Nov. 23, 2006

McNeese State's Cowboys will be making their 12th appearance in the Division I championship Saturday when they go up against the University of Montana in first round action.

Kickoff is scheduled for 1:05 p.m (central time) and the game will be televised live to the Lake Charles area by Fox 29 and will also be carried over 103.3 FM.

The weather prediction for game time in Missoula is snow with the temperature in the 30s.

The Cowboys, 7-4 on the season and ranked No. 22 in the nation, have won their last five games and have compiled a 6-1 record under new head coach Matt Viator, who was named the Southland Conference coach of the year this past week. He took over the team after the fourth game of the season this year.

Montana, the nation's No. 2 ranked team and seeded second in the playoffs, will go in with a 10-1 record and is on a 10 game winning streak. The Grizzlies only lost was a season opening setback at the hands of the University of Iowa.

McNeese has just about split its offense this season, going with both the run and the pass. The Cowboys are averaging 175.8 yards per game rushing and 156.3 passing.

Quarterback Derrick Fourroux has rushed for 370 yards while senior tailback Chris Thomas, who ranks 12th on McNeese's all-time rushing list, has picked up 245 and freshman Toddrick Pendland has rushed for 263 and a 7.3 average. Jamie Leonard, who leads the Cowboys with 605 rushing yards, did not play last week because of an injury and his situation for this game is to be decided.

In the passing game, Fourroux, a redshirt freshman and the Southland Conference's Freshman of the Year, has completed 106 of 197 passes for 1,374 yards and 10 touchdowns.

His favorite target has been SLC Player of the Year Steven Whitehead who has caught 42 passes for 543 yards and three scores. Others with the quick hands this season have been Carlese Franklin with 27 catches and a team high six scores and Quinten Lawrence with 26 receptions.

Whitehead is also dangerous as a ball carrier (138 yards rushing), punt returner (17.6 yard average) and kickoff returner (25.1 average). His all-purpose average is 132.7 yards per game.

Defensively the Cowboys are led by end Bryan Smith who was recently named the SLC Defensive Player of the Year and first team all-SLC members Jamelle Juneau and Kirby Joseph.

Smith ranks second in the nation with 12.5 sacks and is also among the leaders with 22 tackles for a loss. Joseph has 49 tackles including 3.5 sacks while Juneau has 74 tackles and a team high four pass interceptions.

Another offensive weapon for McNeese is place kicker Blake Bercegeay who has kicked 16 of 18 field goals this season and 33 of 36 PATs. He also has a 38.4 punting average.

Montana will go into the game averaging 136.5 yards per game rushing and 226.3 passing. They rank among the best in the nation against the run, giving up but 98 yadrs a game. And, they have also relinquished only 167.1 yards per game passing.

Saturday's meeting will be the sixth in the series between the two schools. McNeese holds a 3-2 edge in the series and is 2-1 in games in the NCAA playoffs. They last met in the 2002 season with the Cowboys posting a 24-20 victory in Lake Charles and going on to play in the Division I championship game.