Cards record 2-straight winning seasons for first time since 1967
After beating rival school McNeese State on the road, 26-24, Nov. 23, the Lamar University football team has capped off their second-straight winning season. Lamar ended the season 7-5 overall and 4-3 in Southland Conference play, where they finished in 3rd place.
Last season the Cardinals ended 6-5 overall and 5-2 in SLC play, also finishing in 3rd place.
Despite playing an extra game this season, the Cards lost one more game than last season in SLC play, but won an extra game overall.
Earlier in the season, Lamar beat 20th-ranked Weber State which saw the Cards ranked No. 22 in the STATS Perform Top 25 poll.
“We had some real highs, obviously, where we beat a ranked team and we were ranked in the top 25 for three weeks,” head coach Pete Rossomando said. “That’s something that’s never happened around here, and I think that’s something that we can look back on as an accomplishment.
“But I think, more importantly, each week we went out with the preparation to win the game and we practiced well. I think our guys were physically tough as far as getting out there and practicing and giving everything they had each and every week, and that was really our goal.”
When Rossomando first arrived at Lamar, the Cardinals had only won a total of five games in three years. The last time Lamar had back-to-back winning seasons was 1966-1967.
Now, the Cardinals have established a winning culture and Rossomando said they are intent on not allowing anymore losing seasons.
“We went out last year and had our first winning season in a while,” Rossomando said. “I think the expectations grew as far as what people expected from our football team, and I think that’s great. I told our seniors last week that they’ve changed the narrative of Lamar football. It’s not, “How many games are they going to lose?” It’s, “Hey man, can we win a championship?”
Lamar played away at rival school McNeese State for the last game of the season. The Cardinals got off to a 17-0 lead midway through the first half but McNeese managed to catch up in the final quarter. The Cowboys squeezed in two touchdowns to take the late lead making the game 24-20.
The Cardinals kept fighting until LU quarterback Jakolby Longino completed a 20-yard pass to receiver Kyndon Fuselier on the final play of the game to win the second-straight “Battle of the Border.”
Lamar finished with 404 yards of total offense including 247 on the ground.
Following the thrilling victory against McNeese, eight Cardinals were named to the 2024 All-Southland Conference second teams.
The Cardinals receiving honors were running back Khalan Griffin, tight end Devyn Gibbs, wide receiver Kyndon Fuselier and offensive linemen Elias Ripley, Jevale Roberson and Kortez Winslow on offense. Defensive lineman Caleb Williams and defensive back Kristian Pugh were honored on the other side of the ball.
Since Rossomando’s arrival, the Cardinals have had 15 all-conference selections with one more Cardinal being named this season compared to last. Four Cardinals repeated their selections with Griffin, Ripley, Roberson and Williams winning back-to-back awards.
Although the Cardinals accomplished many things this season, Coach Rossomando said he is not satisfied as the main goal is to win a SLC championship.
“That’s always the main goal,” he said. “You want to win a conference championship and have a chance to play in the postseason. I think if we’d still won a couple of those games, we would have had a chance in the postseason.”
Despite not winning a conference championship, Rossomando said the Cardinals have learned a lot of things from the season.
“Number one, you just can’t take anything for granted,” he said. “I think you gotta come out each and every week and you gotta play your best game. We played against Texas State, Mississippi Valley and Texas Southern, and I thought we didn’t play our best football in those games.
“I think a lot of that has to do with maybe some complacency and trying to feel like you’ve arrived rather than continuing to work on your journey. If I were to say what our players and our team learned the most, it is that there’s no complacency — you can’t have complacency in your program.”
Now LU sets its eyes on recruitment and making the team better during the offseason, just as they have been in the last two years. Rossomando said it’s about giving Lamar football fans what they’ve always wanted — a winning culture.
“I just want to say that we appreciate our fans, our students,” he said. “They really came out this year ,more so than they ever have before. Continue to set the expectations high. They should want a great product on the field each and every week that they can come cheer for and feel really proud of.
“So we want to make sure that we continue to enhance the experience for our fans and our students that keep coming out to games, and getting all the things they want, which is wins.”
