COWBOY LASSO—SLU quarterback Brian Babin is tackled by McNeese State’s Deron Minor (48) and Vaalyn Jackson (8) on a scramble up middle in the first half of the Lions’ 24-14 loss to the Cowboys Saturday night. By John Lenz

When crunch time came Saturday night, there was no finesse in McNeese State's game. Just naked power and attitude up front, and Southeastern could not match muscle with the Cowboys.

    After retaking the momentum and pulling to within 21-14 on a fabulous circus catch for a touchdown by Kentwood native Andre Cryer, the Lions punted the ball to McNeese with 13:46 to play. And by the time they got it back, the game was over.

    The Cowboys launched an epic 19-play drive that included just one pass, covering 65 yards and eating 11:03 of the fourth quarter to set up Blake Forbis' game-clinching 31-yard field goal with 2:43 remaining to knock off the Lions 24-14 in Strawberry Stadium.

“We've got to find a way to get off the field. That's it,” Lions acting head coach Tommy Condell said after the Cowboys (5-3, 2-2) converted three third-down plays and a fourth-down play to keep the drive alive. “Those are money downs and we've got to get off the field.”

    The Lions (4-5, 1-3) couldn't find that way thanks to an inspired McNeese running back Todd Pendland, who slashed for 173 yards on 24 carries. And the fact that he was never caught behind the line speaks to a veteran Cowboys offensive line that imposed its will in the fourth quarter.

    “They're good and dirty,” said Lions linebacker Ryan Godare, who had nine tackles and forced a fumble Saturday night. “That's what you ask for in an offensive line is some big nasties, and that's what they were.”

    All but two of the snaps in the clinching march were runs, with Pendland getting 24 of the yards but quarterback Derrick Fourroux really hurting the Lions with five carries for 30 yards.

    “We ran the ball well and we used Derrick to run the ball as well, because of the extra people they had in the box,” McNeese head coach Matt Viator said. “They had the momentum. To be able to run that much of the clock off was absolutely important..”

    Southeastern meanwhile, never could get its offense going, thanks once again to a raft of penalties (11 for 74 yards) and an offense that could not keep the Cowboys off of Brian Babin.

    Babin finished 17-for-31 passing for just 168 yards and two touchdowns, but he was sacked five times and hurried on three others.

    “They've got a good front four and a good pressure package and you're in third down and long throughout the whole game, and you're doing that to yourself, you're not going to have much success,” Condell said.

    “You've got to keep them off-balance. We weren't able to do that with the offensive calls.”

    The Lions' good offensive stuff was all about Cryer. He put them on the board with a gift touchdown after Godare forced a Fourroux fumble which Travis Williams recovered for SLU at the McNeese 28.

Four plays later Babin looked right to a covered Chris Wilson, then back left and threw a laser to Cryer in the back of the end zone. Cowboys defensive back Jeremy Haynes jumped it, but the ball went right through his arms and into Cryer's mitts for the score.

Christmas, Andre?

“Yes it was,” he admitted. “I should have run to the ball, but I didn't see (Haynes). I'm glad he missed it.”

But then the Lions went dead on offense. McNeese tied it when Forroux followed up a 41-yard strike to Steve Whitehead with a four-yard touchdown pass to tight end Wes Mangan.

Less than two minutes later, Pendland exploded on a 60-yard sprint that set the stage for Fourroux's four-yard scoring keeper, part of his 65 net rushing yards on 14 carries, and the Cowboys led 14-7.

Whitehead then contributed an 18-yard punt return and carries of 12 and 4 yards off of direct snap plays before Pendland dashed in from the 11 to make it 21-7 just before halftime.

The Lions were dead at that point, having gone five series without a single first down. But in the second half, they drew life from several big defensive hits, then a huge play by Cryer.

Babin dropped back and unfurled a bomb to Cryer behind McNeese DB LaDarius Key. Cryer made an acrobatic leaping catch for another touchdown that pulled the Lions to within 21-14 with 2:48 left in the third period.

“That was a good ball by Babin,” Cryer said. “He was looking to me the whole time and he just threw it up. (Key) never knew where the ball was and I just adjusted to it.”

But two series later, McNeese launched a key-away drive to win it, punctuating a big defensive effort that limited the Lions to just 30 net rushing yards on 22 attempts. Jay Lucas averaged 4.5 yards per carry, but got only 11 carries and finished with 49 yards.

“I thought the key tonight was our defense,” Viator said. “Our defense made some big plays and got us off the field and back on offense. Our defense was fabulous tonight.”

    And when the chips were down, Southeastern couldn't answer in kind.

    “We stopped Steven (Whitehead) pretty well for the most part, but the running game just caught up with us,” Godare sighed. “We just couldn't shut them down when we needed to.”