Week 1 Recap: Argos Win 42-36 @ McNeese State

Over 600 days removed from playing a game, the University of West Florida Argonauts left no doubt if they’d be motivated after a long and bizarre layoff. The Argos made a statement to open to 2021 season picking up just like they left off beating the odds, on the road, against a quality opponent. West Florida walked out of Lake Charles with a 42-36 win over an established FCS opponent in as exciting of a Week 1 matchup as you’d hope to see.

First, lets set up the context of the matchup itself. An FCS team can have up to 63 scholarships for football, compared to 35 for a D2. McNeese played seven competitive games, including six in ever tough Southland Conference play, this Spring and brought back most of that Spring team that beat a ranked Nicholls team in April. UWF hasn’t played a football game that counted since December of 2019, and got only a few weeks of practice in the Fall and Spring. On paper, UWF was an underdog for all of these reasons (At least one place had the Cowboys as a 10 point favorite) but these guys continue to be the example of why football isn’t played on paper.

I went into this game thinking of it like a playoff game or a top 10 type D2 matchup, McNeese is talented at all levels and should be in the hunt with the better teams in the Southland. The Argonauts clearly went into the game thinking it was a playoff game too, because this team was ready to go.

Offense Weapons as Potent as Ever

This should come as little surprise, because bringing back a high level QB like Austin Reed usually ensures at lot of offensive continuity, but there were some big shoes to fill at WR and OL and the layoff was so long, you never know how long it is going to take to get it going. The answer for the Argos was one drive. After a three and out to open the game, Reed lead the West Florida offense to three straight TD drives and a fourth that started on the Argonaut 7 yard line ended in a FG attempt from the 21 yard line. On those four consecutive 1st half drives, West Florida tallied almost 300 yards of offense and scorched the Cowboys for 11.7 yards per play. After the Argonauts took a 14-7 lead early in the 2nd quarter, they never trailed for the remainder of the game. Each of the six total scoring drives were impressive too, going 7 plays-78 yards, 5-57, 6-85, 9-80, 4-48, and 4-75.

We saw great play from familiar faces in the passing game, Senior leaders Rodney Coates and Ka’Ron Ashley combined for 6 catches 113 yards and split a pair of TDs, and RS Junior Evan Mitchell contributed another 4 catches for 42 yards. Coates and Ashley both made the kind of acrobatic catches we have come to expect from the Argonauts Wide Receivers, Coates making a leaping snag for 24 yards in tight coverage and a first down that set up Ashley on his 26 yard TD. Ashley climbed the ladder and absolutely mossed the defending Cornerback. Welcome back guys. The big story though was Junior transfer David Durden, who was spectacular in his debut finishing with 6 receptions 172 yards and 1 TD with an additional 6 yard rushing TD. He barely missed another long ball down the sideline through double coverage, and drew a late pass interference in the 4th quarter. After a 44 yard TD and a 74 yard reception in the 2nd quarter, the Cowboys used multiple defenders to account for Durden for the remainder of the game.

It wasn’t just the passing offense though, the running game accounted for 20 carries 86 yards 2 TD but included a 6 yard loss on a knee to end the game. Excluding that knee the Argos averaged 4.8 yards per carry and were only stopped for loss twice on 19 attempts. Shomari Mason (10 54 1) showed great burst on his 17 yard TD in the 4th quarter and Ra’veion Hargrove looked similarly explosive on the final scoring drive recording a 22 yard run and 9 yard TD catch, which proved to be the difference in the game.

UWF even had a rare Tight End sighting, with Transfer Maverick Wolfley snagging a ball in the 4th quarter and turning it upfield for a 28 yard gain, that was a couple inches on the sideline away from being a TD. Both TEs, Wolfley and Jackson, contributed big time in the blocking game as well.

Valuable Experience for the Defensive Front

The front 7 of the UWF defense returned only two full time starters, Matt Gotel and Trent Archie, and a handful of major contributors, Gael Laurent, Brandon Penerton, and Myles Meyer, so they are looking to reconfigure the pecking order in the front for 2021. Due to the extreme conditions on the field, the Argonauts were able to test quite a few of the new names and the Defensive staff has to be excited with what they saw from the twenty or so players who played in the front 7.

On the Defensive Line 10 players contributed over the 91 defensive snaps and tallied 20 tackles, 4,0 TFL, 3.5 sacks, and even the deep end of the rotation was able to stand up to a solid FCS level Offensive Line. Brandon Penerton flashed with a sack and another QB pressure, looking quick off of the ball. Aidan Swett had an impressive pass rush sack late in the game, beating the Left Tackle badly. Senior Defensive End Matthew Gotel also had a strong outing with 5 tackles, which lead the Defensive Line. Jackson State Transfer Vincent McIntosh and Freshman Pooda Walker both looked physically capable in extended snaps, Walker sharing a sack with Linebacker Will Breland. The ability to rotate guys along the Line clearly showed late in the game as the Argonauts were able to keep fresh legs on the field, and continue challenging McNeese State when their own Offensive Line was worn down from the heat and physicality, where the Argos turned in 2 sacks and another hurry in the 4th quarter. Other players who saw snaps were: Brenden Cotilla-Delgado, Ja’Quize Cross, JD Arnold, Brandon Wade, and Michael Police, who had a sack on a motor play late in the game not giving up on a scrambling Cody Orgeron.

At Linebacker we counted at least 9 players who played defensive snaps for the Argos. Four expected names played quite a bit of the run, Shea Campbell (6 tackles 4 solo) at MLB , Stephon Williams (4 tackles 2 solo 0.5 TFL) Gael Laurent (2 tackles 1 solo) at SLB, and Trent Archie (4 tackles 3 solo 1 hurry) at Nickel. At WLB it appeared that Kee Whetzel (2 tackles) ended up getting most of the snaps as the game went on, but De’Marco Artis (2 tackles 1 solo) also played at that spot in the first half. The most interesting development at Linebacker this week was #35 Will Breland (2 tackles 1 solo 0.5 TFL 0.5 sacks) who played quite a bit on the inside for West Florida coming on early in the game, but playing throughout. The Freshman wasn’t even listed on the official depth chart for the game, presumably slotting third at MLB behind Ricky Richardson, who played a bit in the first half as well, and made the most of his 0uting, splitting a sack with Pooda Walker early in the game.

UWF wont likely rotate this many as the season wears on, and will probably settle into a rotation of 6-8 Linemen with the core of about 6 Linebackers getting the majority of the snaps. The Argonauts should feel good about the quality of their depth at these positions and the ability to weather a long, tough schedule.

A Quarterback and his Line

Austin Reed, who was named GSC Offensive Player of the Week for his 19-36 380 yard 4 TD 1 INT performance, was fantastic as you’d hope given the growth he showed during the playoff run. Really, he was even better than his final stats indicated, and a couple blinks away from going for over 400 yards and 5 TDs. He hit a beautiful ball to Kenneth Chanelle in the corner of the endzone splitting the Corner and Safety perfectly, but Channelle couldn’t quite make the tough catch in traffic (Mason scored from 17 out on the next play). He had a similarly great throw on a deep ball to Durden down the sideline on a free play, but it looked partially tipped near the catch and fell incomplete. After starting 0-3 on his first three attempts, Reed went 3-3 and a TD and never looked back. He looked good operating under pressure, making a few throws with a defender in his face, and very comfortable moving around in the pocket.

But every great Quarterback would tell you he was only as good as the guys around him, and Reed felt the same way dedicating his weekly honor to his offensive compatriots. The blocking upfront by the new look Offensive Line was laudable all afternoon. This was a tough, tough matchup for just about anyone at the FCS or D2 level, McNeese has a deep and talented group of Defensive Linemen. At times you saw the flash, especially from #40 Isaiah Chambers, the Spring Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Year, but through effort, scheme, and teamwork, the Cowboys just couldn’t ever get home over 36 pass attempts. FCS All-American Chambers finished the opener with just 4 tackles (1 solo) 0.5 TFL and no sacks, although he tallied 3 hurries. He was also called for a critical offsides on 3rd and 10 in the 3rd quarter, which lead to an extended drive, and a roughing the passer on a 2nd and 15 34 yard completion, which seemed to me to stem from his frustration at not being able to win in pass rush situations.

The protection from the starting five was fantastic all night. While UWF’s tackles took turns battling on the outside with Chambers, the Cowboys’ other All-Conference Defensive End, Mason Kinsey, was totally shut down (1 assisted tackle), and the interior Defensive Line fared no better with only McNeeley and Young making the stat sheet this week with 3 total tackles combined. My first impression on Saturday was that the Line kept Reed totally clean all day, but upon rewatch they did give up some ground, especially in pass rush. The difference was they were always able to hold up the defense just enough for Reed to get the ball out. Chambers probably affected more plays than his 3 hurries would indicate, simply by being explosive off the line, but he just couldn’t fully beat Roman or Bruce to hit pay dirt. In my rewatch, I never saw him just flat out beat one of the Argos’ Tackles. Clearly the offense, and more specifically the Line and Quarterback, knew the goal of the day was to avoid letting the Defensive Line take over, and the Argos game planned well to neutralize the perceived advantage on the edge through chipping, timing, and just enough running the ball.

Just Enough Defense in a Shootout

I know the defense doesn’t feel great about giving up over 400 yards and 36 points or allowing 6-6 on 4th down conversions, but this is what happens in games between two quality opponents, especially with limited scouting in week 1 in brutal heat. What mattered in the end was that the defense did find ways to win in critical moments, and they made an FCS offense earn every they got over 91 plays, which proved enough help for the high powered Argonauts offense. After UWF tied the game at 7, the defense pitched a three and out, allowing the offense to take the lead on the next drive. After a missed UWF FG after a long drive in the 2nd, the defense buckled down and forced a FG to finish out the half to maintain a 21-16 lead. On the first drive of the second half, the defense got a timely illegal touching penalty on 4th down to turnover McNeese deep in Argo territory, which lead to an Argonaut TD drive.

But the biggest defensive sequence of the day was pitching another three and out immediately following an Austin Reed INT in the 4th quarter. The score was 28-22 and the Argos were in McNeese territory when a scrambling Reed threw his only INT of the day into a tight window on 3rd and long. The defense hit the field got a false start then forced two incompletions then gave up 10 on a QB scramble, forcing a punt that only went 20 yards and gave West Florida their best starting field position of the day leading to a 5 play 48 yard TD drive to extend the lead to 35-22.

In the era of barn burning offensive duels sometimes all you can ask of your Defense is to get 2-3 stops per game, and the Argos did that. Over 11 possessions, the West Florida Defense forced three punts, got a turnover on downs, and stopped two long drives for FG attempts, one missed and one made. There is a lot to like about this performance and it is a great place to start for the 2021 season, but the Argonauts will undoubtedly strive to be better week in and week out.

Final Thoughts and Players of the Game

Overall I was thrilled to see the effort in all four quarters for the Argos, not that I expected low effort, it is just hard to know what you’re going to get after nearly two years away from the field. Although technical difficulties took down the first quarter broadcast, the team played with the same energy for all three quarters that I saw. Never got too low, never got too high. This looked a lot like a team in the 6th week of the 2019 playoffs, not the 1st week of the long awaited 2021 season. Coach Pete Shinnick and Company clearly were not resting on their laurels during the layoff. A scary prospect for the remaining 10 teams on the schedule.

Up next is Southwest Baptist University out of Missouri. I think SBU will be another interesting defensive test for the Argonauts. They like to throw it around and have at least three capable Wide Receivers and a solid QB. I do expect the Argonauts to be quite a bit more dominant on the lines of scrimmage in this game, where the depth and talent of the Defensive Line should really make an impact on the outcome. I am hoping we continue to see some development in the running game this week, with Anthony Johnson Jr and Jervon Newton likely to play bigger roles than their 4 combined carries from this weekend. The Argos will also be playing their first ever game on campus, so that will be an interesting storyline to monitor.

Offensive Player of the Game: David Durden

Could have gone to Reed or the OL too, but ultimately Durden’s 2 TDs and over 170 yards of offense were the most impressive of the afternoon to me. His burst is going to be a big problem for D2 defenses this season, and his rapport with Reed is already excellent. If he isn’t the primary target any given week, it’ll probably mean teams are getting cooked by the other Wide Receivers because they doubled down on Durden.

Defensive Player of the Game: the Defensive Line

Hard to give this one to just one player because of the sheer number of defenders who contributed on Saturday, but the 10 man Defensive Line rotation really set the tone for the rest of the 2021 season. As I mentioned above they accounted for 3.5 sacks, including 2.0 in the 4th quarter, and 20 tackles. They also limited a pretty good McNeese running game for four quarters, allowing 151 yards (excluding sacks) but less than 4 yards per carry. The impressive thing was that it came evenly from the whole unit, with nobody recording more than 1.0 sack and all 10 recording at least 1 tackle.