The 1980 McNeese State Cowboys football team was an

American football American football (referred to simply as football in the United States and Canada), also known as gridiron, is a team sport played by two teams of eleven players on a rectangular field with goalposts at each end. The offense, the team with ...

team that represented

McNeese State University McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. ...

as a member of the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it pa ...

during the

1980 NCAA Division I-A football season The 1980 NCAA Division I-A football season saw a university from the state of Georgia take its first national title since 1942. Nine days following the bowl games to close the 1979 season, tragedy struck when new LSU coach Bo Rein died when the ...

. In its second season under head coach

Ernie Duplechin Ernie Duplechin (c. 1932 – December 24, 2020) was an American football coach and college athletics administrator. He served as the head football coach at the McNeese State University from 1979 to 1981, compiling a record of 28–6–1. Duplechi ...

, the team compiled an overall record of 10–2 record with a mark of 5–0 against conference opponents, won the Southland championship, and outscored opponents by a total of 318 to 154. The team played its home games in

Cowboy Stadium Cowboy Stadium is a 17,610-seat multi-purpose stadium in Lake Charles, Louisiana. It is home to the McNeese State Cowboys football team, and is affectionately referred to as "The Hole". It was transformed for the 2008 season to artificial turf ...

Lake Charles, Louisiana Lake Charles (French: ''Lac Charles'') is the fifth-largest incorporated city in the U.S. state of Louisiana, and the parish seat of Calcasieu Parish, located on Lake Charles, Prien Lake, and the Calcasieu River. Founded in 1861 in Calcasieu ...

. The team concluded an undefeated season against SLC opponents and clinched the conference championship with a 14–0 shutout victory over Southwestern Louisiana on November 22, 1980. After winning the conference championship, McNeese was invited to play in the

1980 Independence Bowl The 1980 Independence Bowl was a college football postseason bowl game between the McNeese State Cowboys and the Southern Miss Golden Eagles. Background Once again, the Cowboys were champions of the Southland Conference and were thus invited to ...

, losing to

Southern Miss The University of Southern Mississippi (Southern Miss or USM) is a public research university with its main campus located in Hattiesburg, Mississippi. It is accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools to award bachelor's, ma ...

by a 16–14 score. McNeese led by a 14–10 score late in the fourth quarter after Southern Miss recovered a fumble at the McNeese seven-yard line. McNeese kicker Don Stump also missed field goal attempts of 37 and 42 yards. The team's statistical leaders included sophomore quarterback Stephen Starring with 1,006 passing yards and 1,980 yards of total offense, Theron McClendon with 1,272 rushing yards, Mark Barousse with 308 receiving yards, and placekicker Don Stump with 62 points scored. Starring went on to play seven seasons, principally as a wide receiver, in the

National Football League The National Football League (NFL) is a professional American football league that consists of 32 teams, divided equally between the American Football Conference (AFC) and the National Football Conference (NFC). The NFL is one of the ...

. He was inducted into the McNeese State University Hall of Fame in 2000.

Schedule

References

{{Southland Conference football champions

McNeese State McNeese State University is a public university in Lake Charles, Louisiana. Founded in 1939 as Lake Charles Junior College, it was renamed McNeese Junior College after John McNeese, an early local educator. The present name was adopted in 1970. ...

McNeese State Cowboys football seasons Southland Conference football champion seasons

McNeese State Cowboys football The McNeese State Cowboys football program is the intercollegiate American football team for McNeese State University located in the U.S. state of Louisiana. The team competes in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) and ar ...