LAKE CHARLES, LOUISIANA – The University of the Incarnate Word football team will try to start a season 2-0 for the first time in the program's history when they travel to #23 McNeese State University on Saturday at 6:04 p.m. for the Southland Conference opener.

The Cardinals (1-0) opened the season last week at home with an 18-16 win over Texas A&M-Kingsville.  The team showed a lot of positives, but were held back by four first half turnovers and a few dropped passes that would have been big plays.  The defense played well allowing only 14 first downs and less than 300 yards of total offense.

The offense was led by sophomore quarterback Trent Brittain (Eastland/Eastland HS) who was back on the field for the first time in a year after suffering an injury in the 2014 season opener.  He showed some rust early on, but finished the game strong.  He was 15-of-30 for 160 yards, an interception and a game-winning touchdown with five minutes left in the game.  He also rushed for a career high 109 yards on 13 carries, including a 57-yard scamper that helped set up the winning touchdown.

The Cardinals ran the ball 51 times for 219 yards in the opener.  Dorland Fields (Sweeny/Sweeny HS) and Junior Sessions (Mesquite/Mesquite HS) each had over 50 yards rushing on 13 carries.  Jordan Hicks (Arlington/Juan Seguin HS) pulled in five catches for 52 yards and a touchdown while adding a punt return touchdown in the opener.

The Cardinals defense had nine tackles for loss, three sacks and seven pass breakups against A&M-Kingsville.  Junior linebacker Josh Zellars (Baytown/Baytown Lee HS) leads the team with 11 tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss, a sack and a forced fumble.  Outside linebacker Myke Tavarres (Lake Oswego, OR/Lake Ridge HS) added six tackles, 2.5 tackles for loss and a sack last week.  The team also blocked two kicks in the home opener.

The Cowboys were scheduled to play at LSU last week, but the game was cancelled just a few plays in due to inclement weather.  They went 6-5 last year, including a 41-21 victory over the Cardinals in San Antonio.  They have 10 straight winning seasons and are entering their 71^st year of football.

The Cowboys return a lot of fire power on offense led by quarterback Daniel Sams who is a big running threat.  He led the team with 711 rushing yards on 6.8 yards per carry in 2014 and notched three 100-yard performances.  The team returns all of their top runners from a year ago including Ryan Ross (599 yards), Derrick Milton (387), Kelvin Bennett (354) and Dylan Long (346 and 10 TDs).  Sams only attempted 97 passes last year, but had seven touchdowns for 624 total yards.

The McNeese defense is led by defensive back Brent Spikes who is on a number of preseason All-America teams.  He almost single-handedly beat the Cardinals last year with three interceptions for a Southland Conference record 148 yards.  He led the team with 83 tackles.  Overall, the 2014 group allowed 22.7 points and 330.2 yards per game.

The game will be broadcast on the American Sports Network with Lincoln Rose, N.D. Kalu and Jessica Province on the broadcast.  For a complete listing of where the game will be shown go to www.Southland.org/ASN.  Gabe Farias and Shawn Morris will be in the booth for the UIW radio broadcast that can be heard on CBS SportsRadio 860 AM or online at www.tsrnsports.com. 
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