SAN ANTONIO -- Emmett Brown accounted for 362 yards of offense and five touchdowns, and a late second-quarter scoring onslaught helped the University of the Incarnate Word roll past McNeese 38-6 in Southland Conference football action Saturday.
The day started perfectly for UIW, with
Jeremiah Young forcing a strip sack on the opening McNeese possession that
Terrell Elliott recovered at the Cowboy 27.
That was the start of a dominant day for Young, who had his second three-sack game of the season, while also notching 3.5 tackles for-loss.Â
Young now has 7.5 sacks on the season, one shy of a single-season program record shared by Myke Tavarres (2015), Justin Alexandre (2018) and Devin Grant (2024).
On the ensuing play, UIW went into the bag of tricks. Brown handed off to
Jayden Hibbler, who flipped the ball to
Roy Alexander, who tossed it back to Brown, who found tight end
Dane Farley all by himself for a touchdown.
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The score would remain 7-0 until a massive shift near the end of the second quarter, when the two teams combined to score four touchdowns in two minutes.
Three of those would come on passes from Brown, who made it 14-0 with a perfectly placed 29-yard lob to Alexander.
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After the defense forced a three-and-out, UIW again scored in one play on a 56-yard strike to
Jacob Emmers.
McNeese would answer with a score of its own, but left 59 seconds on the clock, which proved to be more than enough for UIW.
The Cardinals went 75 yards in six plays, with Brown finding
Isaiah Champagne open in the middle of the field for a 26-yard score.
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The quarterback then capped his dominant day on the ground, breaking free for a 38-yard touchdown run in the third quarter.
Brown completed 19-of-27Â with 283 yards passing and led all players with 79 yards rushing. Eight different Cardinals caught passes with Alexander (67), Emmers (56) and Farley (50) all getting at least 50 yards.
That was countered by a run game that gained 239 yards, with
Jayden Hibbler rushing for 75 and
Lontrell Turner gaining 48.
Perhaps most importantly, UIW finished without a turnover for the first time all season.Â
After losing the turnover battle in each of its first six games, the Cardinals were plus-two for the second game in a row, as they also got a second quarter interception from
Patrick Batiste, his second pick in as many games.
Cleaning up mistakes has been a major point of emphasis, with the team believing frequent giveaways were the biggest thing standing between them and fulfilling its potential.
"When we're not in our own way, I think we're the best offense in the country," Brown said.
The win moves UIW back to .500 overall at 4-4 with a 3-2 mark in the SLC. The Cardinals also improved to 4-0 at home, winning by an average of 30.5 points at Benson Stadium.Â
They'll have a great opportunity to extend both streaks next Saturday, when they host a Northwestern State team that has lost 19 consecutive games dating back to last season. That game will kick off at 1 p.m.
