LAKE CHARLES – McNeese head coach Lance Guidry was his normal, upbeat self at his Monday media luncheon despite the Cowboys coming off a 31-28 Southland Conference opener loss to Stephen F. Austin.
 
"We're ready to get back to work," said Guidry. "I'm excited to get about out on the practice field. We're going to correct the things we saw and going to get better. We're not going to be defined by a couple of losses. Our motto is to 'Cowboy Up' and that's what we're going to do."
 
McNeese, who dropped to No. 20 in this week's FCS coaches poll and No. 24 in both the STATS and the Hero Sports media polls, will visit Incarnate Word at 6 p.m. on Saturday. McNeese fans can purchase tickets for the game at the McNeese ticket office for $15.
 
The Cowboys (1-2, 0-1 SLC) are coming off a hard-fought, 31-28 loss to SFA this past Saturday. The Lumberjacks (2-1, 1-0) scored 21 points off of three crucial McNeese errors – roughing the punter, muffed punt return, and an interception.
 
McNeese held a 28-24 lead with under four minutes to play before the Lumberjacks intercepted a James Tabary pass and scored the game-winning touchdown five plays later.
 
"I thought we played well enough to win," said Guidry. "When you foul up that many times in a football game, it's hard to overcome. I thought our guys played hard and we still had a chance to win it there in the end."
 
Both of McNeese's losses are by a combined 11 points. When asked if he thinks his Cowboys should be 3-0, Guidry said "I'm not going there. It is what it is. We're 1-and-2. That would be slighting SFA or ULL to say we should be 3-0 because those guys worked hard and did what they had to do to beat us.
 
"But I will say this, our best football is yet to come. I'm not sure when that will be but when we do catch fire, we're going to take off. I really believe that."
 
Led by Tabary, the Cowboys will head into Saturday's game ranked No. 4 in the FCS in passing offense with an average of 323.7 yards per game. In addition, McNeese is 14^th in the nation in total offense (472.7 ypg) and is ranked second in time of possession, averaging 38:16 minutes of offense a game.
 
Tabary is ranked 10^th in the country in total passing yards (839) and 13^th in passing yards per game (279.7). He's ranked 1-2 respectively in the Southland Conference. His six touchdown passes is also ranked No. 1 in the Southland and is 15^th nationally.
 
With four touchdown catches, wide receiver Darious Crawley is tops in the league and No. 8 in the FCS while Kent Shelby is No. 3 in the Southland and 35^th nationally with 240 total receiving yards.
 
Defensively, Jermaine Antoine leads the Southland and is ranked 22^nd in the FCS with 1.7 pass break-ups per game.
 
As a unit, the Cowboys are third in the league and 25^th nationally in rushing defense (108.0 ypg); second in the SLC and 23^rd in FCS in total defense (311.3 ypg); and second in the conference and 30^th in the country in scoring defense (21.3 ppg).
 
"From the middle of the second quarter through most of the fourth quarter, I thought we played really well defensively," said Guidry about the SFA game.
 
After the first quarter where the Lumberjacks rolled up 148 yards of offense, the McNeese defense forced SFA into eight 3-and-outs in its final 16 possessions and taking away three scoring drives that went for 31, 68 and 42 yards, the Cowboys held the 'Jacks to 114 yards of offense in the 13 other drives.
 
FCS Coaches Poll
1. North Dakota State
2. Sam Houston State
3. Chattanooga
4. Jacksonville State
5. Eastern Washington
6. Montana
7. James Madison
8. William & Mary
9. Richmond
10. The Citadel
11. Charleston Southern
12. Illinois State
13. Western Illinois
14. Northern Iowa
15. Villanova
16. Eastern Illinois
17. Youngstown State
18. South Dakota State
19. Harvard
20. McNeese
21. Colgate
22. North Carolina A&T
23. Albany
24. Stony Brook
t25. Portland State
t25. Northern Arizona
 
STATS FCS Top 25
1. North Dakota State
2. Sam Houston State
3. Jacksonville State
4. Eastern Washington
5. Chattanooga
6. Montana
7. Richmond
8. William & Mary
9. Illinois State
10. The Citadel
11. James Madison
12. Charleston Southern
13. Western Illinois
14. Northern Iowa
15. South Dakota State
16. Youngstown State
17. Coastal Carolina
18. Eastern Illinois
19. Villanova
20. Stony Brook
21. North Carolina A&T
22. Albany
23. Colgate
24. McNeese
25. Portland State
 
Hero Sports Top 25
1. North Dakota State
2. Sam Houston State
3. Jacksonville State
4. Eastern Washington
5. Chattanooga
6. Montana
7. Richmond
8. William & Mary
9. Charleston Southern
10. Illinois State
11. James Madison
12. Western Illinois
13. The Citadel
14. Northern Iowa
15. South Dakota State
16. Eastern Illinois
17. Coastal Carolina
18. Stony Brook
19. Youngstown State
20. Villanova
21. Albany
22. North Carolina A&T
23. Colgate
24. McNeese
25. Cal Poly