With a new era comes fresh opportunities for players to make first impressions.

The Cowboys are doing that as they work through spring drills for Matt Viator and his staff.

McNeese went through its second spring scrimmage, working through a tricky wind Saturday. It ran roughly 90 plays, many of them in specific situations. 

Once again, the Cowboys’ energy and excitement pleased their head coach.

“I thought we played with a lot of energy, especially defensively, which I was excited about,” said Viator. “I thought the tackling was much better, and I was excited about that.

“I’m proud of the players for their energy and effort every day.”

The Cowboys continued to look ahead on defense, as the line led by junior Masey Lewis and sophomore Phillip Bradford continued to put pressure on quarterbacks. While the defense seemed to win the day, the offense did have a few big plays.

“Offensively, we hit some big plays, a few long runs, and some big passes,” said Viator. “Not nearly enough to sustain drives consistently, but we are getting there. We are slowly moving along.”

Viator would not say much about the quarterback battle between Texas Tech transfer Jake Strong and junior Alex Flores. Each has had their moments and struggles this spring with the new offense.

Viator said the play has gone back and forth from day to day between the two. 

“We are just trying to identify the most consistent player who gives us the back chance to win games,” Viator said. 

He is also not worried about any struggles.

“This is a learning process,” said Viator. “We are trying to figure out how we want to practice on offense, defense, and in the kicking game. It takes time.”

Viator added that he likes what he has seen from the receivers, as McNeese has used up to 17 during the spring. He is also pleased with the running backs, all of whom struggled with injuries last year.

“All those men are talented,” said Viator. “We just hope those guys have a better year health-wise. If they do, we can have a good year back there.”

McNeese will finish spring practices this coming week with workouts on Tuesday and Thursday before the finale, a scrimmage next Saturday.