Miscues and missed opportunities doom McNeese in 30-3 loss to BYU

PROVO, Utah – No. 25-ranked BYU scored 24 unanswered second quarter points, 21 of those coming off two McNeese turnovers and a blocked field goal, as the Cougars ran by the FCS No. 9-ranked Cowboys 30-3 Saturday evening in front of 53,223 fans at Lavell Edwards Stadium.

McNeese (3-1) held a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter but left several points off the board with a chance to go up by a larger margin. BYU (3-1) responded by capitalizing on three McNeese turnovers and a blocked field goal to score 30 unanswered points.

“We took a step back in every department,” said head coach Lance Guidry. ”We didn’t play well. We played our worst game today. We started out really good but then we had a blocked kick and they went a little up tempo on us then we had a couple other turnovers. You can’t win any football games like that no matter who the opponent is.”

On the Cowboys’ opening drive of the game, McNeese drove the ball down to the BYU 37 but had to settle for a punt. On the next drive, the Cowboys had it at the 9-yard line for a first down but was unable to get in the pay dirt while Gunnar Raborn knocked through a 20-yard field goal to put the Cowboys up 3-0 with 6:38 to play in the first quarter.

Another first quarter opportunity fell by the wayside after McNeese forced and recovered a fumble at the BYU 22. The Cowboys get it to the 18 but have to settle for another field goal, but the 35-yard attempt by Raborn is pulled left for the miss.

Raborn had a 40-yard field goal attempt in the second half blocked.

Both of those last two possessions led to BYU touchdowns as the Cougars found their grip in the second quarter.

After managing just six rushing yards and 25 total in the first quarter, BYU rolled up 112 total yards in the second quarter with 86 on the ground.

Lopini Katoa scored two of the Cougars three first half TDs, running from 4 yards out with 8:42 to play in the second to put BYU up for the first time at 7-3, then on a 14-yard rumble at the 1:09 mark to make it a 21-3 game.

The Cougars scored their second TD on a 7-yard Tanner Mangum pass to Talon Shumway at the 6:37 mark of the second quarter to make it 14-7. BYU added a 30-yard Skylar Southam field goal at the horn to end the half and giving the Cougars a 24-3 lead at the break.

McNeese’s defense held strong in the second half, only allowing BYU to score on two field goals, but offensively, it just wasn’t there.

One of the few bright spots in the second half for the offense was when quarterback Cody Orgeron completed a pass to his twin brother, Parker, for the first O-to-O connection in their collegiate history.

BYU outgained McNeese 291 to 207 in total yards. It’s the least amount of yards allowed by the Cowboys on the season but also the least amount put up by McNeese’s offense.

David Hamm led the Cowboys with 29 rushing yards on eight carries as the Cowboys finished with 73 rushing yards. The Cougars were led by Katoa’s 64 yards on the ground while the team finished with 161.

Tabary finished the night hitting 14 of 21 passes for 121 yards and an interception. Orgeron completed 4 of 5 passes for 13 yards with a pick. Parker led the team with four catches for 15 yards while Cyron Sutton had a team-high 72 receiving yards on three catches.