Same old, same old.

The Cowboys ended their five-week-long road odyssey with a performance that was a microcosm of their season to date.

Mistakes, poor game management, and penalties ultimately overshadowed any signs of improvement and optimism. And another fairly well-played winnable game fell by the wayside.

Frustration has now officially replaced hope as despite early domination McNeese State fell to Nicholls Saturday afternoon in Thibodaux behind a bevy of self-inflicted wounds.

The result for Cowboy fans was a frustrating and disheartening 24-19 loss at the hands of the Colonels inside Guidry Stadium. The defeat was McNeese’s third straight, all on the road in Southland Conference play.

At 4-5 overall and 1-3, the Cowboys are all but guaranteed to miss the postseason for the ninth straight year. They must win two of their final three to avoid the fifth consecutive losing season.

The Colonels kept their playoff hopes alive, improving to 4-4, 2-1 with their fourth straight victory over the Cowboys. It was McNeese’s sixth straight SLC road loss over the last two years.

“We made some mistakes that cost us,” said McNeese head coach Gary Goff. “We moved the ball but we just didn’t finish drives with points. It doesn’t matter if you don’t score points.”

McNeese tried to get back into the game late, scoring on Bryce Strong’s 2-yard run with 2:39 left to cut the lead to five. However, the two-point conversion failed.

Nicholls picked up a first down, however, on the following drive to all but run the clock out. Hopes of a desperate rally ended with Eli Ennis’ late interception of a Camden Sixkiller interception.

Sixkiller was playing again for the injured Clifton McDowell, who did not make the trip to Nicholls. McDowell was expected to be a game-time decision after showing improvement during the week.

Sixkiller, making his third start, finished 22 of 40 for 233 yards but was sacked four times, all by linebacker Jake Dalmado, the Southland leader. Dalmado has seven sacks over the last two games.

McNeese outgained Nicholls 401-371 but was flagged 10 times for 81 yards in penalties, including two more unsportsmanlike calls. The Cowboys were also just 4 of 14 on third-down conversions, both problems they have had all season.

“We missed some opportunities,” said Goff. “They made plays down the stretch and we didn’t.”

Nicholls took a big lead with 8:02 left on quarterback Pat McQuide’s 1-yard run to go up 24-13. That came after Tyler Larco hit a 26-yard field goal six minutes earlier for the Pokes.

Nicholls picked up the only points in the third quarter on a 41-yard field goal from Gabe Schowalter to take a 17-10 lead with 5:14 left in the period.

The Cowboys started the game in good shape, grabbing a 10-2 lead midway through the second quarter after sophomore Joshon Barbie scored on a 69-yard run, the longest of his career. Barbie finished with 121 yards on 13 carries before being injured in the fourth quarter, the most of any player against Nicholls this season.

McNeese ran for 168 yards, the most as a team against the Colonels who entered the game allowing just 64 yards a game on the ground, second-best in all of the FCS.

Nicholls scored a pair of touchdowns over three minutes late in the first half to take the lead. The usually grind-it-out Colonels scored on long plays to grab a 14-10 lead, missing two-point conversion tries following both.

The first was a 66-yard run from Miequle Brock followed by a 40-yard screen pass between quarterback Pat McQuaide and Collin Guggenheim. 

McNeese had a chance to score at the end of the first half but elected to pass on a field goal from the 20 with eight seconds left and a timeout remaining. But Sixkiller’s pass to Kameran Senegal was stopped two yards shy of the end zone as time expired.

“We were trying to take a shot into the end zone there and Kameran should have gotten down sooner,” said Goff. “I get it, he was fighting to get in the end zone. Missed an opportunity there.”

The Cowboys took the lead 3-2 on Larco’s 47-yard field goal late in the first quarter. The kick tied the longest in Larco’s career, matching his boot at Tennessee-Martin in 2022.

Nicholls got on the board first thanks to its defense just 3:15 into the game. 

Dalmado rushed through the McNeese offensive line on a blitz and sacked Sixkiller in the end zone for a safety and 2-0 lead.

The score came after Kylan Dupre’s punt was downed inside the 1-yard line. 

McNeese will finally be back home after a 48-day absence next week when they host Texas A&M-Commerce for Homecoming inside Cowboy Stadium.

“We are finally home, it has been a long month,” said Goff. “We still have a chance to have a really good season. We have still got three games on the schedule, three winnable games.”