GAMEDAY CENTRAL

LAKE CHARLES – McNeese will open up its defense of its Southland Conference football title on Saturday when it hosts Stephen F. Austin at 6 p.m. in Cowboy Stadium.
 
The game will actually carry a 6:06 p.m. kickoff due to it being televised live on the American Sports Network (local channel CW 7 is picking it up). The game will also be carried live on the McNeese Radio Network (92.9 FM The Lake or 929thelake.com).
 
Also on Saturday, six new members of the McNeese Athletics Hall of Fame will be inducted. Those include football greats Vincent Landrum, Keith Ortego, BJ Sams, Richard Vidrine, along with baseball standout Chip Stratton and basketball all-star Dean Glenn.
 
A ceremony honoring the six will begin at 3:30 in the Cowboy Club Room. The public is invited to attend. Then at halftime, the six will be officially inducted into the Hall of Fame in a ceremony at midfield.
 
McNeese (1-1), and ranked 13^th and 14^th in the latest FCS top 25 polls, is coming off a hard-fought and physical 30-22 loss at Louisiana-Lafayette last Saturday in a game that saw several players get banged up a bit.
 
One of those is quarterback James Tabary who bruised his glute in the game's first drive. But after missing the next three possessions, Tabary returned behind center and gave the Cowboys a chance late in the game.
 
Tabary is key heading into Saturday's game with SFA (1-1).
 
The sophomore transfer has thrown for over 200 yards in his first two games, becoming the first McNeese quarterback to start the season with back-to-back 200-yard passing games since Scott Pendarvis in 2004. One more and he'll tie record holder Blake Prejean who set the record in 1999 with three straight 200-yard passing games to start the slate.
 
Tabary ranks second in the league and 17^th nationally with 491 passing yards on the season and is 29^th in the FCS in efficiency with a 137.1 rating.
 
McNeese is also contributing in the running game with an average of 154.5 yards per game rushing led by Ryan Ross who is ranked 27^th in the nation with 195 yards and a 97.5 yards per game average.
 
Defensively, McNeese leads the league and is ranked 17^th in the FCS by allowing 16.5 points per game. The Cowboys are first in the conference and second in the nation in third-down defense (14.3 percent).
 
SFA is coming off a 30-24 win over West Alabama last Saturday.
 
In that game, the Lumberjacks were held to 166 yards passing and 155 rushing while allowing 308 through the air.
 
The 'Jacks are led by quarterback Zach Conque who has completed 48 of 96 passes for 412 yards, a touchdown and thrown two interceptions.
On the ground, running back Joshawa West leads the team with 119 yards on 24 carries.
 
Defensively, SFA, who opened the season with a 69-17 loss at Texas Tech, is allowing 29.0 ppg, 470.5 passing yards a game, and just 80 rushing yards per game.
 
Saturday's game will be the 36^th meeting in the series with McNeese holding a 19-14-2 lead. The Cowboys won last year's game by a 28-14 score in Nacogdoches but SFA downed McNeese 31-16 the last time the game was played in Cowboy Stadium back in 2014. The visiting team has won the last three meetings.