The McNeese Cowboys (1-9, 1-5) will wrap up the regular season with a short trip to Beaumont, Texas on Saturday to take on rival Lamar Cardinals (5-5, 4-2).
The annual “Battle of the Border” rivalry game has seen the winner of the trophy change hands in the last five matchups.
Kick-off inside Provost Umphrey Stadium is set for 3 p.m.
DAVEY DOMINATES
McNeese redshirt sophomore linebacker Micah Davey has been a bright spot for the team. Davey leads the Cowboys and the Southland Conference with 132 total tackles on the season, averaging 14.7 per game. He recorded a career-high 20 tackles last week against HCU, becoming just the third player and fourth time 20 tackles we made in a game in school history. The son of former LSU standout quarterback Rohan Davey has recorded 10 or more tackles in all nine games on the season and 12 times in his career. Davey’s 132 tackles this season is tied with Terry Irving (1991) for eighth most in a season in Cowboys history. Davey can further climb up the leaderboard as he is one tackle behind Davin Babineaux (1988) and Vance Robichaux (1985) for seventh-most in a single season. He is only five tackles behind Charles Ayro (1998) for the sixth-most in a single season. Also, if Davey records 18 total tackles on Saturday, he would become the seventh player in program history to record 150 tackles in a season.
MAKING THE WRONG HISTORY
In its long history, the McNeese football program has plenty of proud history as the Cowboys have 16 FCS playoff appearances, 14 Southland Conference championships and have played in two national title games. So having subpar seasons is not common place which makes this year’s 1-9 overall record even more disappointing. The lone win was due to a forfeit after Northwestern State canceled its season. A win on Saturday would help this year’s McNeese team avoid becoming the first team in program history to not win a game on the field. The only other team to win only one game was the program’s first season in 1940 when the team went 1-4 overall. The program did not field a team in the four years after that first season due to World War II.
SECOND START FOR SIXKILLER
Kamden Sixkiller looked good in his first start of the season in last week’s 35-24 loss to Houston Christian University. The 6-foot-4, 187-pound true freshman completed 19-of-34 passes for 249 yards with one touchdown — a 39-yard pass to Cory O’Bryant — and one interception which was a 53-yard pick-six in the first quarter. Sixkiller also added 18 rushing yards on seven carries. The 249 passing yards were the most by a Cowboy quarterback in a single game this season. In two games this season, Sixkiller has completed 28-of-53 passes for 379 yards with two touchdowns and two interceptions.
SERIES RECORD: McNeese leads series 28-11-1
Last Five:
2022: MCNEESE 24 – LAMAR 20
2021: LAMAR 27 – MCNEESE 26-OT
2019: MCNEESE 27 – LAMAR 3
2018: LAMAR 21 – MCNEESE 17
2017: MCNEESE 13 – LAMAR 3
STAT LEADERS
McNeese
Nate Glantz: 71-of-144, 861 yards, 3 TD, 5 INT
D’Angelo Durham: 102 carries, 484 yards, 4 TD
Jon McCall: 29 receptions, 477 yards, 5 TD
Micah Davey: 132 tackles (76 solo), 5.5 TFL, 2 Sacks
Garrison Smith: 8-of-10, Long of 50
Lamar
Robert Coleman: 144-of-238, 1,824 yards, 13 TD, 1 INT
Khalan Griffin: 155 carries, 700 yards, 4 TD
Andre Dennis: 34 receptions, 456 yards, 2 TD
Josh Ofill: 69 tackles (33 solo), 2.0 TFL, INT
Chris Esqueda: 5-of-9, Long of 43