HAMMOND, La. -- As it continues to fight for its playoff life, it's pretty clear where the biggest turnaround needs to take place for the University of the Incarnate Word football team.

The Cardinals enter the weekend red hot, winning their last three games by a combined 109 points to improve to 5-4 overall and 4-2 in the Southland Conference. 

All three of those wins came at home, where UIW is 5-0 win an average margin of victory of 34.8 points per-game.

But it's been a different story away from Benson Stadium, where the Cardinals are 0-4. Three of those losses came by a combined 15 points to teams currently ranked second (Stephen F Austin), sixth (Northern Arizona) and 12th (Lamar) in the FCS top-25 poll.

Perhaps the biggest difference between home and away has been turnovers. The Cardinals have a plus-four turnover margin at home but are minus-nine on the road.

"You don't get into the playoffs without being able to win on the road," head coach Clint Killough said. "We have not been able to do that yet, so that's going to be a big challenge for the team."

UIW will get its next chance to break the losing streak this weekend, when it travels to face a talented but inconsistent Southeastern Louisiana team at 6 p.m.

The game can be streamed on ESPN Plus.

LAST WEEK: UIW 66, NORTHWESTERN STATE 14

The Cardinals jumped all over the winless Demons immediately, getting a Jayden Hibbler 17-yard touchdown and a 29-yard D'Arius Carmouche pick-six within the first five minutes. The score would be 28-0 at the end of the first quarter and 49-7 at the half.

Fresh off winning an SLC Offensive Player of the Week award, quarterback Emmett Brown threw for 312 yards with touchdown passes to Jacob Emmers and Jamir Roberts. Brown enters the week fifth in the country with 2,516 passing yards.

His top target was Roy Alexander, who had a career high 173 yards on eight catches, all in the first half.

UIW also gained 208 yard on the ground, with Hibbler netting 102 and three touchdowns. With 474 yards rushing, 260 receiving and 338 in punt returns, Hibbler's 1,072 yards from scrimmage are the most in the SLC. His punt return yardage is the second highest in the FCS.

Offensively, the Cardinals rank seventh in the FCS in scoring (38.9 points per-game) and eighth in total offense (467.7).

Defensively, Jeremiah Young is tied for eighth in the country with 7.5 sacks and tied for 12th with 12.5 tackles for-loss.

Patrick Batiste and Pig Cage also had interceptions against Northwestern State, with Batiste recording a pick for the third consecutive game.

ABOUT THE LIONS

Coming off a playoff appearance and entering the season ranked in the top-20, the Lions have had a wildly up-and-down season.

Southeastern has had very high moments, including an FBS win over Louisiana-Monroe and a 34-31 upset over a Lamar team ranked No. 8 in the country at the time.

But there have been notable down moments too, including losses to sub-.500 UTRGV and East Texas A&M teams, in which the Lions scored a combined 10 points. They lost 10-7 on a last-second field goal at ETAMU last week, dropping them to 4-5 overall and just 2-4 in the SLC.

SELA is middle of the pack in most statistical categories in the Southland, ranking fifth in both rushing offense and scoring offense, while ranking eighth in scoring offense and sixth in scoring defense.

Quarterback Kyle Lowe has thrown for 1,538 yards and 12 touchdowns, with Dkhai Joseph serving as his top target with 49 catches, 507 yards and two touchdowns.

Joseph has been even more dangerous in the return game, as he and Hibbler are first and second in the FCS in punt return yards. Joseph leads the nation with 368 yards and three touchdowns.

Defensively, Carter Hanberry is third in the SLC with 76 tackles, while the unit is second in the conference with nine fumble recoveries.

MATCHUP HISTORY

UIW holds a 7-6 all-time edge over the Lions and had won six of the previous seven meetings before SELA won a 10-7 slugfest in San Antonio last season.

The play of the game came when Southeastern defensive lineman Khalid Moore, who is tied for the team lead with 5.5 tackles for-loss this season, got a finger tip on a 38-yard UIW field goal attempt, causing it to bounce off the crossbar with seven seconds remaining. 

The last two meetings have been decided by three points, with the Cardinals winning 34-31 in Hammond in 2024.