LAKE CHARLES – McNeese head coach Lance Guidry has named Arkansas State transfer and New Orleans native James Tabary as the starting quarterback for the September 3 season opener at home against Tarleton State.
 
Tabary out-dueled junior Grant Ashcraft for the starting spot in a hotly contested battle that had the coaches weighing the pros and cons through Monday evening on naming a starter. Ashcraft will run a series or two in the first game. Junior Joe Lissard will be the No. 3 quarterback.
 
"Monday night we called all the quarterbacks in as a group and we discussed with them what I decision was going to be," said Guidry. "After we told them what the decision was, the told each one of them what their role will be as being the second, third or fourth-team guy, and we gave reasons why.
 
"I thought it went really well (when meeting with the QBs). Not everybody can be a starter. It's just like every other position but that position is looked at a lot differently.
 
"It was close. Me and (offensive coordinator) coach (Landon) Hoefer talked about the quarterback position in depth. We leaned on some offensive assistants as well and I talked to the defense (coaches) and asked what they thought and wanted their opinion. All of us were hitting on the same thing."
 
Guidry said Tabary's ability to make the throws and cleaner play along with the ability to get out of tight situations with his quick release was one of the factors in naming him the starter.
 
"He can make the long throws, the intermediate throws. He can throw the touch passes and can throw what I call face throws which is in front of him moving up in the pocket. And of course he can throw out to the side which are the comebacks, back shoulders and fades."
 
The Holy Cross product and New Orleans native shined in the final scrimmage of fall camp, especially in the 2-minute drill where he marched the offense 63 yards in 1:40 on 4 of 6 completions culminating with a 25-yard on-the-mark touchdown toss to Kansas transfer wide out Darious Crawley.
 
"James has only had 16 practices to work with this offense," said Guidry. "The other QBs had all spring. We thought that with him only having 16 practices under his belt, he's only going to get better.
 
"Another thing that caught my eye about him is that he's very, very competitive. He's an emotional type player and I think that with his emotions he makes other people around him better."
 
Guidry also stated that he and the other coaches do have confidence in Ashcraft and Lissard and both have to be ready to go in a moment's time.
 
"We think that they can come in and play as well. We just thought that James is a little bit ahead of them in some different areas."
 
 
Also on Wednesday, Guidry gave an update on junior all-America defensive lineman Isaiah Golden who returned to practice on Tuesday.
 
"Yesterday (Tuesday) was his first day back, getting acclimated," said Guidry. "He's about 30 pounds lighter at 305. Hopefully we can get him back up to 320. I think that's a good playing weight for Isaiah. He moved really well. Probably better than he ever has since he's been here."
 
Guidry said Golden could be in pads as early as Thursday.
 
Some bad news was handed down from Guidry as well. Junior wide receiver Tavarious Battiste and junior defensive back Dominique Hill have been suspended indefinitely for a violation of team rules and policies stemming from an incident that happened at the end of the 2015 season.