Goff: Players took step in right direction on one of the biggest stages

Published 4:25 pm Monday, September 11, 2023

Despite suffering a second straight blowout loss, the Cowboys feel much better about themselves this week as they get ready to travel once again.

Not surprisingly, the Cowboys were outmanned by Florida 49-7 last Saturday, but head coach Gary Goff believes McNeese State took a step in the right direction on the biggest of stages.

“We did some good things,” said Goff. “We were conservative in some of the things we did and that was the plan.”

McNeese coaches were not about to put their players in risky positions with a long season still ahead.

“We tried to slow the game down,” said Goff. “We did not run our full offense. I think that was the right thing to do.

“We are not going to play anybody on our schedule the rest of the season that talented.”

The Gators used their superior size and skill to score on their first seven possessions against the Pokes. However, McNeese had some solid play at times and made Florida go on long drives for its points.

“Our defense did a good job to prevent the big plays,” said Goff. “It was a good job on the back end of our defense.”

Linebacker Micah Davey led the McNeese defense with 13 tackles, seven of them solo. The redshirt sophomore has 25 tackles in the first two games.

Dating back to last season Davey has three straight games of double-digit tackles.

Defensive back Jaylen Jackson had eight tackles as well against Florida.

Also, punter Callum Eddings dropped a pair of punts downed at the one-yard line. The second led to a fumble and McNeese’s only score, an eight-yard run by Colby Hamm in the final minutes.

Quarterback Nate Glantz also threw the ball better while being forced to make quick decisions. The Florida pass rush made it hard for McNeese to throw the ball down the field.

“I wanted to make sure our quarterback stayed upright and not on his back,” said Goff. “Nate was more calm, delivered more strikes.”

The speed of Florida might help the Cowboys. It forced Glanz to make quick decisions, something he will likely have to do against the rush-happy Alcorn State defense this week.

“It helped us speed up the game,” said Goff. “Nate will have to know presnap where he is going with the ball and make quick decisions. We will have to protect the quarterback and defensively stop the run.”

McNeese struggled at doing both last year against the Braves, who won for the first time in five tries against McNeese.

“We will get back to who we are,” said Goff.

As for how Florida thinks of McNeese, the school took to social media to give the Cowboys credit for how they cleaned up their locker room after the game.

The Gators even posted a photo of the clean inside room after McNeese left.

“We do it everywhere we go,” said Goff. “We are going to do it wherever we go. That’s one of our standards and expectations.

“We are going to do what is right.”

McNeese now moves on in hopes of picking up their first victory of the season this weekend.