LAKE CHARLES – The 60^th season in Cowboy Stadium kicks off on Saturday night at 7 when McNeese hosts Southern.
 
The game will broadcast live on the McNeese Radio Network (92.9 The Lake or 929thelake.com with Tom Hoefer and Kip Texada) and on ESPN+ with Jeff Palermo and Chaston Tavares.
 
McNeese (0-1) is coming off a tough 26-23 loss at No. 21 Tarleton State last Saturday. In that game, the Cowboys fell behind 26-7 in the first half but mounted a fierce second half rally where they scored 16 straight points and dominated both sides of the ball. A 44-yard field goal against a strong cross wind scaled just outside over the right upright with four seconds to play that would have send the game into overtime.
 
Southern (0-0) is beginning its season and playing in Cowboy Stadium for just the second time (McNeese won 34-28 in 2019).
 
COWBOYS IN HOME OPENERS
• McNeese is 44-15 in home openers in Cowboy Stadium since its first game in 1965.
• The Cowboys have lost four straight home openers with the last win coming against Southern top open the 2019 season by a 34-28 score.
 
POSITIVE TAKEAWAYS FROM TARLETON STATE GAME
• There were many things to feel good about in McNeese's 26-23 loss at nationally ranked Tarleton State.
• McNeese posted 14 plays that gained 10 or more yards in the game - 8 rushing and 6 passing.
• Of those 14, five went for 20 yards or more - all passing.
• McNeese shutout Tarleton State in the second half, marking the first time since Nov. 13, 2021 against HCU that the Cowboys blanked an opponent in either half.
• The Cowboys' defense held the Texans to 339 total offensive yards... only once last season did McNeese hold an opponent to fewer than 350 yards (293 by Nicholls).
• Held Tarleton to 5 punts and a missed FG in its 6 second half possessions.
 
SERIES HISTORY                              
• Saturday's game will be the fourth all-time meeting between McNeese and Southern.
• The Cowboys hold a 3-0 lead in the series.
• First matchup occurred in the 2004 season with the Cowboys picking up a 35-18 win in Baton Rouge.
• McNeese is 1-0 vs. Southern in Lake Charles and 2-0 when playing in Baton Rouge.
 
LAST TIME vs. SOUTHERN              
• McNeese outscored Southern 11-3 in the fourth quarter back on Sept. 18, 2021, to pull out a 31-24 win over the Jaguars in Baton Rouge.
• The Cowboys trailed 21-10 at the half and pulled to within 21-17 after a Stephen Huderson 13-yard run early in the third quarter.
• A 25-yard field goal by Jacob Abel with 6:43 to play in the third, followed by a 3-yard Josh Matthews TD catch from QB Cody Orgeron with 12:39 to play, put McNeese on top for good at 28-21.
• Abel connected on a 27-yard FG five minutes later to make it a 31-21 Cowboys' advantage before Southern completed the soring with a 25-yard field goal at the 3:07 mark.
• McNeese recorded just 263 offensive yards in the game but started the game with a 100-yard kickoff return by Mason Pierce on the game's opening kickoff.
 
AGAINST THE SWAC                       
• McNeese is 15-2 all-time in 17 games played against members of the SWAC.
•The two losses have come in the last two seasons with defeats at the hands of Alcorn State.
• Alcorn is McNeese's most popular SWAC opponent as the two have played each other six times (4-2 McNeese series lead) and will play for the seventh time this season on Sept. 21.
 
FAMILIAR FACES                             
• Former McNeese offensive linemen Juan Gonzales and Cameron Foster are members of the Southern team this season.
 
McDOWELL CRACKS 300 YDS IN OPENER
• First-year McNeese quarterback and transfer Clifton McDowell became the first Cowboy player since QB Cody Orgeron in 2021 to crack 300 total offensive yards.
• At Tarleton State last Saturday, McDowell threw for 245  yards and rushed for another 67 to total 312 in the game.
• The last time a McNeese player recorded 300 or more yards of total offense came on Oct. 2, 2021 against Southeastern Louisiana when Orgeron threw for 246 and ran for another 77 for a total of 323 yards.
 
LONG PLAYS HIGHLIGHT WEEK 1 OUTPUT                  
• Saturday's season opener at Tarleton State witnessed 14 Cowboy offensive plays that resulted in gains of 10 yards or more.
• Five of those went for 20 yards or more and two at 40+ yards.
• Last season, The Cowboys recorded six plays that went for 40 yards or more in 10 games.
• RB Joshon Barbie had three rushes that gained 10 or more yards... last season, Barbie had 15 runs of 10 or more in five games played.
• McDowell's 80-yard touchdown pass to Matthew McCallister late in the fourth quarter tied as the 7th-longest passing TD in school history and was the longest since and 85-yard TD strike from Cody Orgeron to Mason Pierce against Nicholls in the 2021 spring season.
 
FIRST TIME COWBOYS                                                  
• 14 players saw starting action for the first time in the McNeese colors on Saturday at Tarleton State - QB Clifton McDowell, WR Jer'Michael Carter, WR Curtis Deville, TE Logan Mauldin, OL William Bressi, LB Tristan Driggers, LB Marques White, DB  Yusef Leak and DL Simeon Mitchell... in addition to those offensive and defensive players, four specialists started for the first time - PK Tyler Larco, P Finn Lappin, LS Jovoni Borbon, KR Jamaal Levi and PR Matthew McCallister.
• In addition to the starters, 12 others saw action for the first time in the McNeese uniform.
 
SPEEDY McCALLISTER
• WR Matthew McCallister made national social media news over the weekend for his 80-yard catch and run touchdown at Tarleton State.
• Analytics showed that McCallister had the 5th-fastest run in college football last weekend when he clocked 19.7 mph on his touchdown run.
 
DAVEY ADDS TO DOUBLE-DIGIT TACKLE STREAK
• All-American linebacker Micah Davey stretched his double-digit tackling streak to 13 straight games after he collected 14 stops at Tarleton State last Saturday.
• Davey's streak began at the end of the 2022 season where he recorded 10 or more tackles in the final two games.
• That carried on into all 10 games last year and now the first this season.
• In his career, Davey has recorded 235 tackles, 9 away from cracking the school's all-time top 20 list.
 
WELCOME TO THE HOLE                                              
• 2024 marks the 60th season in Cowboy Stadium.
• The unique setting was constructed in the early 1960s with a target date to open up in 1964, however, work issues backed the date up to Sept. 18, 1965, where the Cowboys dropped a 16-12 game to Tampa in the stadium's
first-ever game.
• The Hole, which is nestled 12 feet below normal ground level, was created by over 80,000 cubic yards of soil being
removed.
• Since its first game in The Hole in 1965, McNeese has compiled a 221-106-5 all-time record in Cowboy Stadium,
including a 104-36 record against non-conference opponents.
• McNeese has led the SLC in attendance in 17 of the last 24 years and in 10 out of the last 11 seasons and has ranked in the top 25 in the FCS in 10 out of the last 11 years as well.
• Throughout its 59-year history, Cowboy Stadium has hosted several NFL Hall of Fame and other notable players such as Roger Staubach (Pensacola Navy, 1968), Terry Bradshaw (Louisiana Tech, 1967 and 1969), Jackie Smith (Northwestern State, 1960), Fred Dean (Louisiana Tech, 1971 and 1973), Kurt Warner (Northern Iowa, 1992), Mike Tomlin (William & Mary, 1993), Chad Pennington (Marshall, 1995), Daunte Culpepper (Central Florida, 1995), Malcolm Butler (West Alabama, 2013), just to name a few.