McNeese visits Oklahoma State for battle of Cowboys on Saturday evening

STILLWATER, Okla. – The McNeese Cowboys will step out of the FCS ranks on Saturday when they visit the Big 12 Conference’s Oklahoma State Cowboys at Boone Pickens Stadium.

Kickoff is slated for 6:05 p.m. in Stillwater. The game will stream live on ESPN+ as well as being carried on the McNeese Radio Network (92.9 FM The Lake, 929thelake.com).

McNeese (1-0) is coming off an exciting 34-28 season-opening win over Southern this past Saturday in front of a Cowboy Stadium record crowd of 20,437 that also witnessed first year head coach Sterlin Gilbert pick up his first career victory.

Oklahoma State (1-0) beat Oregon State 52-36 last Friday in its opener. Saturday will be the Cowboys’ home opener and this will be the first-ever meeting on the gridiron between the two teams.

COWBOYS VS COWBOYS IN FIRST EVER MEETING
• The McNeese Cowboys will battle against the Oklahoma State Cowboys for the first time ever on Saturday in Boone Pickens Stadium.
• The two schools have met in several other sports but never on the gridiron.
• This will also mark the first time the Cowboys will be facing off against another Cowboy program.
• Saturday’s game will be the sixth meeting against a team from the Big 12 Conference. The Cowboys are 0-5 overall against the Power 5 league.

VS. THE BIG 12 CONFERENCE
• Saturday’s game will be the 6th meeting for the Cowboys against a member of the Big 12 Conference and are 0-5 heading into the contest.
• The last time McNeese played a Big 12 member was in 2011 when the Cowboys visited dropped a 42-24 contest at Kansas.
• McNeese has played three programs who were Big 12 members at the time – Missouri (2010, L 50-6), Nebraska (2002, L 38-14), and Texas A&M (2001, L 38-24).

McNeese All-Time vs. Big 12 Conference
9.3.11 at Kansas L, 42-24
9.11.10 at Missouri L, 50-6
9.6.03 at Kansas State L, 55-14
10.5.02 at Nebraska L, 38-14
9.1.01 at Texas A&M L, 38-24

MCNEESE VS. FBS
• McNeese has compiled an 8-25-1 all-time record against FBS members dating back to the 1982 season, the Cowboys’ first season at the FCS level.
• The Cowboys have won 2 of their last 5 games against FBS members, and nearly a third win after dropping a 31-24 heartbreaker at Nebraska to open the 2014 season. In that game, Nebraska running back Ameer Abdullah took a screen pass and broke numerous tackles and scored on a 50-plus yard play to break a 24-24 tie with just over a minute to play in the game.
• McNeese opened up the 2012 season with a 27-21 win at Middle Tennessee then a year later to open the 2013 season, the Cowboys stunned South Florida 53-21 in what is still the most points and widest margin of victory by an FCS team over a BCS school. South Florida was a member of the now defunct Big East at the time.
• The Cowboys were scheduled to open the 2015 season at LSU but constant downpours and lightning forced the game to be canceled.
• McNeese fell 30-3 to BYU last season in its last game against an FBS member.

RABORN NAMED SLC, LOUISIANA POW
• Junior McNeese punter Bailey Raborn has been named this week’s Southland Conference and Louisiana Special Teams Player of the Week for his performance against Southern this past Saturday.
• The Lafayette native also garnered STATS national player of the week honorable mention honors.
• Raborn averaged 45.5 yards per punt on six kicks, had three go for over 50 yards with the longest being 56, and two downed inside the 20 yard line, one of those being at the 1.
• His high, hangtime kicks also resulted in three Southern muffed punts, two of which the Cowboys recovered and scored TDs on the ensuing possession.

LOTS OF FIRSTS IN SATURDAY’S WIN OVER SOUTHERN
• First year head coach Sterlin Gilbert picked up the victory in his first career game as a college head coach.
• A Total of 21 players saw their first action as a McNeese Cowboys in Saturday’s 34-28 win over Southern.
• Of those 21 players, eight got their first career start (OL Demarcus Thomas, OL Calvin Barkat, WR Davion Curtis, TE Jacob Logan, LB Kody Fulp, LB Carlos Scott, LB Kordell Williams, S Andre Sam.
• Junior WR Trevor Begue caught two touchdown passes in the game, marking his first multi-TD game of his career.
• Sophomore RB J’Cobi Skinner scored his first career touchdown on a 1-yard run in the game’s first score of the night.
• Junior transfer RB Elijah Mack scored his first touchdown as a Cowboy with a 3-yard, fourth quarter score.
• Freshman kicker Noah Anderson connected on his first career FG and PAT, hitting 2 of 3 field goals and making all four PATs for a total of 10 points.
• LB’s Kordell Williams and Carlos Scott along with DL Steven Conerly each recorded their first career sacks… Conerly with a full while Williams and Scott a half sack each.