Game HighlightsLAKE CHARLES, La. — McNeese State jumped out to a 17-0 first-quarter lead Saturday night and held on to knock off Abilene Christian University, 31-20, in a Southland Conference contest in front of 14,464 fans at Cowboy Stadium.
The Cowboys (4-2 overall and 2-1 in the Southland) dominated the opening 15 minutes of the contest as quarterback Daniel Sams passed for one score and ran for 25 yards in the first quarter to lead his team to the big first-quarter lead. McNeese added another touchdown in the second quarter and carried a 24-6 lead into halftime.
But the Wildcats — in their first season as full members of the Southland Conference since 1972 — took advantage of six McNeese State turnovers to outscore the Cowboys 14-7 in the second half. The Wildcats drove for a touchdown on the legs of
De'Andre Brown and then took advantage of a fumble return to the McNeese State 2-yard line to score again and cut the lead to 31-20 with 5:47 to play.
ACU (4-4 and 2-2) got its first touchdown of the night after
Justin Stewart forced a fumble by Ryan Ross and recovered it early in the fourth quarter. Four plays later, the Wildcats had the ball at the McNeese 49-yard line when Brown went 26 yards on first down and then finished off the drive on the next play with a 23-yard touchdown run to make it a 31-13 game with 10:28 to play.
The Wildcats then forced another turnover when
Keith Barnett stripped Jere McGilvery at the ACU 44-yard line, picked it up and returned it 54 yards to the McNeese State 2-yard line. After a loss of one on a carry by quarterback
Parker McKenzie and a 5-yard penalty, McKenzie threw his only touchdown pass of the night on third-and-goal as he hit
Demarcus Thompson for an 8-yard scoring pass to make it 31-19.
ACU converted the two-point play, but it was called back for offensive pass interference and
Nik Grau came in and booted home the extra point. The Wildcats went for the onside kick, but McNeese recovered the ball with 5:47 left in the contest.
But the ACU defense — which played a solid second half — forced a punt from McNeese, giving the ball back to the Wildcat offense at the 20-yard line after Jean Breaux's punt went into the end zone. McKenzie threw two incompletions on the ensuing drive before hitting
Cade Stone with a 6-yard pass to bring up a fourth down play. McKenzie's pass for
Cedric Gilbert along the near sideline fell incomplete with 2:43 to play and McNeese took over on downs and was able to run out the clock.
McNeese made things look easy in the first quarter as the Cowboys jumped out to that 17-0 lead. Alex Kjellsten got the Cowboys on the board with a 25-yard field goal with 9:07 left in the first quarter and then ACU's offense went three-and-out to immediately turn the ball back over to Sams and the McNeese State offense.
Sams — an honorable mention all-Big 12 quarterback at Kansas State last season — went 3 for 3 through the air on the ensuing drive, capping it with a 7-yard touchdown strike to David Bush to make it 10-0 with 4:39 left in the first quarter.
After ACU went three-and-out again, McNeese needed just four plays and 1:53 to travel 45 yards to make it a 17-0 game. Derrick Milton capped the scoring drive with a 33-yard touchdown run and McNeese looked well on its way to a blowout win in front of a large Homecoming crowd.
ACU finally got on the board with 11:16 left in the second quarter when Grau capped a nine-play, 64-yard drive with a 37-yard field goal to make it a 17-3 game. On the second play after the kickoff,
Justin Stephens pressured Tyler Bolfing into a bad throw and it was picked by Stewart and returned 32 yards to the McNeese State 34-yard line.
The Wildcats moved the ball to the McNeese 20-yard line before the drive stalled and Grau banged home his second 37-yard field goal with eight minutes left in the first half. Khalil Thomas returned the ensuing kickoff 61 yards to the ACU 39 and after Sams was dropped for a loss of one yard he hit Jere McGilvery for a 40-yard touchdown pass and a 24-6 lead with 7:01 left in the first half.
ACU got the ball to start the second half, but McKenzie's pass on the fourth play of the second half was intercepted by Aaron Sam and returned to the McNeese 32-yard line. McNeese needed just six plays to move 68 yards as Sams ran for nine yards and one play later threw a 37-yard touchdown to Zach Hetrick to make it 31-6 with 10:45 left in the third quarter.
The game stayed there until ACU was finally able to crack the end zone early in the fourth quarter and then again a few minutes later.
Brown finished with 109 yards and one score, his third 100-yard rushing game of the season. McKenzie — the league leader in almost every meaningful passing category — completed just 15 of 30 passes for a season-low 141 yards and one touchdown against a stingy Cowboys' defense.
Sams finished the night 10 of 16 for 184 yards and three touchdowns through the air and another 112 yards rushing as he topped 100 yards on the ground for the third straight game.
ACU will be back on the road next Saturday as the Wildcats take on Sam Houston State in Huntsville. The Bearkats are 3-4 on the season and 2-1 in the Southland after suffering a 31-27 road loss Saturday at Northwestern State.
