The McNeese Cowboys had the week off after falling to 0-6 on the season with a 41-10 loss to Texas A&M Commerce. This has become the worst start to a season program history and it doesn’t get any easier this Saturday as the Cowboys will host the No. 5-ranked Incarnate Word Cardinals.
UIW is at the top of the Southland Conference as they have a 5-1 record and are 2-0 in conference play. The only team worse than McNeese in the conference has been Southeastern with an 0-7 record.
Kickoff from Cowboys Stadium on Saturday will be at 7:00 p.m.
OFFENSIVE STRUGGLES
McNeese coach Gray Goff and the Cowboys need something they can use to build on and salvage this season. Quarterback Nate Glantz has severely underperformed as he’s thrown more interceptions than touchdowns and has a sub-50 completion percentage.
We’ve seen this team have leads such as when they were up 28-7 in the second quarter against Eastern Illinois and when they were up multiple times versus Tarleton State. The offensive production however hasn’t been there consistently to give the Cowboys a chance to win a game.
The Cardinals however have ripped off five straight wins after losing week one to UTEP 28-14. In those five games, Word’s lowest point total was 27 when they defeated Abilene Chrisitan and totaled over 500 yards of offense in a week three matchup.
POWER OF A BYE WEEK
Goff was given an extra week to prepare his team for this matchup and to have his players heal. He’s had two weeks to gameplan and prevent the Cardinals’ offense from doing what they’ve done a majority of the season.
Goff has said he’s decided to change up his approach when it came to coaching his players the last two weeks and a couple of other things the team was doing.
This McNeese team is still young and has been trying to get used to playing with one another as well as figuring out the right amount of playing time for players. This time off has also been good for this Cowboys team to reset and work on things that they haven’t been good at thus far this season.
RECENT DOMINANCE
The Cardinals of Incarnate Word have made their presence known over the last couple of years. Their quarterback Zach Calzada has led this team to a 5-1 record and then last year finished with a 12-2 record with Lindsey Scott Jr. as their starter.
In head-to-head matchups with McNeese, Incarnate Word has had a lot of success with all of their wins over the Cowboys being blowouts. The last win for McNeese was in 2021 when they dominated in the first half, going up 21-0 at the 4:04 mark of the second quarter.
If the Cowboys are to get their first win of the season and even up this series, Glantz will have to become more of a factor in the game. He needs to have a more efficient game and get more guys involved on offense. Then, on defense, someone outside of Micah Davey needs to step up and make plays. The team only has six sacks and three interceptions on the season and no one has more than one in either statistic.
SERIES RECORD: McNeese lead 5-4
Last 5 Meetings
2022: INCARNATE WORD 48 – MCNEESE 20
2021: MCNEESE 28 – INCARNATE WORD 20
2021: INCARNATE WORD 31 – MCNEESE 0
2020: INCARNATE WORD 48 – MCNEESE 20
2018: INCARNATE WORD 45 – MCNEESE 17
STAT LEADERS
McNeese
Nate Glantz: 71-144, 861 yards, 3 TD, 5 INT
D’Angleo Durham: 74 carries, 370 yards, 2 TD
Jon McCall: 18 catches, 277 yards, 3 TD
Micah Davey: 79 tackles (44 solo)
Garrison Smith: 5-of-7 field goals, Long of 50
Incarnate Word
Zach Calzada: 131-197, 1797 yards, 11 TD, 7 INT
Jarell Wiley: 62 carries, 298 yards, 2 TD
Brandon Porter: 36 catches, 639 yards, 3 TD
Tylan Foster: 49 tackles (solo)
Mason Lawler: 3-of-4 field goals, Long of 43