HOUSTON – A week after looking so good, McNeese State looked awful.

Coming off their biggest win in nine seasons, the Cowboys suffered one of their worst defeats Saturday night in Husky Stadium.

Just seven days after knocking off No. 25 Weber State, and five days removed from reentering the national polls itself, McNeese put up little resistance to Houston Christian in the second of four straight road games.

The Huskies completely outplayed McNeese, racing away with a 43-22 victory. The loss dropped McNeese to 4-3 overall and 1-1 in the Southland Conference. 

HCU improved to 3-3, 1-0 after beating McNeese for the second straight season.

“They played harder than us tonight,” said McNeese head coach Gary Goff. “We did not do well handling the success. We talked about it all week.

“We have to learn how to handle success. That’s on me.”

McNeese was hoping to use the momentum of three straight victories, including the one over WSU, to roll into their first bye week. Instead, they will limp into their break looking like the tired and banged up but they are.

The Cowboys will use the off week to rest and recuperate as they head into their home stretch.

Missing their top two tacklers, All-American linebacker Micah Davey and safety Boogsie Silvera, both out with injuries, the Cowboy defense put up little resistance to the Huskies. 

HCU ran for a program record 416 yards and finished with 622 overall, tied for second most in team history.

“We can’t use any of that as an excuse,” said Goff. “Even with our best tacklers out, we are a good enough team to win this game.”

HCU quarterback Eli Brickhandler led the way, rushing for 138 yards and throwing for another 159. Calvin Hill added 104 yards on the ground for the Huskies, who averaged 7.6 yards on their 56 runs.

“Their quarterback really hurt us,” said Goff. “They gave us a dose of our own medicine.”

The Huskies scored on five of their first six possessions, grabbing a 27-9 lead at halftime. McNeese could only muster three Tyler Larco field goals, good from 23, 28, and 45 yards while HCU was racing up and down the field.

“They captured the momentum early and never gave it back to us,” said Goff. “We struggled and could never take it. Give them credit, they outplayed us.”

The Huskies had 399 yards of total offense in the first half. Meanwhile, McNeese was trying to piece together any offense behind an injured Clifton McDowell. The Cowboys’ starting QB was lifted in the second quarter and then tried to return in the third while attempting to shake off an injured finger on this throwing hand.

McDowell finished 1 of 12 for 36 yards and an interception. He was lifted for good midway through the third.

Scoring three touchdowns in a 10-span of the second quarter, Houston Christian took control early and never let up.

A trick throw on the first play of the second quarter started the scoring barrage for HCU. Receiver A.J. Wilson took a backward pass behind the line of scrimmage and fired downfield to a wide-open Jesse Valenzuela out of the backfield. Valenzuela raced 49 yards untouched into the end zone for a 13-3 HCU lead nine seconds into the second quarter.

From there Brickhandler found Deuce McMillan on a 59-yard scoring strike and Darryle Evans added a 6-yard TD run 4:01 before the half.

The Huskies scored the only points of the third quarter on Dillon Fedor’s third field goal of the game, a 29-yarder, and Calvin Wiggins’ 12-yard fumble return into the end zone that made it 37-9 entering the fourth quarter. 

McNeese managed to score its first touchdown when Kamden Sixkiller ran in from four yards nine seconds into the fourth quarter. After Fedor’s fourth field goal of the night, Cowboy running back Bryce Strong scored the first TD of his MSU career on a 1-yard run with six minutes left.

Sixkiller finished 16 of 25 for 200 yards passing while Joshon Barbie led the McNeese run game with 44 yards on 16 carries.

“We knew this was a trap game,” said Goff. “It is what it is and we have to use the off week to regroup and get healthy.”

One bright spot was the punting of Finn Lappin, who averaged 51 yards on five boots. 

After the bye week, McNeese will be back on the road at Incarnate Word hoping to be healthier and get back on track.