MCNeese puts unbeaten Southland record on the line at UIW

McNeese (5-1, 4-0 SLC) at Incarnate Word (3-3, 3-1 SLC)
Rankings: McNeese – 6 STATS, 6 AFCA Coaches; UIW – Not Ranked
Where: San Antonio, Texas
Stadium: Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium (6,000)
Time: 6 p.m.
TV: Eleven Sports; Cox Sport TV
Stream: SouthlandDigitalNetwork.com
Radio: McNeese Radio Network
Live Stats: McNeeseSports.com
Twitter: @McNeeseFootball
Series: McNeese 4-0

SAN ANTONIO – For the second straight game, McNeese’s top-ranked defense in the Southland Conference will go toe-to-toe with the league’s No. 1 offense when the 6th-ranked Cowboys visit the surprising Incarnate Word Cardinals at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

The Cowboys (5-1, 4-0 SLC) are coming off a bye week, but before that, downed Abilene Christian 24-21 while holding the then-No. 1 offense of the Wildcats to 315 total yards, nearly 200 yards below their season average.

McNeese got a record-tying five sacks from junior defensive end Chris Livings while BJ Blunt, who was named on Thursday to the watch list for the Buck Buchanan Award as the FCS’s top defensive player, recorded 20 tackles as the DWA held Abilene Christian to just 1 rushing yard.

The Cowboys will enter the game ranked No. 1 in the Southland Conference in total defense (325.0 ypg), rushing defense (83.0), and scoring defense (19.8 ppg). McNeese also is tops in sacks per game (3.7).

Offensively, quarterback James Tabary is second in completion percentage at 66 percent.

UIW dropped a 27-21 heartbreaker at Lamar last week, losing on a blocked field goal on the game’s last play to win the game.

The Cardinals are currently No. 1 in the league in total offense, averaging 491 yards per game, third in passing (309.0), third in rushing (182.0), and fifth in scoring (32.3).

Quarterback Jon Copeland leads the league with 307 passing yards per game while running back Ra’Quanne Dickens is No. 1 in rushing with a 112.5 average.

McNeese is 4-0 all-time against the Cardinals in the series.

GAMEDAY NOTES

MCNEESE VS. INCARNATE WORD SERIES INFO
• Saturday’s game will be the fifth meeting between the two schools with McNeese having won the previous four.
• The Cowboys tied a NCAA record in last year’s 55-7 win after recording four pick-6s and five INTs overall.
• Two years ago in San Antonio, McNeese built a 42-14 third quarter lead then had to hold off a fierce Cardinal rally to get the 42-35 win.
• McNeese is averaging 43.5 points scored per game in the series.

COWBOYS AFTER OPEN DATES
• McNeese is 2-0 under head coach Lance Guidry in games following open dates.
• Since 2010, the Cowboys are 6-2 in games after open dates and 13-5 since the 2000 season.

BLUNT RECORDS 20 TACKLES IN WIN OVER ACU
• Senior linebacker B.J. Blunt continues to make himself known as one of the top defensive players in all of FCS.
• He recorded 20 tackles in a 24-21 win over ACU in McNeese’s last outing, becoming just the second player and third time in school history to record 20 tackles in a game and ranked tied as the second-most tackles in a game in school history (current McNeese LB coach Charlie Ayro had 23 and 20 tackles in 1996 and 1997 respectively).
• Blunt is ranked tied for 5th in the FCS with 7 total sacks, 6th with 1.17 sacks per game, 9th with 1.9 tackles for loss per game, 21st with 5.8 solo tackles for game, and 30th with 9.3 tackles per game.

SACK MASTERS
• McNeese trio – BJ Blunt, Chris Livings and Cody Roscoe – have combined to record 16.5 of the team’s 22 total sacks on the season.
• Blunt leads the way with 7 sacks, Livings 5 and Roscoe 4.5, ranking them 2, 5 and 8 in the SLC rankings.
• The 22 total sacks is three off from last year’s total of 25 sacks for the entire season.
• Livings tied a single-game school record against ACU with five sacks, giving him 17.5 in his career and moving him up to No. 7 on the school’s all-time sack list.

KJELLSTEN PINNING TEAMS DEEP
• Senior punter and kickoff man Alex Kjellsten is having the best year of his career this season both in punting and on kickoffs.
• With is kickoffs, Kjellsten has the Cowboys ranked No. 4 in the nation and first in the Southland Conference in kickoff return defense with a 13.75 return average.
• He’s kicked off 28 times on the year with 22 of those going for touchbacks.
• The average starting line of scrimmage for opponents is the 23.
• Punting, Kjellsten is ranked second in the league and 24th nationally with a 42.8 yards per punt mark.
• He’s punted it 41 times with a long of 66, has had 14 downed inside the 20, five inside the 10, 15 fair catches, five touchbacks and eight that have gone for 50 yards or more.
• He tied the school record for longest punt in a game with an 81-yard bomb in last year’s season finale at Lamar.

DANGEROUS ON PUNT RETURNS
• McNeese is one of just five teams in the nation that has returned multiple punts for touchdowns – Parker Orgeron (59 yards at HBU) and Cyron Sutton (73 yards vs. Abilene Christian), and one of three teams with more than one player with a punt return for a TD.
• The Cowboys are ranked first in the conference and No. 9 nationally with an 18.3 return average.
• Orgeron returned punts through the first four games before getting injured at BYU. He’s returned seven punts for a 15.4 average, ranking him No. 1 in the SLC and 9th nationally.
• Sutton has taken over the duties the last two games in Orgeron’s absence and has returned two punts for a 37.5 average, including the 73 yarder for a score against ACU in the team’s last outing.

MILESTONE WIN AGAINST ACU FOR COWBOYS
• The McNeese football program notched its 500th all-time win in the Oct. 6, 24-21 victory over Abilene Christian on a night where the Cowboys celebrated their 75th anniversary with the recognition of the All-75th Anniversary Football Team. McNeese has compiled a 500-287-13 record in the 75 seasons.