Celebrating their return home, the Cowboys found somebody they could pick on.

After five weeks on the road, McNeese State ended its three-game losing streak by thumping hapless Texas A&M-Commerce Saturday night inside Cowboy Stadium.

The 31-3 victory keeps the Cowboys hopes of their first winning season since 2019 alive, as they improved to 5-5 overall and 2-3 in the Southland Conference. McNeese has two games remaining, one each at home and away.

Commerce fell to 1-8, 1-3.

“It has been a heck of a road trip,” said McNeese head coach Gary Goff. “Happy with the way we handled situations we have not handled that well at times.”

Bryce Strong and Joshon Barbie each ran for over 100 yards and a touchdown as McNeese used the run game to race past the Lions, rushing for a season-high 367 yards.

The duo became the first pair of Cowboy runners to go over 100 yards in a game in almost two full years. 

“The offensive line did a great job,” said Goff. “We knew we had a chance to be effective in the run game. We wanted to take the pressure off the quarterback.”

Strong, a transfer from Riverside City College in California, had his best game as a Cowboy. He ran for 121 yards on 10 carries, including a 78-yard scoring sprint in the first quarter.

Strong’s score matched the 10th-longest run in McNeese history and gave the Cowboys a 14-3 lead with 2:17 left in the opening quarter.

“When the play broke I was ready for it,” said Strong. “Every week we are capable of that. We have a lot of people in our room that can do that.”

Barbie also had his best game of the year, picking up 124 yards on 20 carries. He finished eight yards short of his career-high, which came last year at Lamar. 

It was Barbie’s second straight 100-yard performance. He had 121 against Nicholls the previous week.

Barbie scored the McNeese’s first touchdown on a 6-yard run five minutes into the game, giving the Cowboys a 7-3 lead. 

Kamden Sixkiller followed a Tyler Larco 18-yard field goal with a 21-yard TD pass to Johnathan Harris with 2:47 left in the opening half, giving McNeese a 24-3 lead at the break. 

Sixkiller, a redshirt freshman, struggled throwing, however. He was just 2 of 11 for 60 yards and two interceptions. Still, it was his first win of his career in six starts. It also came on his 20th birthday.

McNeese’s defense also put on a strong showing, allowing just 60 yards in the first half. Linebacker Micah Davey led the way with 15 tackles and an interception. 

“This was our cleanest game,” said Davey. “We were assignment sound and execution.”

Davey’s interception could have been a pick six but he stumbled after making the catch.

“When the ball touched my hands I just wanted to make sure I held onto it.”

McNeese finished collecting three turnovers on the night.

The only score of the second half came on true freshman quarterback Devin Lippold’s 17-yard run in the third quarter. That came on Lippold’s first career snap.

“Devin has been working hard and we wanted to get him in there some,” said Goff.

McNeese will enjoy their second bye week of the season before hitting the road to play winless Northwestern State on Nov. 16. 

The Cowboys, who haven’t lost in four home games this season, will finish the season the following week at home against Lamar. If they could win out, it would be the first winning campaign for the program since 2019. 

“I want that for these guys, to show them we are going in the right direction,” said Goff.