The McNeese Cowboys (2-2) will stay home in Lake Charles to face the Alcorn State Braves (1-2) on Saturday night inside Cowboy Stadium. The matchup is the final non-conference home game for McNeese and final home game until early November when they welcome Texas A&M Commerce to town.
The Cowboys are coming off of a crazy victory to open Southland Conference play last week. They defeated Stephen F. Austin 28-24 after a comeback from 10 points down in the fourth quarter.
Kickoff inside “The Hole” is set for 7:00 PM as the Cowboys look to put together back-to-back wins for the first time this season. The game will be televised on ESPN+.
WILD OCCURENCES
McNeese pulled off a wild win against Stephen F. Austin a week ago. They completed a 54-yard Hail Mary attempt on the last play of the first half to score their first points of the game. Then, they came back from down 10 points within the fourth quarter.
A last-minute touchdown drive from the Cowboy offense lifted them to the 28-24 win. Do they have an encore performance left after that one?
OFFENSIVE PROGRESSION
Clifton McDowell and the Cowboy offense are starting to come together. He missed time as a result of injury and did not play against Texas A&M. Then, a sluggish first half hurt them against the Lumberjacks.
However, a second half with three touchdown drives showed some real progress on that side. McDowell accounted for two huge rushing touchdowns in the fourth quarter. This week is a chance for the Cowboy offense to show more consistency throughout the contest.
OPPOSITES ATTRACT
McNeese has found themselves in a couple of close games already. A three-point loss to Tarleton State and a four-point win over Stephen F. Austin account for half of their results so far.
On the contrary, Alcorn State has played in three blowouts, winning one of them. They have not had a game finish within 31 points through their three contests.
This game is expected to be much closer, so we will see how Alcorn State handles playing in a more competitive environment.
SERIES RECORD: McNeese leads 4-2
Last Five
2023: McNeese 3 – Alcorn State 17
2022: McNeese 19 – Alcorn State 30
2019: McNeese 17 – Alcorn State 14
2017: McNeese 34 – Alcorn State 27
2001: McNeese 54 – Alcorn State 14
STAT LEADERS
McNeese
Clifton McDowell: 33-of-53, 586 yards, 4 TD, 1 INT
Clifton McDowell: 43 carries, 167 yards, 4 TD
Jer’Michael Carter: 12 receptions, 142 yards, 0 TD
Masey Lewis: 2 sacks
Micah Davey: 39 tackles (15 solo)
Tyler Larco: 2-of-5 field goals, Long of 36
Alcorn State
Xzavier Vaughn: 28-of-47, 300 yards, 0 TD, 0 INT
Xzavier Vaughn: 25 carries, 128 yards, 4 TD
Tyran Warren: 4 receptions, 97 yards, 0 TD
Brendon Gibson & Stemarion Edwards: 1 sack
Edwin Summerour: 11 tackles (10 solo)
Noah Kiani: 2-of-2 field goals, Long of 30