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ULM Notebook: “Big Play” McCray, a Motivated Defense & a Shot at Bowl Eligibility

ULM Notebook: “Big Play” McCray, a Motivated Defense & a Shot at Bowl Eligibility

Football Nov 24
By Paul Letlow, ULMWarhawks.com Online Columnist
 
Just call him "Big Play" Markis McCray.
 
Playing his final home game at Malone Stadium, ULM's senior wide receiver enjoyed the first 100-yard game of his career while setting a record for the longest catch in school history, a 98-yard touchdown pass from Caleb Evans.
 
"I've always thought he was the fastest guy on our team," ULM coach Matt Viator said. "Even faster than Marcus Green, when he just runs. That's really the first time he's actually got loose like that and caught it. I was excited when he caught it. But when he caught it, I kind of knew it was over."
    
The previous record was Wendal Lowrey's 96-yard TD pass to Vincent Brisby at Stephen F. Austin in 1991.
 
The record-breaker came in the first quarter on the first play after a Coastal Carolina punt pinned the Warhawks back at their own 2. McCray believed he had a chance to deliver a home-run catch and challenged Evans to find him deep.
  
"The past two weeks, they'd been cutting me free on that one," said McCray, who made three catches for 114 yards and the score. "I was like, 'Caleb, just watch. It's going to be open this time.' He threw it up there."
 
Evans said that McCray alerted him that the CCU safety was being aggressive and he was just going to go. "If you trust me," McCray told Evans, "just throw it out there."
 
Sure enough, Evans spotted McCray streaking up the field along the sideline and connected over the top to give ULM a 14-7 lead in an eventual 45-42 victory.
  
"The safety came down and I gave him a ball he could catch," Evans said. "I knew when he caught it, nobody would catch him."
 
McCray leads the Warhawks with 43 catches for 546 yards and is second with six receiving touchdowns.
 
Do it for Donald: ULM's defense found added motivation after senior Donald Louis Jr. was ejected for targeting in the fourth quarter. The offending hit came against the quarterback on an option play that saw running back CJ Marable score on a 75-yard run to give CCU a 42-38 lead with 7:30 left in the game.
     
"They ejected the person I consider my brother, Donald Louis," defensive tackle Larance Shaw said. "I think that juiced everybody up on the defensive line. We got back there and closed this game out for him."
 
ULM's offense regained the lead at 45-42 with a rapid-fire three-play, 75-yard drive and turned the game back over to the defense.
 
"The offense kept putting points on the board," defensive lineman Ty Shelby said. "We just had to dig deep and make a stop for them. Our coaches just kept telling us to keep believing and keep playing. We were able to take one away today."
 
CCU's next series was a three-and-out as Shelby and Kerry Starks teamed up for a sack on third-and-4 from the Chanticleers' 31.
 
"At the end of the game, we kind of turned them into a one-back, spread throwing offense, which they're really not," Viator said. "We were able to get some pressure, once you take out the option and all the other stuff they do."
 
The next defensive series was pivotal as CCU intercepted Evans and took over again at their own 24. Shaw and Starks sacked quarterback Fred Payton on first down for a loss of 3, then Ivin White Jr. recovered a third-down fumble by Payton at the 15 with 2:11 remaining. ULM's offense closed out the game in the victory formation.
    
"Coach (Mike) Collins had some good calls at the end, and we were able to pull together," Shelby said. "We're going to enjoy this one tonight and then tomorrow get to work on Lafayette, and hopefully get bowl eligible."
 
About next week: Next Saturday's regular-season finale at the Ragin' Cajuns will be televised nationally by ESPNU, with kickoff set for 6:30 p.m. CT.
 
Louisiana-Lafayette (9-2, 6-1) clinched the Sun Belt Conference West title on Saturday with a 53-3 win over Troy.
 
At stake for ULM (5-6, 4-3) is bowl eligibility, attainable with a sixth win this season.
 
"It feels good," Evans said. "It wasn't pretty, but the goals are still there. That's what I keep reiterating to the team. Just because it's not pretty doesn't mean we don't get the bowl game. It feels good going down there for the last game."
 
Tail feathers: Evans has become just the second quarterback in program history to eclipse 9,000 career passing yards (9,180) and 11,000 yards total offense (11,271). Kolton Browning tops the charts with 10,263 passing yards and 11,808 total yards from 2010-13. … With an interception and a fumble recovery, ULM's defense recorded multiple takeaways for the seventh game this season. … Josh Johnson has run for 1,189 yards this season, the fifth-highest total in school history. With 129 yards vs. CCU, he moved past Frank Goodin (1,126 in 2009). Calvin Dawson is No. 4 with 1,210 yards in 2006. The remaining single-season leaders are No. 3 Jimmy Edwards (1,328; 1972), No. 2 Calvin Dawson (1,414; 2007) and No. 1 Irving Spikes (1,563; 1993).  … Senior offensive lineman Eastwood Thomas extended his team-leading consecutive starts streak to 41 games. 
 
 
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