One year ago Alcorn State went into Cowboy Stadium and picked up a statement victory, making history in the process.

The 30-19 victory over McNeese State marked the first time a team from the Southwestern Conference beat the Cowboys. It was a shocking reminder of how far down the McNeese program had fallen and how far it needed to go to return to prominence.

For Alcorn, it was about the opposite. The Braves were trying to make a name for themselves and using the Cowboys as a way to do it.

“When you go in and win a game a game against a good FCS program like McNeese, it gives you a platform to show your program,” said Alcorn head coach Fred McNair.

The Braves will try to make it two straight this season when McNeese travels to play Alcorn on Saturday night. Both teams will again enter the game 0-2 but believe they are on the right track.

Alcorn, which is 1-4 all-time against the Cowboys, will be playing its first home game of the season, having lost to Southern Mississippi (41-0) and Stephen F. Austin (38-10).

McNeese has losses to Tarleton State (52-34) and at Florida (49-7).

“It means a lot to us to try and get a bid to the playoffs,” McNair said of beating other Football Championship Subdivision schools. “McNeese is normally in the playoff picture. What we do by playing these types of teams is good for our program.”

Alcorn has had its share of good players, none bigger than McNair’s brother, former All-Pro quarterback Steve McNair of the Tennessee Titans. Steve McNair died at a young age (36 in 2009), but his brother is trying to rebuild the Braves.

Fred McNair said his team took steps in the right direction last week despite the loss at SFA.

“We made some giant states from where we were offensively,” said the Braves coach. “We showed a lot of improvement from Game 1 to Game 2, and that is what you look for as a head coach.

“I’m excited about the progress we made and moving forward for this program.”

Alcorn was down by a touchdown last week entering the fourth quarter before SFA scored three touchdowns to break the game open. The Braves will look to find their rhythm on offense this week.

Like McNeese, the Braves have used two quarterbacks in the early going, Tyler Macon and Aaron Allen. Both are transfers.

Macon, who played at Missouri, will start and is much more of a running quarterback. Macon leads the Braves in rushing with 124 yards over the first two games. However, he is 2-of-13 passing for 31 yards with a pair of interceptions.

Allen has 97 yards in the air on 10-of-19 throwing. The Braves are averaging 163.5 yards a game on the ground with Jarveion Howard having 110 yards. Howard is a transfer from Syracuse.

“They are going to run the football and we have to stop that,” said McNeese head coach Gary Goff.

Alcorn ran for 215 yards against the Cowboys last year with Allen throwing for another 189, including an 89-yard TD toss to Monterio Hunt, who is also returning.

“We have to be more consistent at that position,” McNair said of his quarterbacks. “We are not where we want to be to get this offense where we want it to be.”

McNair said both quarterbacks will play against the Cowboys but hopes one takes control of the job and makes it his own.

One area the Braves are against strong is on the defensive line. They have six sacks and dumped McNeese quarterbacks 10 times in last season’s game.

“We have to protect our quarterback,” said Goff, whose quarterbacks have been sacked nine times for 80 yards.

The Cowboys don’t want last year’s loss to a SWAC school to become a trend.