If a team finishes the first quarter of its season and it is not readily evident who that team’s best player is, there are two possible outcomes: that team is either really, really bad or really, really deep.

McNeese has the good fortune of being in the latter of the two categories. No Cowboy player has earned conference player of the week honors since the season opener at Nebraska despite the fact McNeese has unquestionably played the best of any team in the Southland in the season’s first month. 

That trend is likely to continue when the league announces this week’s award winners today. But that isn’t a bad thing. It’s a lot tougher to beat a team when there is no specific focal point of strength.

Quarterback Daniel Sams is the team’s leading rusher despite not playing full-time. Quarterback Tyler Bolfing is the team’s leading passer despite not playing full-time. Ryan Ross, ostensibly McNeese’s fourth-string tailback, is first among the team’s running backs with an 80 yards per game despite the fact he’s yet to get the ball in the first half.

“It’s fun. It’s different,” said coach Matt Viator. “I feel we have guys competing against each other every day at practice. Especially at positions like running back and quarterback. That’s great for practice. I don’t know anyone on our offense that’s comfortable besides (left tackle) Antoine Everett. The kids have handled it well. It’s made us competitive every week in practice and hopefully that bodes well as we go on.”

Defensively, a new playmaker seems to step up each week, though some in that cast are becoming more recurring characters than others.

Safety Aaron Sam may or may not be the most talented Cowboy defensive player. After all, he is the one guy to actually snag a player of the week honor this season.

That Sam is the most important player for McNeese’s defense is a less debatable item. He seems to be the source of the Cowboys’ fire.

“We feel like we’re supposed to be winning and we’re supposed to be where we’re at,” Sam said. “Last year we were kind of shocked when we were in the Top 10 of the nation — ‘Are we really that good?’ This year we feel like we’re No. 4 in the nation (right now) and we’re going to show you.

“Everyone has the Jacksonville State game, the Southeastern game where we lost conference at home, on our shoulders.”

Two freshmen, Dominique Hill and Jermaine Antoine, have played major parts in McNeese’s defensive success, and both have cited Sam as someone they’ve looked to for leadership since training camp.

The collaborative nature of this team has been an asset thus far. It kept Nebraska off-balance, and the three games since have been such walkovers that it’s inevitable for everyone to chip in. But at some point, perhaps as soon as this Saturday at Sam Houston State, the Cowboys will be challenged.

Someone will have to live up to the old John Madden cliche — no, not the one about a turducken being a turkey, chicken and a duck — “big-time players have to step up and make big-time plays.”

It will be interesting to see who that player is. The good news for McNeese is there does not appear to be a shortage of qualified candidates.

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Alex Hickey covers McNeese sports. Email him at ahickey@americanpress.com(Rick Hickman/American Press)

Rick Hickman