LCU football season off to a historic start
Photo by Jacob Simonet
Practice, prayer and the Four Pillars. . . there’s no secret formula… just honoring God and being diligent in the process.
Head Coach Ben McLaughlin and his guys have definitely spent this week on a high after their history-making win against the NCAA Division I Northwestern State University Demons on Thursday, Aug. 27, in Natchitoches.
The Wildcats, who belong to the NAIA Sooner Athletic Conference, beat their Central Louisiana neighbors, 42-37. NAIA teams have only beaten NCAA Division I teams a handful of times in history.
LCU President Dr. Mark Johnson said the entire Wildcat Nation—students, faculty, staff, alumni, friends, and fans—and all of Central Louisiana have been so supportive and congratulatory.
‘The way this community has rallied around us has given our university an incredible boost,” he said. “We feel your support, and we do not take it for granted.”
He also recognized the incredible efforts of the coaching staff and all the players.
“Coach Ben McLaughlin and his entire coaching staff have invested countless hours developing our student-athletes not simply as football players, but as young men,” Johnson said.
But the Wildcats have not spent this week resting on their laurels. Not by any means.
“The schedule doesn’t get any easier,” McLaughlin said.
Next up are two big conference games.
“The first one is next Saturday at home vs. Langston, historically one of the most successful football programs in the conference, then followed up by the longest road trip of the year to Plainview, Texas to play Wayland Baptist University,” McLaughlin said. “Coach Hinojosa, the head coach of WBU, has built that program into one of the top football teams in the Sooner Athletic Conference.”
Then it’s another Division I team, Southern University in Baton Rouge.
The rest of the season is conference play, which includes two perennial Top 25 teams in Texas Wesleyan and Ottawa University of Arizona. And the Homecoming game will be played against LCU’s biggest rival from back when the school was NCAA Division III, East Texas Baptist University.
“There are no easy games on that schedule,” he said. “People may think we are crazy for playing not only one, but two DI programs in a year. But we feel the only way to get better as a team is by playing the best competition. “
So how do the Wildcats prepare for such an intense season?
McLaughlin said they prepare for every game with the same intensity and dedication.
“We believe that the best way to prepare to win football games is focusing on us and being the best version of ourselves,” he said. “We obviously watch film and prepare the guys for what team we are playing, but it’s more about us, how we play, and the standard we set for ourselves.”
To beat the harsh heat and humidity that is standard Louisiana summer, hours-long practices start as early as 5:15 a.m. The team is strong, McLaughlin said, with a rare 10 returning starters from last season.
Jonathan Moore-Leday, a junior psychology major from Lafayette, has played defensive end for three seasons. He said that while practices can be hard, they are necessary to be able to respond to uncomfortable situations that may arise during games.
However, Moore-Leday said the most important part of being on the team is the life lessons that Defensive Line Coach Eric Morris and the other coaches are able to impart.
“Morris is beyond a blessing because he doesn’t just teach us football but also life,” he said. “We as men are going to be put into situations that we didn’t ask for, but [it’s] how we respond for not only ourselves but also for our family that is depending on us. One of the team activities that means the most to me is when we have film and talks as a position group. Through those talks, we can see not only how we are doing on the field but also mentally off the field. Mental health really matters, and if we are not mentally healthy, football can only go so far.”
The team has set a goal this year, McLaughlin said, of winning—outright—the Sooner Athletic Conference.
“We have won a share of the conference championship twice,” he said. “We never have won it as the sole champion, which means winning every game in conference. But every time we talk about that lofty goal, I always end it with, you can’t go undefeated in conference without winning the first one. So, there is a constant, delicate balance we must walk when talking about the goals and dreams of this season, and the mindset we must have on a daily basis.”
That mindset includes the Four Pillars of LCU Wildcat Football: Christ-like, Blue-collar, Competitiveness and Gratefulness.
While it is not a prerequisite to be a Christian to attend LCU or play football for the university, the attributes of Christ are non-negotiable.
“We tell our recruits and parents all the time that to be a member of this team, you must be Christ-Like, and if they aren’t a Christian, just Google five characteristics of Jesus Christ,” McLaughlin said. “I don’t care what search engine or AI you use; whatever words come up are going to be characteristics that we demand everyone strive for.”
Win or lose on the field, it’s character and sportsmanship that people remember in the long term.
“Not everything is just about football,” said Omarius Davis, a junior business administration major from Largo, Florida, who is in his second year as a wide receiver for the Wildcats.
“I do believe this win [against Northwestern] gave us some confidence in the team,” Davis said. “We proved that we could play through adversity and play for one another while being the underdogs. We knew what the stakes were playing a DI program. I believe that win motivates us to prove that NAIA has DI athletes across the nation, and NAIA Football needs to be respected. It motivates us as we look to show everyone that it wasn’t a fluke, just winning that game, but to win every game we play this season.”
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Media Release | September 2, 2026 | Pineville, Louisiana
Contact: Dr. Elizabeth B. Clarke, Director of University Communications | Elizabeth.clarke@lcuniversity.edu