ABILENE – McNeese will open up its 48^th season of Southland Conference play on Saturday when the Cowboys travel to West Texas to take on Abilene Christian.
 
The Cowboys are the longest-running member of the league, joining in 1972, while ACU, who was a charter member of the conference, left the league after that 1972 season before rejoining in 2014.
 
Kick-off is scheduled for 6 p.m. at ACU's Wildcat Stadium. The game will broadcast live on ESPN+.
 
McNeese (2-1) is coming off a 17-14 win over Alcorn in its last game that closed out non-conference action. ACU (1-2, 0-1) fell 31-30 in the last minute at Central Arkansas in its league opener.
 
COWBOYS IN SLC OPENERS
• McNeese is 6-4 in Southland Conference openers the last 10 years.
• Overall, the Cowboys are 28-19 in SLC openers.
• McNeese has opened up league play on the road 25 times (13-12) including the last two seasons (W, 51-34 at HBU in 2018; L, 37-35 at Nicholls in 2017).
• This will be the first time the Cowboys will open the league season against Abilene Christian.
 
VS. ABILENE CHRISTIAN
• Saturday's game will be the seventh meeting between the two schools with McNeese having holding a 6-0 lead in the series.
• The Cowboys won last year's game by a 24-21 score.
• Cyron Sutton returned a punt 73 yards for a TD with 4:50 to play in the game to put McNeese up 24-14.
• Current ACU quarterback Luke Anthony set Cowboy Stadium records in that game with 43 completions and 61 pass attempts.
• Three of the last 5 games have been decided by a total of 11 points (24-21 in 2018, 13-7 in 2017, 15-13 in 2015).
• Total scoring of the last two games played at Abilene, 28-20 McNeese adv.
• The first game of the series came in 1972, McNeese's first year and ACU's final season in the Southland Conference. The Cowboys won that game 22-0. The series started back up in 2014 when the Wildcats rejoined the league.
 
McNeese All-Time vs. ACU                               
10.6.18      at McNeese                              W, 24-21
10.7.17      at ACU                                        W, 13-7
10.29.16    at McNeese                              W, 33-14
10.31.15    at ACU                                      W, 15-13
10.18.14    at McNeese                              W, 31-20
11.18.72    at McNeese                                W, 22-0
 
CARLOS SCOTT NAMED CSM'S SLC DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
• Junior linebacker Carlos Scott was named this week's College Sports Madness Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week for his performance in Saturday's 17-14 win over Alcorn.
• Scott recorded 10 tackles on the night with two tackles for a loss, a sack, and a quarterback hurry.
• It's his first 10-tackle game as a Cowboy.
 
GILBERT RETURNS TO WEST TEXAS
• First-year McNeese head coach Sterlin Gilbert is a native of the West Texas area, having grown up in Angelo.
• In his early coaching days, Gilbert served as the offensive coordinator and coaching quarterbacks at Cooper HS in Abilene from 2006 to 2007.
• A 3-year starter at Angelo State, Gilbert was a two-time captain and led the Rams to back-to-back Lone Star Conference South Division titles.
 
HOMECOMING FOR HOEFER TOO
• McNeese running back coach Landon Hoefer is also making his return to Abilene, his hometown, and is an alum of Cooper HS.
 
A McNEESE WIN WOULD...
• Start the Cowboys out at 1-0 in Southland Conference play for the second straight year.
• It's first win away from home since Sept. 8 of last year at Houston Baptist (51-34).
• Make it McNeese's seventh straight win over Abilene Christian.
• Make the Cowboys 3-1 for the third straight season.
• Improve it to 27-10 in Southland Conference play since 2015 and 50-23 since 2010.