McNeese State Football Opener Against LCU: A Historic Matchup

(KHLA - Lake Charles, Louisiana) - Saturday The Hole in Lake Charles will be alive for the first time in over five years. A legendary McNeese football coach returns as he carries all the hopes and dreams of the Poke Nation into battle tomorrow against Louisiana Christian out of Pineville.

McNeese State University

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SERIES VS. LOUISIANA CHRISTIAN:
• Saturday will mark the 20th meeting between McNeese and LCU and the first since the 1966 contest and first since McNeese became a Division 1 program.
• McNeese holds a 17-2 lead in the series and is 1-0 in Navarre Stadium against the Wildcats.

GAME OVERVIEW:
• McNeese will open its 83rd season of football on Saturday when it hosts Louisiana Christian at 6 p.m. in Navarre Stadium.
• The Cowboys are 25-9 all-time in Navarre Stadium when starting the season at home.
• Head coach Matt Viator is 9-0 when playing the first game of the season in Navarre Stadium, 6-3 in season
openers, 6-0 vs. non-FBS teams in season openers, and 4-0 when starting the season at home.
• Since 2000, McNeese is 8-2 in season openers at home but has lost the last two - vs. West Florida in 2021 and vs. Tarleton State in 2023.
• 38-3 against non-D1 opponents since becoming Division 1 in 1972 and two of those losses came against regular season opponent West Texas State in 1976 and 1981... the only other non-D1 loss came in the 2021 opener against D2 No. 1 West Florida.

RUNNING IT BACK - COACHING LEGEND RETURNS:
• Matt Viator was named McNeese’s 19th head coach back in December, returning to his “home” in an attempt to revive a program that excelled under his leadership from 2006-2015.
• During his previous stint, Viator compiled a record of 78-33, matching him with legendary head coach Bobby Keasler for the most wins in school history.
• Viator never had a losing season in those 10 years and since his departure, McNeese has produced four winning seasons in the last nine seasons and none since 2019.
• During his previous time as head coach, the Cowboys won four Southland Conference championships and finished second or higher seven times.
• McNeese has not finished above 3rd place since his departure and has placed 5th or lower in six straight seasons.
• His teams ranked in the FCS Top 25 national polls in 91 out of a possible 110 weeks and received votes in all but two weeks.
• Viator’s teams at McNeese ranked in the Top 10 in 42 weeks and the Top 5 a total of 12 weeks with the highest ranking coming in at No. 2 in the final two weeks of the 2015 season.
• Viator’s 54 Southland Conference victories is a league record while his .750 winning percentage in league games (54-18) is ranked 4th all-time.
• His 78 overall wins while coaching the Cowboys are tied as the 3rd-most in conference history and is five wins away from matching Sam Goodwin (NSU, 1987-99) for second all-time.
• Viator has compiled a 42-10 record at home in regular season games.
• 15-2 non-conference record at home in the regular season.