When Nate Glantz took his first snap Saturday night inside Cowboy Stadium, it was his first in 618 days.

As he dropped back to throw, he saw Jalan Johnson wide up on the left side.

“That play was set up for 60 yards if not a touchdown,” said McNeese State head coach Gary Goff.

But Glantz threw short.

It took the transfer quarterback a little time to work off the rust, but he won’t use that as an excuse.

“I have got to play better, I will play better,” Glantz said.

The new Cowboys quarterback didn’t make the greatest of first impressions as he, along with his teammates, struggled in a 52-34 season-opening loss to Tarleton State.

He missed on his first four passes but still had the Cowboys in position to take control of the game up 24-17 midway through the third quarter. But there wasn’t enough consistency on either side of the ball to hold off the charging Texans.

“It was a tough start,” Glantz said. “I was out there doing the best I could, we all were. It was nowhere near the best of my ability.

“I have to improve a lot. As a leader and captain of this team, I have got to be at my best and there is a lot of improvement left for me.”

Glantz, a former national junior college player of the year, transferred to McNeese from Iowa State in January. He won a battle for the starting job against Tre’ Simmons during camp and did show improvement during the game.

Glantz finished 15 of 35 for 166 yards but was 9 of 17 for 114 in the fourth quarter. Some of that was Tarleton’s defense backing off in the secondary but it was also in the face of a relentless pass rush.

Cowboys fans can only hope that those throws are a sign of things to come. However, they helped lead Goff to doubling down on his quarterback on Monday.

“I’ve got full confidence in Nate,” Goff said. “Nate will be a great player for us. I really think he is a star of a quarterback. We have to get Nate to relax and try not to do too much. He has to take the defense gives him.”

Glantz showed his toughness when he tried to jump over a pile of players and into the end zone late in a game long since decided. He finished gaining 82 yards with his legs but lost 48 on six sacks. He also scored two touchdowns.

None of that eased his frustration.

“I stayed up until 3 a.m. Sunday morning angry about that game,” Glantz said. “I have gone over the film 10 times. We know what we did wrong and should not have let that game get away from us.”

Glantz called it a tough lesson to learn.

“We are a young team; we have to learn how to play together,” he said. “We have to understand we are going to make mistakes out there, you just have to keep stacking days to get better.”

As for playing Florida (0-1) on Saturday, Glantz said it’s another opportunity for the Cowboys to learn and make a fresh impression.

“We are looking forward to it,” he said.