from STATS poll

Schedule

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DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 56:30 pmNo. 14 (FBS) LSU* No. 25SECN Canceled[a]
September 126:00 pmIncarnate WordASNW 43–612,804
September 196:00 pmat Stephen F. AustinESPN3W 28–1412,018
September 266:00 pmMississippi College*No. 25
  • Cowboy Stadium
  • Lake Charles, LA
W 37–010,436
October 33:00 pmat Nicholls StateNo. 23CST[1]W 37–76,192
October 106:00 pmNo. 20 Southeastern LouisianaNo. 22
  • Cowboy Stadium
  • Lake Charles, LA
CSTW 21–713,110
October 176:00 pmat Central ArkansasNo. 15ESPN3W 28–1310,527
October 246:00 pmNorthwestern State No. 12
  • Cowboy Stadium
  • Lake Charles, LA (rivalry)
CSTW 47–279,806
October 312:00 pmat Abilene ChristianNo. 10ASNW 15–133,567
November 76:00 pmNo. 7 Sam Houston StateNo. 9
  • Cowboy Stadium
  • Lake Charles, LA
ESPN3W 27–1010,501
November 216:00 pmat LamarNo. 3ESPN3W 20–149,808
December 57:00 pmNo. 6 Sam Houston StateNo. 3
ESPN3L 29–3413,493
  • *Non-conference game
  •  Homecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time
^[a] The game between LSU and McNeese State was canceled due to inclement weather. The game was delayed due to lightning after 5 minutes of play during each team held the ball for one drive and no one scored. Both schools' athletic directors decided not to reschedule the game, thus declaring it a "no contest". LSU did agree to pay McNeese State its promised fee of $500,000.

[2][3]

Game summaries

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@ LSU

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McNeese State at LSU
1 234Total
#25 Cowboys 0 000 0
Tigers 0 000 0
  • Date: September 5
  • Location: Tiger Stadium
    Baton Rouge, LA
  • Game start: CANCELLED
Sources:[4]

Incarnate Word

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Incarnate Word at McNeese State
1 234Total
Cardinals 0 006 6
Cowboys 7 22014 43
  • Date: September 12
  • Location: Cowboy Stadium
    Lake Charles, LA
  • Game start: 6:00 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:18
  • Game attendance: 12,804
  • Game weather: NNW 11 • Fair, 38% humidity
  • Referee: Ross Smith
  • Television network: ASN
Sources:[5]

@ Stephen F. Austin

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McNeese State at Stephen F. Austin
1 234Total
Cowboys 7 1407 28
Lumberjacks 14 000 14
  • Date: September 19
  • Location: Homer Bryce Stadium
    Nacogdoches, TX
  • Game start: 6:00 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:25
  • Game attendance: 12,018
  • Game weather: High 80's • SE 0–5 • Sunny and clear
  • Referee: Brandon Cruse
  • Television network: ESPN3
Sources:[6]

Mississippi College

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Mississippi College at McNeese State
1 234Total
Choctaws 0 000 0
#25 Cowboys 13 7107 37
  • Date: September 26
  • Location: Cowboy Stadium
    Lake Charles, LA
  • Game start: 6:00 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 2:40
  • Game attendance: 10,436
  • Game weather: 75°F • Overcast 86% • SSE 2 mph
  • Referee: Michael VanderVelde
  • Television network: All Access Cowboy Insider
Sources:[7]

@ Nicholls

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McNeese State at Nicholls
1 234Total
#23 Cowboys 7 2073 37
Colonels 0 700 7
  • Date: October 3
  • Location: John L. Guidry Stadium
    Thibodaux, LA
  • Game start: 3:00 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:03
  • Game attendance: 6,192
  • Game weather: 76°F • Clear • NNW 11 mph
  • Referee: Kevin Hassell
  • Television network: CST
Sources:[8]

Southeastern Louisiana

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Southeastern Louisiana at McNeese State
1 234Total
#20 Lions 0 700 7
#22 Cowboys 14 700 21
  • Date: October 10
  • Location: Cowboy Stadium
    Lake Charles, LA
  • Game start: 6:00 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:13
  • Game attendance: 13,110
  • Game weather: 80°F • NNW 6 • Sunny and warm
  • Referee: Ross Smith
  • Television network: CST/ESPN3
Sources:[9]

@ Central Arkansas

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McNeese State at Central Arkansas
1 234Total
#15 Cowboys 0 0721 28
Bears 0 3100 13
  • Date: October 17
  • Location: Estes Stadium
    Conway, AR
  • Game start: 6:00 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:27
  • Game attendance: 10,527
  • Game weather: 66°F • Clear
  • Referee: Kevin Boitmann
  • Television network: ESPN3
Sources:[10]

Northwestern State (homecoming)

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Northwestern State at McNeese State
1 234Total
Demons 7 3107 27
#12 Cowboys 7 71320 47
  • Date: October 24
  • Location: Cowboy Stadium
    Lake Charles, LA
  • Game start: 6:00 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:28
  • Game attendance: 9,806
  • Game weather: 73°F • NE 8 • Cloudy, 40% rain
  • Referee: Kevin Hassell
  • Television network: CST
Sources:[11]

@ Abilene Christian

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McNeese State at Abilene Christian
1 234Total
#10 Cowboys 3 363 15
Wildcats 0 607 13
  • Date: October 31
  • Location: Shotwell Stadium
    Abilene, TX
  • Game start: 2:00 PM CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:20
  • Game attendance: 3,567
  • Game weather: 65°F • NNW 13 • Sunny
  • Referee: Marvel July
  • Television network: ASN
Sources:[12]

Sam Houston State

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Sam Houston State at McNeese State
1 234Total
#7 Bearkats 10 000 10
#9 Cowboys 0 14310 27
  • Date: November 7
  • Location: Cowboy Stadium
    Lake Charles, LA
  • Game start: 7:00 PM CST
  • Elapsed time: 2:58
  • Game attendance: 10,501
  • Game weather: 64°F • NNE 13 • Overcast with rain
  • Referee: Daniel Romeo
  • Television network: ESPN3
Sources:[13]

@ Lamar

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McNeese State at Lamar
1 234Total
#3 Cowboys 17 003 20
Cardinals 7 007 14
  • Date: November 21
  • Location: Provost Umphrey Stadium
    Beaumont, TX
  • Game start: 6:00 PM CST
  • Elapsed time: 3:11
  • Game attendance: 9,808
  • Game weather: 62°F • 17 mph • Cloudy and Windy
  • Referee: Randy Christal
  • Television network: ESPN3
Sources:[14]

Sam Houston State—NCAA Division I Second Round

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Sam Houston State at McNeese State
1 234Total
#6 Bearkats 7 17100 34
#3 Cowboys 10 766 29
  • Date: December 5
  • Location: Cowboy Stadium
    Lake Charles, LA
  • Game start: 7:00 PM CST
  • Elapsed time: 3:33
  • Game attendance: 13,493
  • Game weather: 57°F • ENE 3 • Fair, 45% humidity
  • Referee: Jeremy Parker
  • Television network: ESPN3
Sources:[15]

Ranking movements

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Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below ( ) = First-place votes
Week
PollPre123456789101112Final
STATS FCS25RVRV25232215121093337
Coaches2323211715139975–T2 (1)2 (2)2 (1)9

References

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  1. ^ "Southland Conference Announces Week Five TV Selections". Southland Conference. September 21, 2015. Retrieved September 28, 2015.
  2. ^ "McNeese Cowboys Schedule 2015". ESPN. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  3. ^ "2015 Football Schedule". McNeese State University Athletics. Retrieved June 20, 2023.
  4. ^ "Blame it on the rain: Cowboys–Tigers washed out". McNeese State University Department of Athletics. September 5, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  5. ^ "Incarnate Word (1–1) –vs– McNeese State (0–0)". McNeese State University Department of Athletics. September 12, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  6. ^ "McNeese (2–0, 2–0) –vs– Stephen F. Austin (0–3, 0–1)". McNeese State University Department of Athletics. September 19, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  7. ^ "Mississippi College (2–2) –vs– McNeese (3–0)". McNeese State University Department of Athletics. September 26, 2015. Retrieved September 29, 2015.
  8. ^ "McNeese State (4–0, 3–0) –vs– Nicholls (0–4, 0–2)". McNeese State University Department of Athletics. October 3, 2015. Retrieved October 8, 2015.
  9. ^ "Southeastern Louisiana (3–2, 2–1) –vs– McNeese State (5–0, 4–0)". McNeese State University Department of Athletics. October 10, 2015. Retrieved October 14, 2015.
  10. ^ "McNeese State (6–0, 5–0) –vs– Central Arkansas (3–3, 3–1)". McNeese State University Department of Athletics. October 17, 2015. Retrieved October 21, 2015.
  11. ^ "Northwestern State (1–6, 1–4) –vs– McNeese State (7–0, 6–0)". McNeese State University Department of Athletics. October 24, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  12. ^ "McNeese State (8–0, 7–0) –vs– Abilene Christian (2–6, 2–5)". McNeese State University Department of Athletics. October 24, 2015. Retrieved October 28, 2015.
  13. ^ "Sam Houston State (6–3, 5–2) –vs– McNeese State (9–0, 8–0)". McNeese State University Department of Athletics. November 7, 2015. Retrieved November 13, 2015.
  14. ^ "McNeese State (10–0, 9–0) –vs– Lamar University (5–6, 4–5)". McNeese State University Department of Athletics. November 21, 2015. Retrieved November 25, 2015.
  15. ^ "Sam Houston State (10–3) –vs– McNeese State (10–1)". McNeese State University Department of Athletics. December 5, 2015. Retrieved December 11, 2015.