Wildcats head to Louisiana to take on #9 Cowboys

GAME 6
ABILENE CHRISTIAN (2-3, 1-2 Southland) at #9/#10 McNEESE (4-1, 3-0 Southland)
Saturday, Oct. 6 • 6 p.m. • Louis Bonnette Field at Cowboy Stadium • Lake Charles, La.

MEDIA INFORMATION
Streaming: McNeeseSports.com
Radio: KTLT 98.1 FM The Ticket
Radio Talent: Grant Boone (play-by-play), Jim Reese (analyst), Seth Wilson (sideline)
Twitter: @ACUSports
Game Notes: ACU I McNeese
 
MATCHUP
ABILENE CHRISTIAN
2-3, 1-2 Southland
Ranking: NR - STATS, NR - Coaches
Head Coach: Adam Dorrel (NW Missouri St., '98)
Career Record: 80-20 (8th season)
ACU Record: 4-12 (2nd season)
vs. McNeese: 0-1

McNEESE
4-1, 3-0 Southland
Ranking: #9 – STATS / #10 FCS Coaches
Head Coach: Lance Guidry (McNeese, 1995)
Career Record: 20-9 (3^rd season)
McN Record: 19-8 (3^rd season)
vs. ACU: 2-0

OPENING KICKOFF
• ACU returns to Cowboy Stadium – also known as "The Hole" – for a Southland Conference game against the McNeese Cowboys, ranked N0. 9 in the country by STATS and No. 10 in the country in the FCS Coaches' poll.
 
• The Wildcats have lost their last seven straight games against nationally ranked opponents, including four in 2017: to #22 McNeese (13-7), #23 Nicholls (29-20), #4 Sam Houston State (44-35) and #3 Central Arkansas (34-0).
 
• ACU's last win over a nationally ranked foe was a 37-35 win in the regular-season finale at #24 Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 15, 2014.
 
• Saturday night's game is the first in a six-game stretch to end the regular season that will see the Wildcats hit the road three times (at McNeese, at Southeastern Louisiana on Oct. 20 and at Sam Houston State on Nov. 10) and take on four nationally ranked opponents: McNeese, Nicholls, Sam Houston State and Central Arkansas.
 
• ACU has never beaten McNeese having dropped all five contests against the Cowboys dating back to the first game played in 1972.
 
A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
• The league's top offense will face off against the league's top defense Saturday night in what could be an interesting battle. The Wildcats are first in total yards per game in the Southland Conference at 496 yards per game, second in scoring offense (32.2 points per game), third in passing offense (300.6 ypg) and fourth in rushing offense (195.4 ypg). ACU also leads the league in first downs with 129, including 32 in last week's 44-34 loss to Incarnate Word. ... The Cowboys, meanwhile, boast the league's top-ranked defense, a unit that also ranks 25th in the country at the FCS level, allowing a meager 327.0 yards per game. ... The Cowboys are also first in scoring defense (19.6 ppg allowed), first in rushing defense (99.4 yppg), third in pass defense (227.6 ypg) and first in pass defense efficiency (116.7). ... The Cowboys also rank second in the league in sacks with 17, just behind the 20 by league-leader Nicholls.
 
•  While McNeese prides itself on getting to the quarterback, the Wildcats put just as much pride into keeping their quarterbacks clean. ... ACU leads the league in fewest sacks allowed (3) through five games in 2018.
 
• QB Luke Anthony is ranked second in the league in passing (295.2 ypg) and is second in total offense (300.2 ypg); RBs Billy McCrary (74.8 ypg) and Tracy James (74.6 ypg) are ranked 4th and 5th, respectively, in the league in rushing yards per game. ... McCrary had his second 100-yard rushing game of the season last week against Incarnate Word, finishing the night with 126 yards and one touchdown on 18 carries.
 
• Senior linebacker B.J. Blunt was voted the Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week after his performance in McNeese's 17-10 win over Stephen F. Austin on Sept. 29 when he recorded 12 tackles (a McNeese career-high) to go along with two sacks, 5.5 tackles for a loss, and a fumble recovery. ... Blunt leads the Cowboys with 36 tackles on the season, 7 sacks and 11.5 tackles for a loss. ... He's ranked No. 1 in the FCS with those 11.5 TFLs and is tied for first with 7 sacks.
 
• Offensively, McNeese quarterback James Tabary is completing 68.7 percent of his passes (79 of 115), which is second in the league. ... He's thrown for 893 yards and seven touchdowns against just two interceptions through five games.

SCOUTING THE COWBOYS
• Cowboy Stadium, aka "The Hole" has been McNeese's home since 1965, and since that time, the Cowboys have recorded 207 wins in 302 games in their home venue.
 
• The Cowboys have produced 16 regular season undefeated home slates, including a 5-0 mark last year.
 
• The Cowboys have posted a 98-39-3 all-time record in Southland Conference home games, including a 50-13 home mark since the year 2000.
 
• McNeese has won 8 straight home league games dating to the 2016 season and is 24-7 since 2010.
 
• Two days after beating Stephen F. Austin 17-10 to improve to 4-1 on the season and 3-0 in South- land Conference play, the Cowboys jumped to No. 9 in the STATS Media poll while breaking back into the top 10 in the AFCA Coaches poll at No. 10.
 
• The Cowboys have now been ranked for 13 straight weeks dating back to last season.
 
• McNeese cracked the top 10 two weeks ago, marking the first time since being ranked No. 9 to open up the 2016 season.
 
• The Defense With Attitude has expelled that attitude the last two weeks, holding the opponents to fewer offensive yards as each week went along.
 
• McNeese held BYU to a season-low 291 total yards at the time, only to better that this past Saturday against Stephen F. Austin when it held SFA to 188 yards and a season-low 10 first downs.
 
• SFA managed just 1.5 yards per carry in the game and 2.7 yards per offensive play.
 
• Because of that play, McNeese is now ranked No. 1 in the Southland Conference in rushing defense (99.4), scoring defense (19.6), first downs defense (40), fumbles recovered (8), and pass efficiency defense (116.68)
 
UP NEXT
• The Cowboys will be back home on Saturday, Oct. 13, when they host nationally ranked Nicholls in the annual Homecoming contest. Kickoff is set for 2:30 p.m. from Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium. The game will be broadcast to a national audience on ESPN3.