Week 4 Game Notes

RUSSELLVILLE, Ark. — The Arkansas Tech Wonder Boys football team (2-1) will take to the gridiron this weekend for the lone non-conference game on the 2014 schedule, traveling south to Lake Charles, La. to face the McNeese Cowboys (1-1), currently ranked as the No. 6 team in the Division I Football Championship Subdivision. Kickoff from Louis Bonnette Field at Cowboy Stadium is set for 6 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 27.

The game is the final non-conference game for the Wonder Boys in the 2014 campaign, and will be the final regular-season non-conference contest in the foreseeable future for Arkansas Tech. Beginning in the 2015 season with the addition of Oklahoma Baptist to the Great American Conference schedule, all GAC teams will play a full slate of conference games.

For the Wonder Boys, who are coming off a 34-14 win over Southern Nazarene, the nonconference matchup marks the second consecutive year that Arkansas Tech squares off against a Southland Conference team from the state of Louisiana, as the Wonder Boys were edged by Nicholls 44-34 on Sept. 28 of last season.

The Colonels were just two weeks removed from a 27-23 win over a Division I Football Bowl Subdivision Western Michigan team that had held its own with a Rose Bowl-bound Michigan State squad. And similarly, the Cowboys opened the season with an incredibly impressive performance in a 31-24 loss to the 19^th-ranked team in Division I's FBS, the Nebraska Cornhuskers.

However, Wonder Boys head coach Raymond Monica knows that the challenge his team faces this Saturday is vastly different from the challenges his team faced against Nicholls.

"The thing about it - last year, Nicholls beat Western Michigan, and they had played Michigan State very well," said Monica. "And Michigan State went to the Rose Bowl. But when you watch game with McNeese and Nebraska, you know what type of team McNeese has. And they had a great chance to beat Nebraska. It tells you the kind of talent they've got."

Indeed, McNeese has one of the most talented programs in FCS today, as their record indicates. Fresh off a 10-3 record, a playoff appearance, and a second-place finish in the Southland Conference, the Cowboys have continued their momentum in the 2014 campaign. In addition to the Cowboys' narrow loss to Nebraska, McNeese has an impressive 48-16 win over Prairie View A&M in its most recent contest.

The two teams have met only once before, back in the 1997 season, when McNeese topped Arkansas Tech 55-7 en route to a Southland Conference title and a national runner-up finish. In fact, the Cowboys are hoping that history has a way of repeating itself as both times that the program faced either Tech (1997) or Nebraska (2002), the Cowboys have won the Southland championship and played for a national title.

For the Wonder Boys, the hope is that the series history does not repeat itself, but rather, that the Wonder Boys' stifling defensive performance of one week ago does.

Arkansas Tech held Southern Nazarene to just 144 yards of total offense and forced seven turnovers in the Wonder Boys' win over the Crimson Storm. For Monica, the defensive gameplan was a standard one.

"We tried to do what we do defensively," said Monica. "We knew going in they would try the playaction pass and try to get some big plays on us. I thought our kids did a good job on not getting their eyes in the backfield and getting fooled on the run. But when you get seven turnovers, that changes the outcome too. I'm trying to think of the last time I had a team get several turnovers, and it's been a real long time. We also had the big interception return and kickoff return for touchdowns, and that was 14 points right there."

The kickoff return, a 94-yard effort to open the second half by Pottsville native Michael Perry, helped land the freshman Great American Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors. Perry's emergence as an impact player has been a great boost to the Wonder Boys.

"(Perry) returned the kickoff for the touchdown, and any time he touches the ball on the punt return you feel like he has the chance to make a big play," said Monica. "We saw that in the first game. He had a really nice interception at Southwestern Oklahoma. He has a knack to find the football, does a good job tackling, and I think he'll be a good player for four years and he'll only get better."

Indeed, the Wonder Boys' defensive effort was a group effort. Logan Genz had ten tackles, and returned an interception 46 yards for a score. Shai Kobayashi had a pair of interceptions, and both Trevon Gooden and Alonzo Joyner added another. Senior Justin Martin set up residence in the Crimson Storm's backfield, forcing one fumble and notching three quarterback hurries, while Wesley McKinney had 2.5 sacks in the Tech win.

Where Monica hopes to see the most improvement from week to week is on the offensive side of the ball. Tech had two turnovers (one interception and one fumble) and just one drive of over four minutes against the Crimson Storm. While those numbers are undoubtedly skewed by the fact that the Wonder Boys' average drive started on their own 46-yard line, they remain a point of emphasis for this team.

"The biggest thing I see is we have to improve in not turning the football over," said Monica. "I'm very concerned about that. We have to protect the football in a game like this weekend. We have to run the ball, run the clock, and protect the ball."

The play-by-play of Saturday's contest will be carried live on 100.9-FM (KWKK) in Russellville. Live stats, audio, and video can be accessed at www.arkansastechsports.com.