Cowboys host Cardinals for Homecoming in Southland action on Saturday

LAKE CHARLES – McNeese will look at getting a win streak going on Saturday when it hosts Incarnate Word at noon in Cowboy Stadium for Homecoming.

The Cowboys (2-4, 1-2 SLC) are coming off a 35-17 win over Northwestern State last weekend in Natchitoches while UIW (5-1, 3-0) rallied to beat Nicholls 38-21. The Cardinals, who defeated the Cowboys 31-0 a month ago in San Antonio, will enter the game ranked No. 16 in this week’s Stats Perform poll.

The game will air live on ESPN3. Fans are reminded that one lucky Cowboy fan will walk away with $5,000 at the game courtesy of Ryan Navarre and The Navarre Auto Group.

77th HOMECOMING GAME
• McNeese returns home on Saturday when it hosts 16th-ranked Incarnate Word in the second match-up of the season.
• The Cowboys have won 199 all-time Southland Conference games and will be looking to become the first team in league history to record 200 conference victories.
• Saturday’s game will be the 77th Homecoming contest for the Cowboys in school history, having posted a 56-19-1 overall record.
• McNeese has won eight straight Homecoming games with the last loss coming in the 2011 season. There was no Homecoming game this past spring.
• The Cowboys have hosted the Cardinals once for Homecoming, that coming in 2017 with McNeese posting a 55-7 win.
• Saturday will mark the first time as a four-year school the Cowboys will play an opponent for the second time in a regular season.
• Five times as a junior college (1940, 1945, 1946), McNeese played a team twice in the regular season.

SERIES VS. INCARNATE WORD
• Saturday’s game will mark the eighth meeting between McNeese and UIW and the second matchup this fall.
• UIW blanked the Cowboys 31-0 back on September 25 in San Antonio to mark the third straight win by the Cardinals over McNeese and the first time McNeese was blanked since a 35-0 defeat at the hands of Central Arkansas in 2016, a span of 53 games.
• McNeese won the first four games in the series by a combined score of 181-69, an average of 45.3-17-3.
• UIW has won the last three contests by a combined margin of 124-37 (41.3-12.3).
• McNeese is 2-1 vs. UIW in Cowboy Stadium.

STATISCALLY SPEAKING:
• The Cowboys will enter the game with the league’s No. 1 rushing defense (119.3 ypg) and No. 2 in total defense (339.0) while offensively, UIW is ranked No. 3 in total offense (453.3), passing offense (338.8) and scoring offense (38.3).
• McNeese kick/punt returner Mason Pierce is No. 1 in SLC and No. 4 in FCS in punt return average (21.0); No. 1 SLC and 2nd in FCS with one kickoff return for a TD; No. 3 in SLC and 13th in FCS in kickoff return average (27.6); No. 2 SLC, 11th in FCS with 133.0 all-purpose yards per game; No. 2 SLC, 2nd FCS with 534 combined kick return yards.

OFFENSE FINDING ITS MOJO
• McNeese has scored 35 points in back-to-back games since falling 31-0 at UIW back on Sept. 25
• Of the total 70 points, 63 of those have been scored in 5 of the last 6 quarters played (28 in the second half vs. Southeastern and 35 in 3 quarters at NSU).
• 570 of the 704 offensive yards the last two games have come in the last 6 quarters.
• McNeese scored 21 points in the 2nd quarter at NSU… the Cowboys entered the game having scored 12 points in the 2nd quarter in the previous 5 games combined.

SHARING THE WEALTH
• Quarterback Cody Orgeron has spread the wealth to his receiving corps this season, hitting 13 different players with passes.
• Four players have 10 or more receptions on the season – Josh Matthews 23, Mason Pierce 17, Walker Wood 13, Deonta McMahon 13.
• In all but one game this season, he’s connected with 7 different receivers and in two games, hit 10 or more different players with passes (West Florida and UIW with 10 each).

THE MASON’S – KINSEY AND PIERCE – REIGNING SLC PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
• McNeese’s Mason Kinsey and Mason Pierce were named this week’s Southland Conference Defensive and Special Teams Player of the Week, respectively, by the league office on Monday after their performances in Saturday’s 35-17 win over Northwestern State.
This is Pierce’s second conference weekly award of the season and Kinsey’s first while ranking as the fourth and fifth for McNeese on the year.
• Leading a Cowboys’ front line that limited Northwestern State to just 86 yards on the ground, Kinsey recorded eight tackles, three TFL, a pair of sacks and a forced fumble in the win over the Demons.
• His first stop for a loss came on a third-and-goal for NSU in the opening quarter and led to the Demons coming away with just a field goal.
• In the final frame, Kinsey registered a strip-sack of Zach Clement on third-and-29 to force a punt, and stuffed Clement for a five-yard loss on third-and-10 two possessions later.
• Kinsey now paces the team with three sacks on the year and ranks second behind Isaiah Chambers with 4.5 TFL.
• Picking up his second weekly honor of the season, Pierce racked up 122 return yards on the day, averaging 30.5 yards per kick return and 15.2 yards per punt return against NSU.
• He took the opening kickoff 43 yards, nearly breaking free for what would have been his second kickoff return for a touchdown of the year.
• Pierce’s longest punt return went for 36 yards, setting the offense up at the Demons’ six-yard line and leading to the team’s final touchdown.

POKES VS. RANKED TEAMS
• Saturday’s game will mark the second game of the season for the Cowboys against an FCS ranked opponent as UIW will enter ranked No. 16 in the Stats Perform poll while receiving votes in the FCS Coaches Poll.
• The Cowboys are 4-2 vs. ranked opponents at home in last six games.
• McNeese dropped a 38-35 decision to then 15-ranked Southeastern at home three weeks ago.