GAMEDAY CENTRAL

HAMMOND – McNeese's DWA played with its attitude last Saturday in the Cowboys' 38-13 win over Nicholls while the offense lit things up through the air en route to quarterback James Tabary throwing for the second-most passing yards in a game in school history with his 376 yards.
 
McNeese (3-2, 2-1 SLC) will be looking for everything to be clicking once again this Saturday when the Cowboys, ranked 19^th in this week's FCS Coaches' Top 25 poll, visit Southeastern Louisiana (1-3, 1-1) in a Cox Sports Television broadcast game.
 
Kickoff is set for 6:07 p.m. at SLU's Strawberry Stadium. The game will also be carried on the McNeese Radio Network (92.9 FM The Lake and www.929thelake.com). McNeese fans in attendance can listen to the McNeese broadcast on your cell phone by downloaded the RadioPup app, which is a free download.
 
The Cowboys have won six straight Southland Conference road games dating back to the 2014 season. The last loss away from come came against the Lions by way of a 28-9 defeat. SLU has won the last two meetings in Strawberry stadium.
 
"SLU is a different team this year," said McNeese head coach Lance Guidry. "They lost their entire defensive backfield from last year but they still have some really good players. We expect nothing more than for them to give us their best."
 
The Lions are ranked second in the SLC in passing defense (200.2) as they prepare to go up against a McNeese passing attack that's ranked second in the league by averaging 339.6 yards per game through the air.
 
Because of the success through the air, opponents are still adamant on trying to stop the Cowboys' potent rushing attack. But Guidry says that suits him just fine.
 
"Let them (all opponents) keep stacking the box. We'll keep throwing it."
 
What makes McNeese's air attack so vicious is the amount of targets Tabary has to choose from. A total of 19 different players have caught passes this season. Five have caught 10 or more passes while another five have found the endzone.
 
Even with top receiver Kent Shelby missing most action in the last three games due to a reoccurring turf toe injury, other players are stepping it up as the team's deep threat.
 
"Of course there's Darious (Crawley) who is really good for us," said Guidry. "Kylon (Highshaw) has really stepped it up for us lately and then there's also Parker (Orgeron). We have a lot of guys that can make plays."
 
Highshaw and Orgeron eached scored their first collegiate touchdowns against Nicholls – Orgeron on an 8-yard corner route and Highshaw on a hitch-and-go that turned into an 80-yard score.
 
McNeese also went to the tight end more on Saturday with Zach Hetrick pulling in a career-best four passes.
 
Defensively, McNeese was a stone wall against the run, allowing the Colonels to muster just 30 yards on the ground. And the only time Nicholls saw the endzone was late in the fourth quarter on a 1-yard QB dive.
 
The defensive backfield is also showing signs of improvements. McNeese got its first pick-6 on the season early in the game on an Andre Fuller interception off a pass that was batted in the air by Khalil Thomas. It was the second defensive touchdown for the Cowboys in as many weeks. Later in the second quarter, Damion Morgan picked off a pass that helped set up another McNeese touchdown.
 
Saturday's game will be the 42^nd meeting in the all-time series with McNeese holding a 23-18 edge. McNeese leads 8-5 in the series since 2003 when SLU restarted the program after dropping it following the 1985 season.