McNeese Cowboys open SLC play at UIW on Saturday

McNeese (1-3, 0-0 SLC) at No. 11/12 UIW (3-1, 0-1 SLC)
Saturday, October 1, 2022 • 6 p.m.
Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium (6,000) • San Antonio, Texas

TV: ESPN+ LINK
Radio: 92.9 The Lake
Audio Stream: 929thelake.com
Live Stats: LINK

SAN ANTONIO – The longest-running member of the Southland Conference, McNeese Cowboys, will kick off their 51st season of league play on Saturday when they visit No. 11/12 UIW.

Kick-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. at UIW’s Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium and will broadcast live on ESPN+ as well as the McNeese Radio Network (92.9 The Lake and 929thelake.com).

McNeese (1-3) picked up its first win of the season under first-year head coach Gary Goff in last Saturday’s 32-17 win over Mississippi College. The Cardinals lost 41-35 to Southeastern on the game’s last play in their league opener.

The Cowboys have won more conference titles (14) and has made more FCS (1-AA) playoff appearances (16) than any league team in conference history, past or present. McNeese has won a league-record 201 conference games, and year-in and year-out, leads the league in attendance.

COACHES
• McNeese: Gary Goff (1st season at McNeese, 1-3; 11th season overall, 61-56)
• UIW: G.J. Kinne (1st season at UIW and overall, 3-1)

COWBOYS AND CARDINALS
• Saturday’s game will mark the 9th meeting in the series between the Cowboys and Cardinals with McNeese holding a 5-3 advantage.
• The two teams split the series last season – UIW winning 31-0 on Sept. 25 in San Antonio and McNeese taking a 28-20 win on Oct. 23 in Lake Charles on Homecoming.
• McNeese’s win last year snapped a three-game losing streak to the Cardinals.
• UIW has won the last two games played in its home stadium by scores of 31-0 and 45-17 (2018).
• The Cowboys’ last win at UIW came in 2016 by a 42-35 score.
• Saturday’s game will be the 8th in the series where at least one team is nationally ranked.

Series: 9th Meeting. McNeese leads 5-3 (3-1 at home; 2-2 on road)
2021 at McNeese 28, #16 UIW 20
2021 at UIW 31, McNeese 0
2020 UIW 48, at #19 McNeese 20
2019 Did Not Play
2018 at UIW 45, #6 McNeese 17
2017 at #19 McNeese 55, UIW 7
2016 #20 McNeese 42, at UIW 35
2015 at #23 McNeese 43, UIW 6
2014 #11 McNeese 41, at UIW 21

ABOUT THE COWBOYS
• Head Coach Gary Goff recorded his first Division I win as a head coach this past Saturday against Mississippi College.
• McNeese score 32 points in the win over Mississippi College, the most points scored this season and has won three straight when scoring 30 or more in a game going back to last season.
• Head Coach Gary Goff is 41-8 in his career when his teams score 30 or more in a game, including 20-2 his last three seasons (19-2 at Valdosta, 1-0 at McNeese).
• McNeese has two players in the top 20 in the nation in net rushing yards – Deonta McMahon ranks 11th with 406 yards and D’Angelo Durham ranks 19th with 340 yards… The duo is 1-2 in the SLC rankings.
• McMahon is No. 1 in SLC and 17th in FCS with 101.5 ypg rushing.
• LB Kordell Williams is 1st in SLC and 3rd in FCS With 11.8 tackles per game (47 total)
• S Enos Lewis recovered his third fumble of the season last Saturday and now leads the FCS in that category while the Cowboys as a team is ranked 3rd in the FCS with six fumble recoveries.
• McNeese is No. 1 in the SLC and 19th in FCS in rushing offense with a 188.5 ypg average.
• Ranked No. 1 in SLC and 21st in FCS in passing defense with a 182.2 ypg average.

ABOUT THE CARDINALS
• UIW has remained near the top of the national scoring charts after their loss on Saturday.
• Their 35 points at Southeastern puts the Cardinals at 185 total points through four games for an average of 46.2 points.
• The Southland record book notes the most total points scored in a season, with Sam Houston scoring 616 points in 15 games in 2015 – an average of 41.1 points per game.
• In addition to the high-flying Cardinal numbers, UIW leads the conference in both third down conversion offense (57.4%) and defense (40.0%).
• The Cardinals are also tied for the conference lead in sacks allowed and are second in TFLs allowed.
• Their 11.0 tackles for loss per game on defense lead the nation.
• Chris Whittaker is averaging 1.88 sacks per game, which ranks third nationally and 10th in TFLs.
• Kelechi Anyalebechi is tied for the conference lead in solo tackles per game at 7.0 and is 11th in the nation at 10.2 total tackles per game.

McMAHON 100-YARD RUSHING STREAK
• Senior RB Deonta McMahon rushed for a career-high 138 yards in Saturday’s win over Mississippi College to mark his 3rd straight 100-yard rushing game and fourth on the season.
• It was his 6th-career 100-yard game and was the 5th time in the last 6 games to do so dating back to last season.
• His 6 100-yard career games ranks him 14th on the McNeese list for most 100 yards games in a career.
• To date, McMahon has rushed for 1,153 yards in his career, needing 320 yards to move into 30th on the school’s career list.

McMahon 100-Yard Career Rushing Games:
138 (12 carries) vs. Mississippi College (Sept. 24, 2022)
102 (10 carries) vs. Alcorn State (Sept. 17, 2022)
101 (5 carries) at Rice (Sept. 10, 2022)
111 (17 carries) vs. Northwestern State (Nov. 20, 2021)
124 (23 carries) at HBU (Nov. 13, 2021)
111 (11 carries) vs. Nicholls (Apr. 3, 2021)

LB WILLIAMS = TACKLING MACHINE
• Fresh off a season-best 100 tackles in 2021, Cowboy senior linebacker Kordell Williams is already almost halfway to that mark through the first four games.
• Williams, a Carencro native, leads the Cowboys and is ranked No. 1 in the SLC and 3rd in the FCS with 47 total tackles and an 11.8 tackles per game average.
• Had 12 last Saturday vs. Mississippi College to record his 3rd straight 10-tackle game.
• In his career, he’s recorded 267 tackles, ranking him 18th on the school’s career list.
• He’s collected 10 or more tackles 11 times in his career and since recording his first 10-tackle game, has posted 10 or more in 11 of his last 16 games going back to the 2021 spring season.

WILLIAMS 10+ TACKLE GAMES
TKLS Opponent Date
12 vs. Mississippi College 9/24/22
15 vs. Alcorn State 9/17/22
12 at Rice 9/10/22
11 vs. Nicholls 11/6/21
12 at Southeastern 10/30/21
11 vs. UIW 10/23/21
17 vs. Southeastern 10/2/21
10 at UIW 9/25/21
11 at Southern 9/18/21
10 at LSU 9/11/21
13 at Sam Houston 4/10/21

TEAM AND PLAYER NOTES
• Saturday’s game against No. 11/12 UIW will mark the second game this season McNeese will play a ranked team.
• The Cowboys dropped the season opener, 40-17, at No. 4 Montana State.
• Overall, McNeese is 56-75-1 against FCS ranked opponents.
• Opening up conference play against UIW for the third straight season.
• Ranked No. 1 in SLC and 8th in FCS in fewest penalties per game (4.0).
• 1st in SLC, 18th FCS in fewest total penalties (16).
• 1st in SLC, 3rd FCS with 6 fumble recoveries.
• 1st in SLC, 21st FCS in passing defense (182.2).
• 1st in SLC, 19th FCS in rushing offense (188.5).
• 2nd in SLC, 50th FCS in turnovers gained (6).
• S Enos Lewis leads FCS with 3 fumble recoveries.
• Against MC, two players rushing for 100 yards in the same game (Durham 157, McMahon 138) is first time since 2017 at Stephen F. Austin (David Hamm 164, Justin Pratt 125).
• K Garrison Smith is 1st in SLC, 28th FCS with 1.0 FG made per game.
• LB Micah Davey is 1st in SLC, 6th FCS with 2 fumbles forced.
• RB Deonta McMahon is 1st in SLC, 11th FCS with 144.8 all-purpose yards per game.
• McMahon is 1st in SLC, 11th FCS with 406 total rushing yards.
• D’Angelo Durham is 2nd in SLC, 19th FCS with 340 total rushing yards.
• OL Calvin Barkat has started 20 straight games.
• In 17 KOs this season, 16 of Garrison Smith’s kicks have gone for touchbacks helping McNeese’s KOR defense rank No. 1 in the SLC and 5th nationally with a 13.0 kickoff return defense average.