McNeese starts preseason practice with numbers and speed

LAKE CHARLES – McNeese football wrapped up its first practice of the fall in about 2 ½ hours on Friday morning and the feel around Cowboy camp is there’s something special brewing.

Depth and speed were two areas that were quickly noticeable.

“We have a lot of speed but we knew we would,” said third-year head coach Lance Guidry. “There was a lot of energy out there. Offense did a good job of throwing, running and catching the ball.’

“All-in-all I thought it was a good first day.”

Sophomore wide receiver Trevor Begue turned some heads with a couple of circus catches on the day while senior and returning starting quarterback James Tabary appeared to be on target with most of his passes.

Defensively, the DWA came up with three pass interceptions by Kyree McLean, Trent Jackson, and the final one by Colby Burton on the second-to-last play of team drills to end practice, that kept the defense from having more poodles (defensive defeat) than pitbulls (defensive win) and not having to endure after practice running.

The Cowboys will hit the first for practice No. 2 on Saturday morning at 9 a.m. then on Sunday, will slip on the shoulder pads for the first time in camp.

OFFENSIVE LINE
The offensive line numbers were a sight for sore eyes.

The Cowboys dressed out seven O-linemen in the spring while today, had 16 dressed out.

“There’s a bunch of them out there,” said Guidry. “We have 15-16 guys. You don’t know how blessed you are to have numbers. We can go three groups now.

“It’s exciting. I can’t wait to get into the thick of this camp and get our pads on and go live so we can see how tough we can get.”

DEFENSE WITH ATTITUDE (DWA)
Day 1 brought out the DWA jerseys that signify the starter in that position.

Those in DWA’s on Friday included defensive linemen Cody Roscoe, Jonta Jones, Harris Tafah, Chris Livings; linebackers BJ Blunt and Christian Jacobs; corners Darion Dunn and Colby Burton; and safeties Trent Jackson, Gabe Foster and Cory McCoy.

“We’ll have some new bodies in those jerseys on Saturday,” said Guidry.

SPECIAL GUEST
Former Cowboy defensive back Seth Thomas was in attendance for Friday’s scrimmage with his older brother, Earl, who is a member of the Seattle Seahawks.

Earl is not currently in training camp due to contract negotiations.

Seth played for the Cowboys from 2009-12 and earned all-conference honors as a freshman.