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Thank you.

Happy Sunday everybody.

Great to see you.

And welcome to Game Notes here on LPB.

That is a Super Bowl champ.

His name is Scott Chaney.

I'm Victor Hall.

It's great to have you with us.

Glad you're joining it.

And the weekend is getting ready to hit the road for holiday week.

Make sure you have a safe number and join the next hour here.

As we have a lot of positive football.

You know, we've had some weeks where it's been a little rough.

States for a state schools have struggled a little bit.

This was a very uplifting weekend for a lot of schools around the state.

Yeah, it's a good time of year to have that positive play on the football field.

But I think as you get closer to the end of the year, there's a lot of reflection.

You look back as a player, as a coach, you think about the games that you should have won, that you didn't win.

But there's still games in front of some of these teams that are taking advantage.

Those opportunities.

Yeah, teams had a lot of things to play for, whether it's keeping playoff hopes alive, getting into the playoffs on the SCS level and for one school in our state, ruining somebody else's hopes to get to the playoffs.

So lots to talk about here in the next 60 minutes.

Let's get you set up with what's coming up on tap here on this edition of Game Notes on LPB.

The Tulane Greenway.

Well, that's one of the teams talking about the playoffs.

They needed a big win up in Philly to keep that alive.

And the chance to host the America Championship.

We will visit with them also the Lions on Thursday night with the River Bell Classic against Nicholls.

They are waiting to hear their playoff destination came this morning.

We'll tell you about that.

And how about McNeese going on the road?

Final game of the season looking to finish 500 in conference play.

We'll tell you whether that kind of gets the job done against Lamar over in Beaumont.

All of that coming up here in the next 60 minutes.

But let's get started with what took place up in Ruston on Saturday.

As we mentioned on Game Note Saturday morning, if it wasn't for bad luck, it seemed like the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs would have no luck at all.

In the last two weeks, they've seen two quarterbacks go down to injury.

So now in are another quarterback who was set to start earlier in the season with a true freshman backup, once again facing the opportunity of becoming bowl eligible if they could get the win.

Third time they faced this challenge.

This was their last home game and it was a big win against Liberty.

Let's show you how things played out.

Up at the A Blake Baker Evan Bullock.

There they are on the sideline.

So Trey Kukoc gets the start.

And on the very first play.

Watch him wait.

Look scramble heads right.

It's good for 12 yards.

Remember he was starting games early in the season until Baker took over.

Bullock started one week ago before he got injured.

So at least Cooper has some experience.

Six minutes and 37 seconds after that first play, they end the drive.

Andrew Burnett out of the Wildcat 13 plays, 75 yards.

Great start for the Bulldogs at seven six Louisiana Tech in the second quarter when they make their first mistake.

Sonny Cumbie tried to trick play Burnett and the Wildcat.

He throws.

He was looking for plates Heffernan but it's intercepted by Demond Harmon.

He brought it back 26 yards and put Liberty in good, good position.

Three plays later, Evan Dickens would get the score that made it 13 seven.

Liberty.

Same score.

Now we fast forward in the third.

Ethan Waskow down the middle to Caleb Ryan.

And that's good for 56 yards as he takes it inside the 20.

And Liberty is in great shape.

Four plays later, Dickens scores his second touchdown.

It is 20 to 7.

Next Liberty possession Dickens again left side for 31 yards.

He had a monster day 30 carries for 226 yards by himself.

It sets up fast.

Go to Jason Jenkins watch festival, keep his balance.

Puts his hand down, tosses it over as everybody locks in on him with the ball.

It's now 28 to 7, but then a new ball game would begin for the home team.

Trey Cooper up the middle 31 yards as he tucks it.

Sprints down.

Makes one move there.

And he is in the end zone.

And it's 2814.

Next possession two plays in Barstow going for it from 52 yards away but picked off by Jakari force foster at the three yard line early fourth quarter.

It's now fourth and five.

And Kuka to Eli Finley.

What a great catch by Philly for nine yards in the first down.

Keeps the drive alive.

And it ends with Burnett out of the Wildcat again from three yards out.

Unmatched 2821.

We got a move here three plays into the next limited possession Scott we've talked about this Bulldog defense all season long.

Another interception for Louisiana Tech in the football.

That's how you come back from these deficits in these games so fast.

They have done that so much this season.

And then look at this five plays later.

It's Kukoc up the middle 29 yards and a touchdown.

Look at the guy on his hand his face I can't believe this.

We're tied at 28 now.

It's three seconds left.

You can win it from 54.

It's good, it's good.

It's.

Hold on.

Strike off the right upright and it bounces out there.

That close up getting the win in regulation.

We're going to overtime.

Second play for Liberty.

They try to throw the Dickens.

Did I tell you earlier he had over 200 yards rushing by himself.

They try to throw it to him.

It's another interception.

And then the first play for Louisiana Tech.

Burnett sends everyone home happy.

Two moves in 25 yards.

He's in the end zone.

The Dawgs get five wins at home in the season for the first time since 2019, and are now bowl eligible for the first time.

In that same time span, 34 to 28 Louisiana Tech gets it in overtime for turnovers in the second half from Louisiana Tech's defense led to 20 Bulldog points.

They will wrap up the season at Missouri State looking for win number seven next week.

Here's reaction from Ruston after the win.

It's, really sweet.

I mean, it's very sweet.

And, you know, I think our guys and everybody collectively just weathered, you know, didn't flinch, you know, and and just I mean, that's the great thing about our team and I think about sports is like, you know, they've always strived, you know, to do things over and over and over again after some of the toughest, most wicked bounces.

I mean, how about that bounce on the field goal at the end.

And then, you know, we rally them up.

We talked to everybody and they had a believe and everything was just say, we're going to win this game.

And they did it and the players did it.

The entire building would lose a leg, would lose an arm for that guy.

I mean, he's an amazing person and a great football coach, and that's who we're fighting for out there.

You know, we want to we want to perform for coaches like him and for the coaches in our coaching staff that that bleed and and put all the time and effort and ours into this team.

And when we lose, that's what hurts is like we think about them like all the effort they put in for us not to perform to our best.

And so getting wins like this is just it's for them.

Where did that they're always in the back of our mind.

Coach Cumbie and the rest of the coaching staff, we're fighting for them every single game because of the people that they are, day in and day out.

I'm glad you got to see the clip of the player putting on the Leo Cross, coach, because I know what you think of the going the whole culture thing is celebrating Senior Day.

But what a great win for Louisiana Tech when you go back and look at it, you lose in oh.

You lose to an onside kick at Delaware in a game that you had won in the last 30s you lose at home in double overtime when they go from two and you wind up losing on one point, then you have a 54 yarder that bounces.

You're down 28 to 7.

You got a chance to get the field goal.

It bounces off the upright.

You're thinking, here we go again.

You've lost two quarterbacks in two weeks.

Perseverance.

These guys have stuck with it.

They've had three opportunities to finally get win number six.

And then they finally got it done at home.

Yeah.

And I love here in the postgame press conference when you hear the players talk about the coaches and the love they have for these guys, because sometimes we forget.

And then I hear these guys are still young, man.

These guys are still young men that coaches are trying to mold.

And Sonny Cumbie is one of the best at doing that in college.

Well, he's one of the good guys.

And I think one of the rewarding parts about this job that we get to do is take away from the preseason, listen to these preseason press conferences to where they are now, and coach Cumbie, what he hammered on in August.

We want to we want to defend our home field.

We want to defend our home field.

They certainly did that five and one at home with a close loss to Western Kentucky was the only loss they had.

So they did they accomplish these goes along the way.

And I think that's a rewarding part of watching something they haven't done themselves since 2019.

Getting five wins at home and getting six wins overall to be bowl as well.

And with another quarterback coming in and Kukoc hasn't played a ton, they didn't put it all on his arm.

They went to the ground game and what a ground game they did.

Yes, Liberty had an outstanding individual, but as a team, 319 rushing yards, five rushing touchdowns scored, you could tell they evaluated.

Let's not put it on his passing line.

Let's team up together and let's run the ball.

And boy did they.

Yeah this was another team going back to the preseason.

They were trying to figure out the quarterback position and they all played.

And they all show different strengths and abilities.

And today's ability was we're going to show you what I can do with my legs.

Big credit to the defense for getting the ball back for this young man.

But when he had opportunity to make plays he made plays.

Not not an advantageous situation.

Down 28 to 7.

When you're starting a season, a quarterback at the end of the year.

So he did a great job and took taking advantage of the opportunities that are presented to you.

So Burnett had a season high in attempt, yards and touchdown for the three that he scored for Kuka.

For what it's worth, he had 143 yards.

That's the most by a quarterback in school history a buck 43.

He's the seventh quarterback in the nation this season with 140 plus rushing yards, 100 plus passing yards and two touchdowns.

So what a great afternoon for Louisiana Tech.

And yes, the offense really stepped up down the stretch to get this big win over Liberty.

But we have to go back to talk about what happened on the defensive side.

Because remember they lost one of their defensive standouts 5 or 6 weeks ago.

How do you rally around that.

You've had some tough losses.

You lose it on the onside kick.

You can't make the play down the stretch.

You can't stop them.

On a third down, Delaware kicks the game winning field goal.

Your three and a half year two and a half quarters.

In this ballgame you're down 28 to 7.

All of a sudden you needed that one switch.

And the offense scored points because the defense made plays tremendously down the stretch this ball game yeah they had four takeaways.

And takeaways are how you climb yourself back in the game we saw it was 27 is not looking good.

You get the takeaways.

Jakari foster two or reception.

He certainly had a huge day for the defense but also two for ten on third down.

When you hold the Dolphins for two for ten on third down, that's that's almost like another takeaway.

So you look at what the defense did in the bowl at the time, where they had to stand up the most in the second half, taking the football away, giving their offense the short field.

That's how you climb back in from a 21 point deficit for Liberty.

For what it's worth, the last seven passes, the last one in the third quarter, every pass attempt in the fourth quarter and the one in overtime was either an incompletion or picked off four times by Louisiana Tech.

It's the fourth game this season with three turnovers for the defense.

Jakari foster now six interceptions on the year.

That's the most since 2014.

Oh, by the way Jacob Fields with 14 tackles.

But they absolutely shut Lamar Liberty excuse me violence down the stretch.

And now they get that big win.

And good for them as they move on.

Now into the chance to get into a bowl.

All right so from one team trying to get bowl eligible to one team trying to get a big win on the road to maybe play the championship game at home.

That's a Tulane Green Wave.

They had a challenge up in Philly against temple.

Two games to go.

And this past week they cracked into the playoff picture if you will.

Coming as the number 12 seed set to take on Texas Tech.

If all that started this weekend.

So was there going to be a distraction?

Not really.

Let's take you to Philly and show you how things played out for the Tulane Green Wave, where a win for John Summerall and his way when proven to 28 and three, and conference games.

This 2022 second best percentage in the country next to Jordan.

A pretty good start.

Second play from scrimmage Jake Retzlaff it's Preston.

Chaz we saw this a week ago.

The big play.

And here he goes again.

One on one gets past the defender 69 yards.

Takes a nasty plunge at seven.

Nothing Tulane later in the first.

Retzlaff to Zachary Lewis junior.

Finds him across the middle.

Plenty of time for Retzlaff 22 yards across the middle here.

And that's going to lead to a Patrick Durbin 50 yard field goal that ties his career best.

We're tied I'm a ten nothing rabbit two lane back to Durbin.

In just a moment temple would answer though.

Next possession Evan Simon to six foot six tight end Peter Clark.

That's just unfair.

Just throw it up to the big fella.

Gets the touchdown.

It's ten seven now.

Greenway with a three point lead.

Second quarter Scott watch the pressure that the wave defense gets on Simon.

It is an absolute ambush.

Sam Howard gets the credit.

But whoa.

Look at the white jerseys getting hit when you hold an offense at 20 total yards you make them pass a lot and you get him into a situation like this.

And then great job getting after him.

For the white jerseys all in the backfield.

The wave will get great field position because of that.

Rhett's laugh with that score once again from two yards out.

How good has he been in the final running this season?

Scoring a touchdown 17 seven?

Greenway Durkin adds two more field goals to make it 23 seven in the third quarter.

Jamari McClure watch McClure go look at the breaking tackles 25 yards down the right hand side.

The drive stalls, but no panic.

Let's re-introduce Durkin, this time from 42.

This was from the right hash and that one is good.

It's now 26 to 7.

Fourth quarter.

Temple does find the end zone again.

Simon to Colin Chase.

And it's 2613.

So temple has a little life.

But on the next Tulane possession it's McClure again.

Outstanding afternoon.

This young man had 17 yards on the gain here as he cuts up the right side and takes it inside the ten down to the seven yard line.

Retzlaff there with the easy pitch and catch to Justin Reed.

It's 3413 after the two point conversion.

Next Greenway Drive.

Rhett's laughs doing it again, this time to Amari Hayes.

He finds him across the middle 17 yards on this one as he takes it right side and gets it down inside the 40 yard line.

Then the star of the game returns.

Durkin this time crushes a new career high, this one from 52 and it could have been third from 58.

His fifth field goal of the game.

He scores temple by himself, 1513.

Tulane rolls to the win.

Here's head coach John Sumner.

We talk about, you know, when events happen.

Good or bad.

What really matters is your response.

And so we had a bad event a few weeks ago.

UTSA right, like did not play good football.

Maybe like the worst football I've ever seen as a head coach.

I was, like, really disappointed in our performance.

That's that.

Thursday night.

Our response to that was really good the next week.

But sometimes when the events are going good, you know, you get complacent or comfortable or casual and I get leery of the response being, lethargic or not urgent.

And so I thought our guys had good preparation.

They tapped into what it's going to take to play against a really good temple team, here on the road in a challenging environment.

And, just just really proud of their mindset coming into the game.

That's a big deal for us last three American teams.

You know, got beat after getting ranked.

So, that was a big deal.

It was something that was talked about on how we got to we got to just not eat the cheese.

Right?

Not eat the rat poison and keep playing our brand of ball and going out there doing that thing.

And, this team, the progression of this team is unbelievable.

And see where we are now, how we're playing with a purpose.

You know, we were playing with a purpose on both sides of the ball.

We're playing better and better each week because of it.

I was just preparing for every week, you know, just out of prepare for any time.

They gave me a chance and I didn't really think ahead.

They just told me to trust them and like, keep working and just stay consistent on what I'm doing and just take care of my body.

And I kept doing it now, you know, opportunity and so on up there.

It means a lot to me right?

That's really all I've been striving for this whole year.

Like, I knew if I can get their trust back and really show them what I can do in this, that's all I needed to do for you guys.

Get trusting them and just build my confidence and build my confidence in there.

Yeah, every seven days to get promoted or exposed.

And we've been exposed before like our falls have been very evident before.

And so you can't ever assume that past success has anything to do with future success.

Like as soon as you think what we hey, we've got nine wins, that means we're going to get a 10th.

Well, that's we're going to be like the only way you do.

You got to go out and earn it every game.

And the only way you earn is by preparing the right way.

And, given great effort and we'll we'll be ready.

We better be ready if we're not ready to keep playing good football, man.

Like, I'm gonna I'm probably gonna coaches you guys harder, this week than have all year.

I coach him harder after wins.

I do losses after losses.

I usually hug them because everybody tells me how bad we are.

Well, they certainly weren't bad on Saturday.

Up in Philly winning 3713 Jamal McClure.

Jalen Gordon not have all that great of an afternoon.

He's an outstanding young running back.

But how about McClure 17 rushes for a buck 22.

That's 7.2 yards for rush.

That'll win.

That'll travel absolutely.

That playing defense running the football.

And that's what you want to see.

You want to see other people starting to step up this time of year to take some of the load off.

Jake Retzlaff 406 total yards.

The defense outstanding the whole temple to a buck 67.

And now the next game at home next weekend to close things out against Charlotte and Scott Saturday morning.

The one question I asked you was, was this the absolute definition of a trap game?

Why?

Charlotte's won one game all season, winless in conference.

They got waxed by Georgia on Saturday.

You're playing them at home.

But oh by the way there's this temple team up in Philly which is never an easy place to play.

345 East Coast time.

It's gray.

It's cloudy, it's wet, it's cold.

Second play from scrimmage.

You go 67 yards for a touchdown pass.

They were focused.

Yeah Summerall has him locked in like he said.

And that's why he's one of the most sought after coaches in the country.

I mean, one of the toughest things to do as a head coach is to keep a team locked in mentally.

Sometimes coaches messages get stale.

Guys start to tune people out.

Success.

People start to do their own thing.

A lot of people start to exhale and say, well, the season's over.

I think Coach Summerall after that, UTSA and we reference our pre-game show.

I think after that game, that was their learning moment.

It wasn't necessarily a loss.

He told his team.

This is a learning moment and shame on us if we don't learn from it.

This team was focused going up the tempo.

It wasn't a trap game.

They're ready for for the bigger picture.

Yeah, we're going to get special teams.

A little love here because I know John Summerall said at the beginning of his press conference.

You didn't hear him, but he said, hey, look, I love Dirk and five field goals.

That's great.

I'd rather score touchdowns and field goals, and I get it.

But if the drive stalls, it's nice to know you've got a Patrick Durkin on your team to do what he can do.

Remember, he was at 4 or 5 games into the season before he'd even missed one field goal.

Well, he's only missed one all season long.

Five for five on the day against temple.

As I mentioned, he outscored of 15 to 13 by himself just on the field goals.

But Scotty starts the game by tying a career high.

He goes left hash.

He goes right hash.

Not a more of a question.

And then when you need him for a little icing on the cake, that 52 yard, I'm telling you was good from 58 if not 60 to end the game.

And that is now his new career high.

Yeah.

How nice is that to know you can turn to the sky if need it.

Without a doubt.

All three phases, especially if you're going to be a playoff team, it's going to take all three phases.

You have to play well to win those playoff games.

I think it's a cool moment.

Another thing that gets us is you get to play in the Philadelphia Eagles stadium.

As a college football player, you're the kicker out there kicking on the Philadelphia Eagles logo.

So pretty cool moment for these guys.

You could go up there and play in that state.

Yeah.

See some I'll give him some love there when he walks off the field.

Kind of walk off and like it's no big deal.

So you want to know why Summerall might be one of the hottest names right now in all the coaching circles while he's trying to stay locked in.

Well, I mentioned it to you just a moment ago.

32 and one under John Summerall at Troy and at Tulane.

32 and one when they out rush opponents.

And they certainly did that against yesterday because their young man that star McClure had an outstanding afternoon.

We've seen Retzlaff be able to do it so well.

This team has really come in to a night.

Yeah.

He mentioned the beating that they took in San Antonio to UTSA.

And he wasn't happy at all about that one.

But since that ballgame there has been this renewed focus on this football team.

He has been able somehow put all the distractions aside because Retzlaff doing it in the air and the team's doing it on the ground.

Yeah, I think he's done a good job of he's adopted the old lane Kiffin, Nick Saban saying of rat poison.

Don't listen to all the good things people are telling you, because as soon as you do that, that's when you fall.

But I also think there's a little bit of cheese out there hanging in front of this team.

And that's the College Football Playoff.

And when they showed up as a 12 team in that playoff and they said we really have a chance, all we have to do is take care of our business.

That's why I said pregame show you've you're already in the playoffs.

Temple's a first round playoff game.

You cannot lose if you want to keep on playing football.

Yeah you're talking to me right there 24th rank.

But in the playoff scenario that came out with the brackets, a lot of people thought it might be James Madison.

It was Tulane coming in.

So as it stands, Ohio State Indiana, Texas A&M, Georgia for now, if this was starting now, they would all get a bye.

It would be five versus 12 with Texas Tech, which is one of those teams.

You better be paying attention to the next several years.

What Texas Tech Tulane matchup, which would be an outstanding matchup in the first round.

But to your point, this is why you need to be locked in because you don't want anybody else to jump you, but you basically control your destiny.

Starting next week at home with Charlotte, there's no doubt.

And I think two ways one of those teams that if you're the fifth seed, you don't want to meet this team.

I think they're one of the best coached teams in the country.

They have an experienced quarterback, played a lot of football.

He's a great leader on the football team.

The defense settled down after the UTSA game and now the special teams kicker goes five for five.

They're playing well in all three phases and you can get beat by teams like that.

So new rankings will come out later this week.

And don't forget they'll wrap it all up at home next Saturday against Charlotte.

The Cowboys are McNeese looking for the first win in Beaumont since 2019 with a new quarterback.

Jake Strong suffered an oblique injury this week, so Alex Flores, number 15 got the start.

Devin Lippold, number 19 will also see action.

First play for Lamar Aden McCown up top 50 yards.

Snyder Jones great reception by Jones with two Cowboys blanketing him on each side.

Four plays later McCown to Isaiah Jones seven yards.

It's seven nothing Lamar remember Stephen F Austin.

Now they're going to the playoffs.

Southeastern watch on Thursday.

They're going Lamar needs a win here so they can prove hey take three from the South End Conference.

Well later on in the first because pass is picked off by shoes.

Brinkley look at the tip drill takes it off the deflection.

And the Cowboys are in good shape.

Leads to a fourth and goal to start the second quarter.

Cowboys go for it and they come up short.

So let's go mid second quarter.

Now we're Travis citizen.

You see how talk how close they were to the goal line drive.

And they set up the middle.

This is good for 15 yards.

And he gets it down to the Lamar 16 yard line.

Two plays later Devin Lippold now in a quarterback.

He keeps it and he scores from eight yards out.

We're tied at seven.

Cowboys hanging in there on the road Aaron Beaumont end of the half.

The ball is at the one.

The Cowboys taking the field goal instead of going for it.

They want the three points.

Oh no it's blocked at the line of scrimmage.

So two big missed opportunities the fourth and one and the missed field goal.

We're tied at seven.

Let's go to the fourth quarter.

It's 13 seven Lamar.

Colby Hamm finds room up the middle.

And then he breaks it to the outside.

And that is a 50 yard sprint for Colby Hamm four plays later.

Again fourth and one.

Lippo rolls out and finds junior tight end Reid Boyd in the back of the end zone for the touchdown.

It's 1413 Cowboys next play from scrimmage Aiden McCown gets pressured.

He's going to toss it up.

And that's a mistake because Philip Bradford walks in from 21 yards out.

It's 2113 Cowboys in a span of about five minutes of real time.

Now Lamar needs a big play down 2113 with under seven to go.

And they get it Xavier Coleman 38 yards up the middle and gives him great field position.

Three plays later let Damien McDowell he takes it in from nine yards out.

It's 2119.

Do you take the chance to get one more possession for a field goal or do you go for two?

Lamar decides to go for two and tie this thing up and the Cowboys defense hold.

They try to go up the middle.

There's no go Cowboys hold on and get the win and basically knock Lamar out of the play off.

Final score 21 to 19 Colby Hamm rushes for a buck 31 on 16 carries Philip Bradford's 20 yard, one yard interception return.

Two weeks ago, the Cowboys got their first interception return for a touchdown in four and a half years.

Now they've had two and three weeks go for Cowboys, who finished 500 in the Southland for the first time since 2019.

Here's Matt Vautour.

I think it's fun.

Let's put it that way.

We still got a lot of work to do, no doubt.

And but I'm just proud of these players and it's a big win.

I mean to come over here and beat that eight three team that has everything on the line.

They do.

And we're just trying to finish the season, so we get that kind of effort.

Says a lot about those guys, and I think we change the, the break at the end of every every drill, at the end of every practice from team to finish, you know, one, two, three finish.

And that's all we kept instilling in players that, you know, there's a there's a it says a lot about somebody who can finish it.

And and we did tonight Scott I know overall for his first year back at McNeese in his second stint, I know it wasn't overall what he wanted.

But down the stretch, the Cowboys, who had one two game win streak all season long, a back to back wins.

They finished winning 3 or 4 to end the season.

They finished 500 and South in conference.

And oh, by the way, you knock Lamar out of the playoffs.

They were trying to get to the playoffs for the second time in school history.

I'd say that's building some momentum.

Absolutely.

Sure it wasn't the season they wanted.

But you talk about winning a game against a really good team, knocking the team out of the playoffs.

You sling slingshot yourself into next year with optimism and it's amazing what just winning a game at the end of the season can do for the offseason.

Work for just your outlook on what you're doing.

Guys who maybe thought about going to the transfer portal will no longer, you know, they see things are building in the right direction.

So it's a huge win at McNeese.

Of all the teams we've been we've been covering this year, they're playing some of their best football.

And you see that steady improvement all year long.

Yeah McNeese and Nicholls both those teams playing their best ball down the stretch.

And to your point now maybe not only have players don't leave but maybe other players who were looking for home go.

I see how you turn things around down the stretch here.

There's no doubt about it.

You see you see teams on the up and up and you want to be a part of that.

You see these teams that are not who they were in August.

They finished playing some of their best football.

Everybody wants to be a part of that train when it gets rolling.

And McNeese has a train rolling in November.

Yeah, we heard Matt Theater say that his Cowboys were just playing out the season, but they played well and knocked another team out.

There's another team playing out the season, but was looking to grab some momentum and get another win.

It's been a little while for the Warhawks.

You all and was on the road taking on Texas State the final two game for the Warhawks on the road this season.

This is game one for them on the road.

Quick look here and we see what happens in the first quarter.

It's a punt.

And there's a punt.

That's another punt.

Scott how's a family.

Oh my god.

Hey we like all three phases of football.

I'll just like, you know, the first quarter seven points between the two teams Scott that's there weren't a lot of offense here between you and Monroe and Texas State early on.

We do have a kick for points in the second quarter.

Tony Robbins from three for three yards gets it three nothing.

Later in the second the Bobcats are threatening.

But how about Brad Jackson being picked off by David Gossett Jr.

It's three.

Nothing at the half.

Ryan 56.

Guys let's find some offense.

Let's get going.

Third quarter fourth and one.

Warhawks take the chance but they get stuffed.

And the Bobcats good.

Good field position from Brad Jackson then cashes in.

Keeps it for 19 yards here in the score.

And now it's ten nothing Texas State.

But then the Warhawks offense does finally arrive Aiden Armenta to Jonathan Phipps.

Offense go for 20 yards later Zach Palmer Smith from 14 yards out gets it into the end zone.

It's ten seven.

Just a three point deficit for the visiting Warhawks.

Texas State, though, comes back and responds right down the field.

And on third and six Jackson tosses to Lincoln Perry.

It's 17 seven Texas State fourth quarter Jackson looks like he's going to keep it.

He sees the pressure come.

That's a great decision.

Just tosses it out there and gets the touchdown to Lincoln Perry 24 to 7 now.

But you alum doesn't pack it in Zach Palmer.

Smith down the left side 29 yards before he gets knocked out of bounds Aiden Armenta would then end the drive with a nice 12 yard touchdown run.

And it's 2414 Bobcats.

But Brad Jackson would eventually put this thing away as he gets a seven yard score with just under two minutes to go, the Bobcats now need one more win to finish 500 on the season.

As for you on Monroe, they have one more game remaining for the Warhawks and it will be on the road next weekend when they travel down to Lafayette to take on the raging Cajuns from Louisiana.

3114 is your final score?

Nice afternoon for Zach Palmer.

Smith 15 carries for 80 yards and a touchdown.

Noah Fleming had 13 tackles and two tackles for loss.

Outstanding effort on the defensive end.

Unfortunately just not enough for the Warhawks.

Here's head coach Brian Vincent afterwards.

Three nothing for a long time, you know.

And our guys kept battling.

We kept battling.

We get that that stop on fourth and one or we got stopped on fourth and one.

They go down and score.

And then just the way we answered right back, and our mentality and just never, never give in is what it's all about, man.

I thought that if you look overall I thought our defense, you know, minus a couple plays, they played really hard man.

We made a ton of great plays on defense and just really proud of our kids, man.

Their effort, their mentality, their stick together is it's inspiring.

I know we've got to win, but we're on the right track.

We all did.

If you if you stick together through seven straight, you'll stick together through anything.

So overall a ton of positives.

We're not happy obviously with the loss.

But hey we've got a big win coming in.

These guys continue to fight and continue to answer the bell and stick together.

So hey let's get ready to go play.

You know that's what matters.

That's what's in front of us.

We know what it means.

You know their fight for bowls ability.

And we're fighting to go play our best game.

And we'll see if they can do that next weekend down in Lafayette.

More on the Cajuns.

Just a moment.

But let's turn our attention to the final game that was played in state Saturday night, was taken care of in Baton Rouge, and, you know, the fall season can be the cold and flu season.

But evidently there are some allergies going around Baton Rouge because they're allergic to offense inside of Tiger Stadium.

Yeah, they're not used to seeing that.

Not used to seeing that at all for the set football back 25 years of what happened at Tiger Stadium Saturday night in the home finale against Western Kentucky.

Another game out of conference USA.

Second opponent from C USA.

Remember they play Louisiana Tech in what was a close game early on.

Well here we go.

First possession for Western Kentucky as Frank Wilson coaches a second game in Tiger Stadium as interim head coach Marvis Parrish up the middle for 16 yards.

Then Roddy Tisdale junior to Moses Berry.

That's 18 yards down to the 25 yard line on the opening drive.

But the drive stalls John Cannon He's good from 38 yards.

It's three nothing.

Western Kentucky Michael Van Buren getting the start.

Unfortunately for Garrett Nuss Meyer honored on Senior night.

But he can't play because of the injury.

He goes left side Xavien Thomas that's good for 18 yards.

The drive carries over into the second quarter but Van Buren back to pass once this went back because he does not see Harper Holman just hanging out.

Harper goes vertical and gets the interception.

It's now second and goal for the Hilltoppers who are ready to take the lead.

Watch they shift in the backfield.

That's your quarterback who's now going out.

Left side shot is wide open.

Oh why that could have changed.

You know what they always say.

That's why they play defense.

That's why he plays quarterback at wide open.

And he drops it.

What a call.

But they don't convert.

So now he's back at quarterback.

And now it's fourth and goal.

And its pass is incomplete.

What might have been for Western Kentucky later in the second Van Buren to Kyle Parker.

And this is good for 23 yards.

It's now first and goal from the 11 when Van Buren finds traités green.

That's your go to guy.

He gets it into the end zone.

And it's seven three LSU in the second half.

It's a defensive show.

Look at this split Scott I know you've played this.

But what you can tell from the snap nobody was stopping this.

They did a good job disguising the entire offensive line looking to their right, playing pressure off the backside and a clean hit and a huge loss there.

So next possession now Tisdale being pressure.

He throws off balance.

He feels the pressure coming this side this time.

And he's picked off by DJ Pickett.

And LSU has really good field position.

Tigers are at the goal line now.

Third down and Van Buren drops the snap I don't know why you don't go under center when you're a yard out.

I think it's college football.

It drives me crazy.

Offensive coordinator hate going under center for some reason I don't get, especially inside the five.

I'm with you, I don't know that didn't work.

So you settle for a field goal because you have Damien Ramos and that's good.

From 18 yards it's ten three now.

It's 13 three in the fourth quarter West weeks all three weeks.

Brothers played in this ball game.

First time in school.

They've had three brothers.

That was fantastic I don't know what the thing is that's going off.

And LSU had it last night because it was a 13 three game.

Tigers have the ball hits third to get a first down in this baby's over or Harlan Berry can fumble the ball.

Dylan Flowers can go 79 yards and you're now an onside kick recovery away from maybe losing to Western Kentucky.

And she speaks for all LSU fans.

What did I just sit through.

But on the onside kick LSU does recover with the hands team.

Frank Wilson does get his second W at home for LSU.

The defense held Western Kentucky to 19 total yards of offense in the second half, yet needed an onside kick to hold on to the win, 13 to 10.

Five sacks.

Six tackles for loss of that Tiger defense is not much to talk about for the offense, just the fact that they got enough to get it done.

The Tigers will finish off the season on the road at least the regular season next weekend at Oklahoma here.

Postgame coverage.

At the grand scheme of it.

However the game played out here is all they know.

LSU won seven games.

We won the game today.

How we won.

You know, we found a way.

If you win by one, just find a way to win.

And, I'm proud of our team for doing that and being able to give that to our seniors.

If I could you, just give a comment on the three weeks brothers getting on the field the same time?

Yeah, I thought that was pretty sweet.

You know, when we, as we recruited each one, that was kind of our our sales pitch to David, to their father, you know, how about not just one, but two?

Well, how about a third one?

Like that's never been done before?

I don't know if there's been three brothers on one team.

I know of several that had two.

But certainly the special moment for that family and for them to be able to walk out, with West, as he was recognized in the early going of, the game when we recognized our seniors on senior night is certainly a special moment for the family.

A wonderful family.

We we enjoy them.

They're high quality, talented young players.

That that that bond together and allows us, to be a good football team.

And so it was it was good to be able to share that moment with them and give them that moment.

Scott, before we move on to what has been the story in Baton Rouge this week before that ball game, we should do a tip of the cap to the defense.

Look, the offense know they obviously have their problems.

Still can't get north of 25, points against a D1 opponent, 19 total yards that defense allowed in the second half.

Western Kentucky had 24 rushing attempts for 22 yards on the game.

Yeah, Western Kentucky's a team that if you don't follow them a lot, they put up a lot of a lot of yards and a lot of points against teams.

I know they're playing LSU, but I think this LSU defense, they they finish a season really strong early in the year.

They're one of the better defense in the country.

They had a lull in the middle of the season when it came to defending the scrambling quarterback for Vanderbilt and then Texas A&M, but really finished the season strong.

I think Blake Baker's own outstanding job with this defense, and they'll have their hands full next week up in Norman against Oklahoma.

We'll have time to talk about that next weekend.

So the big story surrounding Baton Rouge this weekend has been the head coach at Ole Miss.

And the rebels were off this weekend.

They're getting ready for Mississippi State in the Egg Bowl coming up on Friday after Thanksgiving, the university had a meeting.

The athletic director had a meeting with Lane Kiffin on Friday.

And then they put out the announcement that Lane Kiffin and his future, their announcement would be made next Saturday.

Well, at the same time that that was going on, Yahoo Sports is reporting that LSU has put together a package and they are set to present it to Lane Kiffin.

And here was the report by Ross Dellinger.

Seven years, $90 million for the contract.

But it is incentive heavy.

I take you back to Governor Jeff Landry and his argument and his complaints about Brian Kelly's contract, 25 million for nil and revenue sharing for the team and per Ole Miss.

Kevin's announcement will be made on Saturday.

So, Scott, I go back to what we saw earlier this year, and you and I talked about this a couple of weeks ago, Chris at Indiana.

His name is Red hot in the coaching circles.

They signed him.

He signed the deal and announced it.

SMU head coach is a rising star.

He signed it.

They announced it.

You got to figure Kiffin is going now.

Either he's playing chess and everybody else is playing hopscotch and he's going to Florida and he's standing.

He's just trolling everybody or else he's coming to Baton Rouge.

But they want him to coach the Egg Bowl.

But then they're going to say, you know what?

For the playoffs, if you're leaving, move on.

Because I don't know why else you would announce it.

Well I think Ole Miss this is all leverage game at this point.

Obviously if there's multiple teams I want Lane Kiffin.

And when you have multiple teams I want you.

Ole Miss is going to have to pay him.

I truly believe he is happy there.

But dollars and cents have a have a have a way of making you not happy immediately.

So I think it would be a great fit.

LSU last night's game was a perfect example of they need offense.

You bring Lane Kiffin and you're going to score points.

You're going to get the best players out of the portal offensively.

And I think, you know, covering the 2019 team and people who saw that 2019 team, you want to see points and explosive points in that in Tiger Stadium.

So I think it would be a perfect match.

And I think immediately this team would be contending in college football.

I'll just add this.

That does give folks in Oxford one more week to get to the Egg Bowl and win that game, because they need to keep it going.

But if you have boosters that want to try to rally and they're not upset by this, it does give them one more week.

So as we've been saying, stay tuned.

We had Thursday Night Football in the Sunbelt Conference.

Michael Decimal in the cage is facing the Red Wolves from Arkansas State.

Need to get a win and then win their last game to be bowl eligible.

And this is not what you wanted first quarter.

It's already three nothing Arkansas State when lunch Winfield got stripped of the ball off State's Cody Singler got the perfect bounce and scored 27 yards on the return.

But look at lunch.

Look at my back.

We're good.

Cajuns bounce right back.

Winfield takes him right down the field Dillon Perry punches it in.

Made it ten seven early second quarter on fourth down Winfield holds true I got you.

He gets into the end zone.

And just like that it's 1410 Ragin Cajuns now 1713 after a Tony Sterner 41 yard field goal.

The cage is kicking it off.

And if we're showing you this it's 1 or 2 things a turnover or this.

And he outruns everybody 93 yards on the kick.

Return for Arkansas State.

And the Red Wolves are back on top 20.

The 17.

But the Cajuns answer immediately right down the field again.

And Winfield to Kaden Jensen 17 yards.

And he gets it down to the one yard line.

And I love it.

At the next play the cages go up tempo.

They get to the line of scrimmage.

Winfield keeps it hesitation gets it into the corner and scores a touchdown 2420.

Bounced back and forth we go in terms of lead changes.

The Red Wolves come right back.

Just over a minute left in the half.

Jalen Rayner to Corey Walker.

He gets down to the Cajuns seven yard line.

Two plays later Spencer Davis scores 34 points scored in the quarter between these two teams, with five lead changes.

It was 2724 Arkansas State at the break.

And then Bill Davis.

Scott, you mentioned before he's able to find those openings and get that big body through, and then he's got the speed to finish it off.

First thing you have to have, besides outstanding speed at running back is vision.

He had that great vision on the play, 3127 now only fourth quarter Tony Sterner from 50.

It's 3427.

His second 50 yard field goal this season.

It was this close miss but he got it over.

And it's a seven point lead now.

End of the game.

It's 3430 Cajuns nine seconds to go.

Red Wolves in the end zone.

It's incomplete but Avery Terry called for interference.

We go down to the two six seconds to go first and goal pass incompletion second down.

This is it.

Down four.

Got to get a touchdown three seconds on the clock.

Jalen Reyna keeps it goes.

Wright decides to make the cut.

But look at the white jerseys 12345 of them converge.

He stretches the ball out but he stopped short.

It took him forever to look at this and blow the whistle dead with the play.

But all said and done the Cajuns hold on to win 3430 and bowl hopes are still alive.

Michael Tassimo talk to us.

Honestly, my biggest fear going into it was a two minute drive with with him with the ball to win the game, to be quite honest with you.

I've seen him do it on tape all year.

I've got to tell you, our defense did a phenomenal job.

You know, we we kept him in the pocket and made them complete balls.

We knew he was going to take check downs.

You know, we didn't do a great job rally in tackling the check downs at times.

Other times we did.

But nine yards is a long way to go, you know, under two minutes to have to try to win the game.

And, you know, we were able to, you know, able to make them drive it in our in the hole way down the field.

And then certainly, you know, the stop at the end was really physical and, you know, showed a heck of a lot of grit.

The biggest thing I gotta say, man, hashtag relentless, man.

That's that's the that was the theme since January.

I told the guys in the hotel was like, we made these plays in January.

Two ways to clock to keep the ball in, play our game and win this game.

We've been made this these plays in January.

So relentless is, the biggest thing that everybody on the team know.

I say the same thing and every, every, meeting we have, they they laugh at me.

But it's true.

I see the same goal, same vision.

Everybody had the same goals and the same vision.

So that's the biggest thing.

You just proud of your team.

You know, ability to go out and, you know, we have some you know, we have some younger guys, less experienced guys and, you know, kind of take the lead.

It's just it kind of inspire you to, you know, play harder for your teammates.

Those are the guys man.

That's you're so thankful for.

Like in today's world that they want to be here in this place matters to them a whole lot.

And even it's not just when things are good, man.

I mean, these guys are Ragin Cajuns and, I told them in the locker room, I'm so glad the game played the way it did.

So I'm so glad everybody got to see what this team's all about.

That's that's who they are.

They're gritty and they're tough and they're resilient.

And, you know, it starts with the leadership on the team and the guys that that put it all out there for our team.

Scott, we mentioned earlier in the program that if Louisiana Tech didn't have bad luck to be no bad luck at all, you can kind of say the same thing for the cages.

They went through three quarterbacks for the first four and a half games of the season.

But let's look at this game for just a moment.

They overcame 11 penalties and five sacks in this ballgame on the road.

And the Cajun defense gave up three points in the final 30 minutes.

And then they had the goal line stand to win it.

Yeah I think a big part we talked about in the pregame show, Jaden Dugger has been outstanding for this defense all year.

He's been the leader of that defense.

But doing a great job.

And the adversity that this team has overcome.

You mentioned it to start the season off Walker Howard.

It was a feel good story.

Comes back home is going to be the starting quarterback.

We're going to fling the ball around the yard goes down.

So I think huge props coach Desmond, his coaching staff and just the type of character individuals he has in his locker room to continue to fight in that game and find a way to win on the road.

Yeah.

And this is a team that could have easily packed it in.

Remember, they were picked to win the West.

We knew.

Now of course we know that they're going to win the West.

But four weeks ago you now have four games ahead of you.

After some tough losses, three straight in the Sunbelt Conference, you now face the challenge of winning four in a row.

If you want to be bold elsewhere because you want to get to six wins, you're sitting there at two.

You got to get four more.

They've now won three in a row, and two of those three have been on the road.

Now they'll go home to face you on Monroe.

And of course, you know that is going to be a challenge.

But Scott, when you look at it, you had a tough loss at Eastern Michigan.

Remember what happened at the end of that ball game on the field goal when they lose the tough loss that you had with Southern Miss at home, you were in the game at Troy.

But since that game you went back to Alabama to win at South Alabama.

You beat Texas State.

Then you've got the fight and you've got seven players suspended for Saturday's game.

But then you you buckle down and you win at Arkansas State I agree with you.

Talk about the grit of this team to get this done.

Now with one win away from getting blown over, it's taken a while, but they figured out their identity.

And you've seen with a three game winning streak that you saw this team turn the corner.

When lunch Winfield started to emerge and make plays.

And everybody figured out like, well, let's rally around this guy.

This guy's a player.

He can he can make some plays for us.

We can win with lunch.

Winfield.

And when you have that as a locker room, as a defense, as a coaching staff, we have the guy who can help us win at that position that takes you places, and you've seen that for the last few games.

Certainly a team that has been building a lot of momentum, and now they have one left against the Warhawks from UL Monroe and that'll be Saturday in Lafayette.

That game was played on Thursday night up in Arkansas.

We had another Thursday night game between Stephen F Austin and the demons from Northwestern State.

This one was played at Natchitoches.

It's the home finale for the demons taking on the best team in the Southland Conference.

Remember Stephen F Austin lost the first two games of the season, have been riding a nine game win streak since this.

The battle of the Chiefs is what these two teams play for.

And again, this was played up in that because the jacks jumped up on the demons early opening drive for Northwestern State would end with a punt.

You want me to do my bugs?

Can I do bug that?

I hope bugs answers to one of the schools we cover so we can do it every week.

Yes, it's Fox, eight bucks more.

I'm I see, I'm going left side.

I'm going to take it all the way.

79 yards and a touchdown at seven.

Nothing Stephen F Austin rough going for Abraham Johnson.

Look this young man has grown from when we saw him take the first snap of the season.

But here is just too much pressure.

The offensive line struggling against that defense.

He gets sacked from behind.

Next possession.

They cash it in 26 yards from Sam Middleton to Derek Fuller.

And it's 4013 nothing.

Excuse me Stephen at four.

Still in the first.

Same score Middlesex now going to go up top.

And he's going to go deep to Kylan Harris.

And this is going to be good for 65 yards.

As he goes.

Right side takes it all the way in 20.

Nothing.

In the first quarter the Lumberjacks had 175 yards in the first quarter.

Early second quarter it's now 27.

Nothing Stephen F awesome.

When did LAX going to sling this 147 yards.

This is the other problem.

The demons just couldn't stop.

The big splash.

Plays the punt return 65 yards here 47 yards there.

That takes it down to the ten.

Next play Jaylen Jenkins makes it 34.

Nothing.

The game was put away but time for some other players have an opportunity to stand out like Eli Anderson who comes in at quarterback for the demons after Johnson got banged up, hits.

Cameron Davis going across the middle.

That's good for 24 yards.

Then Anderson will find Jeremiah James out of the shotgun inside the 35 a little flick.

But look at the offensive line there setting up the wall.

And there he goes.

That's good for 20 yards.

Finally the demons have a chance to punch it into the end zone.

And the nice release by Davis for the touchdown eight yards on the completion Cameron Davis brings it in and the demons are on the board in the fourth watch Jeremiah James here finds some room goes left side and is off to the races.

That's a big splash.

Play 44 yards for him Anderson then again will find it for the touchdown.

His second of the day five yards to tie more in the back of the end zone.

Some positive playing time for some demons.

But this is all Stephen at Boston.

And they keep college football's heaviest trophy.

The jacks rolled up 600 yards of offense in 162 to 14 after losing the first two.

They've now won ten in a row.

Captured the South and Conference regular season title.

Nice effort by Eli Anderson for the demons.

He threw for a buck 50 and two scores.

The team has finished the season at one and ten.

Here is head coach Brian McCorkle.

You want to see guys, finish their career and make a play and and, you know, make a lifetime memory.

They're good for them.

I think that both of those guys, the thing that's unique about them, they'd rather win the game than make that play, you know?

And I think that's the beauty of, those two guys and a lot of guys in our senior class, that, you know, it's a team game.

And again, those things are exciting for a senior.

But Ty Moore is a Northwestern State football player to the core.

You know, his mom's in our hall of Fame.

Here is a track athlete.

His dad was an unbelievable titan here back in the day.

He actually played for Coach Joseph when he was here before.

And Ty Moore has been, thinking and dreaming about Northwestern State football since he was born, so, we'll definitely miss him.

And then he was a heck of a player for us.

I don't know where he finished receiving this year, but he might have been our leading receiver.

Now it's all said and done.

I'm not sure.

But it's exciting to see him finish his career.

Well, there.

And what's fun about Ty's, he's going to stay around here as a graduate assistant, actually, for our softball team, which is pretty cool because his family's got a pretty neat story with softball as well.

And then Eli's a guy that, it's kind of modern day college football.

He's only been here one year.

Transferred in here after Mississippi College.

Dropped their football program last year.

Shame on them.

Because that was once a proud program that's not there anymore.

But he's been a great, teammate to a lot of people.

He's been a great backup at the right time for everyone.

He's been supportive.

And, when he's had his opportunities to get called on, he's done a good job.

So happy for those two guys to have that opportunity.

But again, all 12 of our seniors, I promise you would rather win the game than that.

Oh, we just looked at two games that were played on Thursday night, but there was a third, and this one was played in Hammond, where it was up for the River Bell Classic and the River Trophy between the visiting Nichols Colonels and the Lions from southeastern last year, southeastern was hoping at the end of the season they could get into the postseason in the playoffs, and they fell short.

This year, they felt confident that they're going to be in, but they knew they'd get in if they could get a win over the Colonels.

The interesting thing in this little scenario between these two teams, it's the road team that's been taking the trophy home for the last several years.

So could Nichols pull the upset that's what they were looking for.

Well, here we go.

Inside the first minute of action, Ian Rodrigue would scramble.

Lions, force him to call it up, cough it up.

Khalid Moore forces the fumble.

Cameron Ford recovers.

And four plays later Carson camp to Jalen DiMaggio.

And that's a touchdown.

And just like that 18 yards later it's seven nothing Lions.

But the Colonels do respond with their own defense.

The Lions at the point deep in their own territory Alec Moore's kick is blocked by Kelvin Gray.

Ty Marsh picks it up and returns it 16 yards for the Colonels.

And two plays later, well, they're going to go to their big running back Shane Lee.

He gets a direct snap and takes it in from eight yards out.

And just like that the Colonels have not had this thing up at seven.

You knew this was going to be a good game.

Carlson playing their best football of the season.

And the Lions are trying to roll in the postseason well under a minute to go in the quarter.

Carson Camp hits Jordan Williams 26 yards down to the ten yard line.

And we carry over to the second quarter.

And in the first play of the second quarter bottom of your screen, that's the mojo in motion.

DiMaggio catching and DiMaggio score 14 seven Lions back up top.

Five minutes to go into the second quarter Shane Lee again takes the pitch right side 17 yards.

And the Colonels knot this thing up at 14 apiece.

Later in the second quarter Kyle Lowe is in a quarterback.

He's going to hit the Maggio for his third touchdown.

Scott I keep watching this and I keep saying the same thing.

This should be a crime that's illegal.

How good this is.

The DB does everything take away the inside coach told you well he didn't tell you.

This guy can go up and high point the ball like this.

Just a good job of putting your playmakers in play in position to make plays.

That's his third touchdown already of the ballgame.

What a pass and what a catch 2114 Lions up top takes the Colonels three plays to answer.

This time it's Corey Warren Jr 47 yards.

And we are knotted at 21 apiece.

But southeastern then comes right back.

Lowe keeps it this time.

Breaks it up.

Avoids one tackle right there.

Gets it in the end zone 22 yards.

It's 2821.

First play of the third quarter.

The Lions are up ten.

We snap goes wrong.

And it's bad news for the Lions.

Great attempt.

Falls over the ball.

Lions eventually jump on it instead of the Colonels.

That's a difference between being seven points and just two points.

But it is a safety.

So it's 3123 Lions.

Colonels had a field goal to make it 3126.

Look at Jaden Henry leg day baby.

Look at him.

Just carry Colonels down the four down the field before he finally gets brought down.

And then Jaden Henry puts it away 14 yards on the touchdown.

For the first time since 2018, the River Belle Trophy stays with the home team in this series.

Lions win it 38 to 23.

They finish 9 to 1 in conference play, second overall in the South Bank conference.

By virtue of Stephen F Austin getting the win over Northwestern State, the Colonels end the year for an eight overall, four and four in conference play.

DiMaggio six catches for 45 yards, but three of his six catches were for touchdown.

Shane Lee for the Colonels 14 carries, 73 yards and his two touchdowns.

The Colonels finish in fifth place in the Southland Conference.

And we have more to talk about with the Lions in just a moment.

But let's start right there with the visiting Cardinal from Nicholls first year head coach Tommy Wright back.

He starts the season with a bang at home.

You defeat the defending champs and UAW in fine fashion on national TV.

Then they hit their lull.

But much like we've been talking about with other teams in our state, Scott and this is nothing against Hogan.

But Nicholls found a new quarterback and all of a sudden they were rejuvenated, playing their best football down the stretch to finish four and four in Southampton.

Yeah, Ian Roderick certainly brought a toughness to this team.

And I think when you see your quarterback kind of standing up, we showed that clip earlier this year where he was helmet off, toe to toe with the defensive line for the opposing team.

That resonates well in the locker room and I think this team played well defensively.

Shane Lee was outstanding all year as a running back, so they had that running identity and controlling the line of scrimmage.

But just much like McNeese, Nicholls played their best football late down the stretch against a really good southeastern team.

You looked up in the fourth quarter and it was 3126, and they're going toe to toe with the playoff football team.

Yeah.

And remember they lost to the high scoring team in the South End Conference in Texas Rio Grande Valley by a touchdown.

They were on the road there.

They were on the road at Lamar when Lamar was ranked 18th in the country and lost on a punt return performance to go.

So they were in some very big games.

A nice job by Tyler right back in his first season.

As for the Lions, well now they get the win and they knew they would lock themselves in to a postseason position.

And this is a team.

Remember they lost as Louisiana Tech.

They lost to LSU.

Had one close loss on the road in conference play.

But boy this team has really found its identity in all three phases of the ball game.

They've done a really good job.

They found.

I think the thing that's impressed me most about southeastern is they've played really good football in all three phases, but not every week.

They they've done it in a way where they find a way to win differently every single week.

And that, to me is a sign of a well-coached football team, a gritty football team where you're not going to win the same way every single week, but you find a way to win that particular matchup against the opponent you're playing.

Yeah.

So the game was played on Thursday and they had to wait until Sunday because earlier today the announcements were made for the brackets.

And let's take a look at it.

Because the Lions come in as a top 16 seed.

They get in as the number 16 seed.

The top eight teams in the bracket all get a bye, but they are ranked in the top 16 and they will host.

It's a game this Saturday at noon against Illinois State.

So congratulations to the Lions because now you've earned a home game in the playoffs.

Yeah it's huge huge for your alumni.

It's huge.

We know they they like to have the cookout.

And you've got the food and the smoke rolls before the game.

So I think what what a amazing opportunity, all that hard work you put in.

And I think it just validates what the coaches tell you, validates the hard work and the effort you put in your playoff football team.

You got a chance to host a playoff game and then hopefully get on round two.

The three teams in the Southland Conference actually got we said early in the program that McNeese ruined Lamar.

Well, they were holding off thinking, well, I don't think we're going to get in.

Guess what?

They did one of the last teams to get in.

So now you have Stephen Foster, you have southeastern, and then you have Lamar who does get in as well.

They will play Abilene Christian in their first round.

But if southeastern can get the win at home, they find themselves as a number 16 overall.

So that means they're matched up with the number one seed.

And the number one seed is used to being there.

That's North Dakota State.

And Scott, over the last ten years North Dakota State has won.

Count them six titles.

And you're ready for this with three different coaches.

Those coaches move on.

But you talk about a system and a program.

That's what they have.

They are the bellwether.

They are the what everybody epitomizes wants to be in that level of football.

And I don't know, maybe it's because it's so cold in North Dakota State.

They set up shop in these warmer climes.

Hey, you have to win.

So we go, vacation in a warm spot.

But they've done an outstanding job.

They're a big, tough, physical football team.

They control the line of scrimmage.

And when you play North Dakota State Bison, you better bucket your chin strap because it's going to be an all day game at the line of scrimmage.

Yeah.

So when you think of what's coming up this coming weekend, LSU finishes its SEC slate trying to get one more win at Oklahoma.

Southeastern at home at noon on Saturday.

It's a playoff game.

The Raging Cages need a win to become bowl eligible.

Tulane at home against Charlotte, they get one more win.

They could be hosting the American Conference championship.

There's a lot going on and Lane Kiffin playing watch well there's that too.

That's right okay we'll see that announcement this Saturday.

So until we see you then we hope you have a very happy and blessed Thanksgiving holiday.

Be safe if you're traveling and we'll see you next week for game.

Oh so Scott Channing I'm Victor Howell, thanks for joining us here on LPB.

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