17th-ranked Cowboys defeat UNC 17-14 in opener

GREELEY, Colorado – McNeese produced all the offense it needed with 17 first half points then the Defense With Attitude took over and came up with some game-changing stops as the 17th-ranked Cowboys held on to beat Northern Colorado, 17-14, here Saturday afternoon.

McNeese (1-0) scored all 17 of its points in the first half while putting up 202 of its 322 total yards in the first two quarters. UNC (0-1) was just the opposite as the Bears were held to 123 first half yards and 301 for the game.

“It was a tale of two halves,” said fourth-year McNeese head coach Lance Guidry. “A win’s a win. Anytime you can get a win traveling like we did, it’s always good. There are some things we can take from it and have a lot of corrections to make as well.”

The defense was suffocating for most of the game, minus a couple of big plays by the Bears, but for the most part, the DWA was in prime form.

“We put a lot of pride into our defense,” said linebacker B.J. Blunt who finished the day with two sacks, two pass break ups and eight tackles, six of those solos.

Blunt’s second sack of the game occurred on UNC’s ensuing possession after cutting the margin to 17-14 and the Bears threatening in McNeese territory. That sack backed the Bears to their own 45 and two plays later, Jovon Burris intercepted a Jacob Knipp pass to pretty much sealed the game.

Sophomore defensive lineman Cody Roscoe recorded 2.5 of the Cowboys’ six sacks on the day while Gabe Foster posted his first career pick-six when he intercepted a Knipp pass with 4:39 to play in the second quarter and returned it 49 yards to put the Cowboys up 17-0.

Offensively, quarterback James Tabery completed 15 of 23 passes for 206 yards and an interception. He was 9 for 11 for 109 yards in the first half, including a perfect 5 for 5 for 60 yards in the second quarter alone.

Tabary orchestrated the opening drive for the Cowboys that ended with a 2-yard touchdown run by Justin Pratt with 5:33 to play in the first quarter.

The Cowboys converted two third downs in the 11-play drive, including on a third-and-10 when Tabary found Parker Orgeron for a 27-yard gain to get the ball to the UNC 27.

Four rushing and a passing play later, McNeese took a 7-0 lead, scoring on its opening possession of the game.

But before that, the defense put up a huge stop after the Bears took the opening kickoff and eventually drove to the McNeese 23. A Roscoe sack and Marval Bourgeois tackle for loss backed the ball up where a 51-yard field goal attempt by the Bears fell short.

The Cowboys made it a 10-0 game following a 27-yard field goal by Gunnar Raborn with 22 seconds to play in the first quarter. But a touchdown was in range as McNeese drove to the UNC 11 but was unable to get in the end zone.

McNeese carried a 17-0 lead into the fourth quarter when the Bears got on the board on a 27-yard touchdown pass by Knipp to Patrick Stephens to make it 17-7.

Two plays later, the lead was cut to 17-14 after a Tabary pass was intercepted by Michael Walker and returned 53 yards for the score with still 5:36 left on the clock.

UNC had one last shot when taking the ball back over at its own 17-yard line with 37 seconds to play. Roscoe’s second full sack of the game came on a second down play that backed up the chains to the 12-yard line and the next two plays were incomplete passes by Knipp, the first being knocked away by Blunt.

Pratt led the Cowboys in rushing with 63 yards on 14 carries and a touchdown as the Cowboys ran for 106 yards on 40 carries.

Orgeron and Cyron Sutton each caught four passes in the game with Orgeron leading the way with 77 receiving yards. He also reeled in a highlight catch that saw him extend horizontally to bring in the ball on the sideline.

Knipp, one of the top NFL quarterback prospects in the FCS, completed 19 of 35 passes for 261 yards, a touchdown and two interceptions.

McNeese’s defense, which ranked No. 1 in the FCS in rushing and third-down defense, held the Bears to 40 yards on the ground (1.5 yards per carry average) and 3 of 15 on third downs.