The Contraband

Issue date: 10/6/04 Section: Sports

Media Credit: Rodrick Anderson Despite completing eight of 10 passes Saturday night, Cowboy quarterback scott Pendarvis was ubale to put many points on the scoreboard.

There are many different possible explanations for why the McNeese State University Cowboys lost to the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds. The most logical of the explanations is the seven turnovers that the Cowboys lost, four of them in the second half that resulted in four scores for the Thunderbirds.

Last year, it took the entire 2003 season for the Cowboys to get blown out, which did not happen until the first round of the playoffs. However, Saturday night against the Thunderbirds was the second time this season that the Cowboys have been beaten by more than three touchdowns, both coming at Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles. That translates to Cowboy losses in three of the last four home games and a 3-3 record for the past six games going back to the final game of last season.

It is very hard to pinpoint one aspect of Saturday night's game that caused the Cowboys to falter early and often. One may blame the defensive secondary, pointing out the several times they were burned for long passes.

Others may point out that the offense almost always seemed to put the defense in bad positions, giving Southern Utah a short field, with which they easily drove into the end zone for several touchdowns.

Things did not go well for McNeese from the beginning. On the Thunderbird's opening drive, Southern Utah drove all the way across the field for an easy touchdown. McNeese got the ball and seemed to have no problems as they drove the field. However, four failed attempts to reach the end zone on what seemed to be the exact same play clearly demoralized the team early in the game.

A quick look at the statistics for the game shows another possible reason why the Cowboys failed in reaching the end zone very often. McNeese rushed the ball 51 times and managed a meager 81 yards. That is barely 1.5 yards per carry, not what an average team strives to reach if it plans to win games. One thing fans may be surprised at is the fact that McNeese quarterbacks combined for 17 of 23 passes for 155 yards, one touchdown and one interception. However, that pales in comparison to the performance of Southern Utah quarterback Casey Rehrer, who passed for 246 yards and four touchdowns while completing 18 of 30 passes.

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