(Rick Hickman / Special to the American Press)
(Rick Hickman / Special to the American Press)
Hickey: Buzz around McNeese football unimaginably high
Last Modified: Sunday, August 12, 2012 9:31 PM
By Alex Hickey / American Press
With his brand-new No. 7 jersey looking sharp, McNeese State’s most exciting playmaker sat at attention for the team picture Sunday afternoon. If the Cowboys are to compete for a Southland Conference championship this season, this New Orleans-bred FBS transfer is going to be a big reason why.
After a few clicks of the camera shutter, Darius Carey stood up.
What, you thought this story was about someone else?
OK, so the Honey Badger buzz was still strong at McNeese’s media day, carrying over like a tidal wave from his Friday night visit after getting booted from LSU’s team earlier that day.
He’s not here yet, though. Might not get here at all. We’ll probably know one way or the other very soon — heck, could be by the time you’re even reading this sentence — but that decision is up to him at this point.
Either way, the buzz around McNeese football right now is unimaginably high, and the players know it. It’s not as if the McNeese name is typically one thrown around on SportsCenter.
“It’s good to get the fans excited for attendance purposes and things like that,” said quarterback Cody Stroud. “But once we get in the fieldhouse we’ve got to block all that stuff out. But off the field, I think it’s good to get people motivated and excited about the upcoming season.”
That buzz will obviously lessen some if Tyrann Mathieu doesn’t end up in a McNeese uniform this year. That’s just reality. But if he does decide to take his talents elsewhere, the Cowboy bandwagon needn’t be abandoned en masse.
Which brings us back to Carey.
Should there be no Honey Badger in the lineup, he’s going to be McNeese’s main big-play threat.
He proved that much last season after transferring in from North Texas and earning FCS all-American honors as a returner. He also jump-started the Cowboy offense in their season-ending three-game winning streak running the wildcat. Carey finished the year as McNeese’s No. 3 rusher in addition to being the top receiver and returner.
It truly was a show of impressive athleticism considering that coach Matt Viator threw the offense together in the middle of the season. Now Carey has had a full spring and fall camp to truly perfect it.
“The speed with the running backs, picking up reads as the wildcat quarterback (are both improved). It’s a big asset to our offense,” Carey said. “It adds a lot for the defense to adjust and to study us, not to focus on just one player but our skill positions as a whole.”
As recently as last week, the fact Carey switched his number from 16 to 7 this offseason was barely worth noting. It’s a little more noticeable now that people on Twitter are joking that whatever guy is wearing it now will soon have to give it up.
Carey didn’t elaborate exactly what made the number important to him, saying it was a personal thing.
“When I came in, 16 was the only available number. For my senior year, I wanted a single-digit number,” Carey said. “It’s an important number because God created the Earth in 7 days. But there’s also more to it that I’d like to keep personal.”
No matter what transpires this week, you can rest assured of one thing. No. 7 will be worth watching this season.
Alex Hickey covers McNeese sports. Email him at ahickey@americanpress.com
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