LAKE CHARLES – McNeese will kickoff its 73^rd homecoming game on Saturday at 6 when the Cowboys host Abilene Christian in Southland Conference action.
 
The Cowboys (4-4, 3-3 SLC) are coming off a 48-27 win at Northwestern State in their last outing while ACU (1-7, 1-5) notched its first win of the season after downing Incarnate Word 52-27.
 
It'll be the fourth meeting in the all-time series with McNeese holding a 3-0 lead. The Cowboys beat ACU 15-13 last year in Abilene.
 
"They are a lot better than their record indicates," said McNeese coach Lance Guidry. "They've been in some close games this year."
 
Three of the Wildcats' losses have come within two scores with one of those going into overtime.
 
On offense, ACU is led by quarterback Dallas Sealey who is second in the league with 287.9 passing yards per game. He and McNeese QB James Tabary (third in league at 271.1 ypg) could give the fans in Cowboy Stadium a nice aerial show.
 
"He's a little of a gunslinger," said Guidry of Sealey. "When he's hot, he's hard to stop. He's a really good football player and is dangerous."
 
Tabary is coming off the best throwing night of his career after a 384 yard passing game at NSU. With that, the sophomore from New Orleans now has the second and third-highest passing marks in a game in school history.
 
McNeese's running game got a boost last Saturday as well after the Cowboys rushed for a season-high 217 yards, led by true freshman Justin Pratt's 124-yard game for his first 100-yard game in his collegiate career. Pratt averaged a walloping 13.8 yards per carry and scored a touchdown.
 
As a whole, McNeese's offense put up 601 yards against the Demons, ranking as the fourth-highest offensive output in school history. Because of that, the Cowboys improved their game average to 431.1 offensive yards per game, ranked third in the league and 21^st nationally.
 
Defensively, McNeese held NSU to 173 yards rushing, its second-lowest output in conference games this season, and to 145 yards in the second half after its opening drive of the third quarter that went for 72 yards.
 
Junior cornerback Jermaine Antoine returned an interception 70 yards for a touchdown with just under two minutes to play to seal the win. That marked the third defensive touchdown of the season for the Cowboys, sixth-most in the FCS.
 
Saturday's game will be televised on the American Sports Network (ASN) and will be carried on Suddenlink in Lake Charles on The CW (channel 7) and CST (channel 42).
 
WORTH NOTING:
• 2017 Miss Louisiana, Bethany Trahan, will be on site during the pregame for the coin toss. Trahan is a native of Lake Charles and is a Mass Communication major at McNeese.
• The 2016 Homecoming Court will be presented at halftime.
• McNeese's 2016 Southland Conference championship team and NCAA participant will be recognized during the first media timeout of the first quarter.
• The Cowboys are looking to nab their 200^th all-time win in Cowboy Stadium.
• McNeese has compiled a 52-19-1 overall record in Homecoming games.