After bending for the first half, the Cowboys broke twice early in the third quarter.

That was enough for 13th-ranked Incarnate Word to open up a close game and top McNeese State 30-17 Saturday in San Antonio.

The loss was McNeese’s fifth straight to the Cardinals and sixth in their last seven meetings. It was also their second-straight defeat in the Southland Conference, as the Pokes fell to 4-4 overall and 1-2 in the league.

UIW, the preseason favorite, looked the part in the second half, improving to 5-2, 2-0 with their 22nd win in 23 games inside Benson Stadium since 2019.

A pair of touchdowns in the first six minutes of the third quarter were the difference, as the Cardinals extended their small 13-10 halftime lead to 17 points (27-10) during the stretch. McNeese, with starting quarterback Clifton McDowell out with an injured finger on his throwing hand, could not keep up with the high-powered UIW offense.

The Cardinals scored on a 7-yard Dekalon Taylor run on their first drive of the half and after a Cowboy 3-and-out, got a second TD from a familiar foe. 

Backup quarterback Richard Torres, who torched McNeese last year with three TD passes and ran for another while coming off the bench in the second half, hit Jalen Walthall with a 38-yard scoring strike. Torres was just 2-for-2 for 38 yards while subbing for starter Zach Calzada for one drive.

“We started the second half very slow and they took advantage of it,” said McNeese head coach Gary Goff. “That was a good football team, but we have to be better than that.”

Calzada was held in check by McNeese for the most part, finishing 21 of 41 for 204 yards. He was matched by McNeese redshirt freshman Kamden Sixkiller, who ended 21 of 36 for 219 yards but was sacked four times. 

McNeese made a little noise when Joshon Barbie ran for a 38-yard score with 3:03 left in the third quarter to cut the lead to 27-17. Brack Peacock kicked his third field goal, a 28-yarder with 12:16 remaining to end the scoring.

Barbie finished with 59 yards on 10 rushes while Taylor led UIW with 103 yards on 25 carries.

The Cardinals were big on fourth down, making all six of their attempts to extend drives. The Cowboys, meanwhile, were just 3-for-14 on third downs.

“We have to be better than that,” said Goff. “We have to have an answer to that.”

McNeese scored first when Sixkiller hit a streaking Jer’Michael Carter with a 36-yard scoring strike with 1:45 left in the opening quarter. Carter easily beat A.J. Tisdell off the line of scrimmage and Sixkiller hit him in stride down the left sideline.

The touchdown came after an exchange of punts that flipped the field as Finn Lappin pinned the Cardinals deep with a 67-yard boot. The Cowboys started their TD drive from right at midfield, moving 50 yards on just five plays to take the 7-0 lead with the only scoring of the first quarter. 

Peacock had a chance to put the Cards out front midway through the quarter but badly missed a 37-yard field goal try. Peacock did connect on a 26-yard kick to cut the Cowboy lead to 7-3 with 10:18 left in the first half. 

The field goal came at the end of a long 16-play, 56-yard drive by the Cardinals that saw them convert on three fourth-and-one plays. The McNeese defense did manage to hold the high-scoring UIW attack that had a first-and-goal at the eight.

The Cardinals took the lead on Calzada’s 15-yard scoring scramble with 3:57 remaining. That came at the end of another long march, this one 10 plays that covered 65 yards and gave UIW a 10-7 lead.

The two teams each kicked field goals to round out the half, Tyler Larco connecting on a 37-yarder for McNeese while Peacock added a 30-yard boot with 12 seconds before the break, giving the Cardinals a 13-10 lead.

McNeese’s score could have been bigger but Jamaal Levi could not keep his balance on a 37-yard grab down the sideline and stepped out of bounds with no defender in front of him before Larco’s kick.

McNeese linebacker Micah Davey, playing for the first time after missing four games with a rib injury, had 10 tackles, the 14th straight game in which he has played four quarters that he has done that.

Safety Boogsie Silvera also returned to the defense after missing one game and he too recorded 10 tackles.

McNeese will try to get back above .500 next week when they finish their four-straight games on the road at Nicholls (3-4, 1-1).