Monday the Cowboys began picking up the pieces of their missed opportunity two days earlier.

There were a lot of questions after McNeese State rallied but fell short in its season opener against No. 21 Tarleton State last Saturday.

Despite a poor first half that saw the Cowboys turn the ball over four times, McNeese rallied and had a last-second 44-yard field goal that would have tied the game. Instead, Tyler Larco’s kick leaked just right and the Texans survived 26-23 in the season opener on national television.

Now the Cowboys must turn the page for their home opener Saturday night against Southern. 

“We made critical mistakes in this game, no doubt about that,” said head coach Gary Goff. “The turnovers were the difference in the game, plain and simple. 

“Never dreamed we would have four turnovers. Not very happy about those, but we can correct that.”
The four turnovers, all in the first half, led to 12 points and a 26-7 Texan lead at the break. After intermission, McNeese took over the game, but could not finish the comeback. 

Goff cleared up the biggest question of the game. 

With 10 seconds left and one timeout, the Cowboys were going for the win. 

“We had a shot called in the end zone and we had a false start, our receivers didn’t get set there,” said Goff. “With under a minute left in the game and there is a false start it is a 10-second runoff so we had to use the timeout. Thank God we had a timeout left so we used it.

“It was very thought through and talked about in the heat of the moment and I thought it was the right decision at the time and I would do it a thousand times over. I have no regrets.”

There were a lot of positives to the game as well, starting with the play of transfer quarterback Clifton McDowell. After a shaky start where he fumbled and threw an interception, McDowell responded, going 14 of 20 for 245 yards and a pair of long touchdown passes.

McDowell also ran 20 times for 67 more yards, giving him 302 yards of total offense. He hit redshirt freshman Jamaal Levi with a 43-yard TD pass and transfer Matt McCallister on an 80-yard scoring strike.

“Cliff has been in our offense for four weeks now, he is going to get only better. I’m excited about him, I’m excited about our offense,” said Goff. “They made some big plays.

I think this offensive group has a chance to gel as we get more experience.”

The defense was much better in the second half. While Tarleton’s All-American running back Kayvon Britten did run for 164 yards on 25 carries, over half of those came on just two plays.

McNeese also had a pair of chances for interceptions that would have likely led to touchdowns but could not finish the plays. Now the Cowboys must put the heartbreak behind them and fast.

“We are not going to let Tarleton beat us again,” said Goff. “We are all upset about it but we have to turn the page quick. It is on to Southern.

And the home opener.