THIS WEEK IN THE SOUTHLAND
Saturday, September 21
HCU at UTSA 2:30 p.m.
Mississippi Valley State at Nicholls 3 p.m.
Weber State at Northwestern State 6 p.m.
Northern Arizona at #15/18 UIW 6 p.m.
Texas Southern at #22/RV Lamar 6 p.m.
#1/1 South Dakota State at Southeastern 6 p.m.
#11/11 Sacramento State at Texas A&M-Commerce 6 p.m.
Northern Colorado at SFA 7 p.m. Alcorn State at RV/RV
McNeese 7 p.m. All Times Central
LAST WEEK IN THE SOUTHLAND
Thursday, September 12
South Alabama 87, Northwestern State 10
Saturday, September 14
#8/9 Southern Illinois 35, #12/14 UIW 28
HCU 70, Louisiana Christian 7
Lamar 17, #20/25 Weber State 16
Grambling 35, Texas A&M-Commerce 28 (OT)
Southeastern 28, Eastern Washington 24
McNeese 28, SFA 24*
#11/11 Sacramento State 34, #22/24 Nicholls 7
THE OPENING DRIVE
Lamar Makes Historic Debut
After a thrilling win over nationally-ranked Weber State, Lamar made history as they
entered the STATS Perform Top 25 for the first time in school history, checking in at No. 22 The win over the Wildcats was their first nationally-ranked victory since defeating
No. 24 Sam Houston in 2019. Meanwhile, UIW made it 41 straight appearances in the FCS
Stats Perform at No. 15 and also checked in at No. 18. Nicholls and McNeese both were
receiving votes in both polls.
Conference Opening Thriller
The Southland conference season opened up in Week 3 as SFA made its return to the
league, going on the road to battle McNeese. The Lumberjacks took a 24-14 lead into the
fourth quarter before Clifton McDowell of McNeese took over. The 6-5 senior quarterback
rushed for two scores in the final period, including the game-winner to give McNeese
a thrilling come-from-behind victory, 28-24. McDowell finished with four touchdowns,
including a hail mary toss to end the first half, and McNeese snapped a five-game losing
streak in league openers.
Good To Be Home
Week 4 features all nine Southland teams in action, including eight teams at home.
Nicholls will open up their home season with an afternoon match-up against Mississippi
Valley State, while all other home games will take place at night. Southeastern has
the stiffest test of the week as they welcome in top-ranked South Dakota State to
Strawberry Stadium. Texas A&M-Commerce welcomes in No. 11 Sacramento State, while
UIW, Northwestern State, and SFA all have home match-ups against Big Sky opponents.
Lamar and McNeese join Nicholls with games against SWAC opponents. HCU will be the
only team on the road as they take on UTSA early in the afternoon.
Beware the Berry
Southeastern won a thriller over Eastern Washington, 28-24, in the home opener in
Hammond. With the victory, SLU improved to 7-1 in non-conference at Strawberry Stadium
under head coach Frank Scelfo. Their lone loss came last season to Tarleton, 14-13. The
Lions welcome in top-ranked South Dakota State on Saturday night.
2024 SOUTHLAND PLAYERS OF THE WEEK
OFFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
CLIFTON McDOWELL, McNEESE • QB • SR • SPRING, TEXAS
- Clifton McDowell was responsible for all four McNeese touchdowns, two rushing and two passing, and threw for 313 yards in leading McNeese to a 28-24 win over Stephen F. Austin on Saturday night in the league opener. McDowell rushed for both of his touchdowns in the fourth quarter and led McNeese back from a 24-14 deficit. He scored the game-winning with 31 seconds to play on an 11-yard run.
DEFENSIVE PLAYER OF THE WEEK
DeJUAN LEWIS, LAMAR • DB • JR • PEARLAND, TEXAS
- DeJuan Lewis led the team with 11 tackles, including six unassisted, and forced a fumble in Lamar’s huge 17-16 over nationally-ranked Weber State. The forced fumble came in the second quarter off a huge hit from Lewis. That led to an 11-play, 82-yard drive consuming 5:37 off the clock, leading Lamar to its first touchdown of the evening. Lamar limited the Wildcats to 331 yards of total offense and Lewis was part of a secondary that only allowed 184 passing.
SPECIAL TEAMS PLAYER OF THE WEEK
CHRISITAN BOOKER, LAMAR • DL • JR • HUMBLE, TEXAS
- With 5:02 remaining in the third, Christian Booker came up with arguably the biggest play of the game in Lamar’s upset win over nationally-ranked Weber State. As the Wildcats were lining up for a 44-yard field goal to reclaim the lead, Booker knifed through the line to get a hand on the ball and bat it away preserving the Cardinals one-point lead as neither team would score in the game’s final 20 minutes.
