08/08/2026
Thoughts on 1st McNeese scrimmage:
OFFENSE: QBs didn’t blow me away, started slow but looked better towards the end. They did limit some of what they were doing today. Viator and Co know Strong and Lippold can run, so didn’t do any of that. Strong and Lippold both had nice TD passes, but also turned the ball over. Strong had best throw of the day for a TD to Senegal. RB’s were very impressive. This will be a team that should have an identity of running the football, and they certainly look to have the pieces to do that. Hutch Swilley and Omiri Wiggins were the most impressive, with some nice spurts from Citizen and Fabacher. OL had a few missed assignments, but they definitely have more numbers than the past few years, which is a major plus. That is a group that should be improved. Time will tell with the WRs, imo.
DEFENSE: Amyrion Mingo, RJ Slaten, and Sean Dubose were the two big pieces that caught my eye most of the day. Felt like they were all over the ball. Viator liked the aggressiveness early. They want to be able to rush the passer and should have different options, especially at DL to pick from.
From Viator on Scrimmage as a whole: “I think hopefully our team kind of sees where we are from a conditioning standpoint. We don’t play for three weeks, but we’re obviously not there. That’s number one. You tell them, and you tell them, and I think it’s a lot better if they kind of experience it. It was hot this morning, and toward the end there, I thought we weren’t as fresh as we were when we started. I thought defensively we started really fast in the beginning of the scrimmage. Then offensively in the next period, I thought we moved it really well and scored. Then third down, more defense, red zone, lockout right there at the end, and more offense. So it was kind of a little bit of give and go. But I think the main thing is the turnovers that I didn’t like. But we’ll see.”
They now have under three weeks until they kick it off against Stephen F Austin. Feels like this week will be a big week for them.
