Stephen F. Austin Outlasts McNeese 38-27 in the Opener
Both teams gave the ball away three times (two interceptions and a lost fumble apiece). Only one of them turned a giveaway into a touchdown, and that is the difference between a close game and the 38-27 final.
The Lumberjacks scored it on defense. With 5:27 left in the second quarter, Makai Frisby took an interception back 35 yards, and Stephen F. Austin was up 24-7. McNeese had actually struck first, an Elisha Edwards 45-yard catch from Jake Strong in the opening minutes, but SFA tied it 7-7 on a 37-yard Gavin Rutherford pass to Bugs Mortimer less than two minutes later and was in front from there. A 31-yard field goal and a 1-yard Jaylen Jenkins run built the rest of the lead.
The third quarter made it look finished. Rutherford hit Clayton Wayland from 35 yards to start the half (31-7), and Stetson Sarratt caught a 33-yarder with 0:25 left in the quarter for 38-13 (McNeese's Omiri Wiggins ran 75 yards for a score in between, though the extra point was blocked). McNeese was down 25 going into the fourth and nobody would have blamed it for packing up.
It did not. Wiggins caught a 7-yard touchdown from Devin Lippold, then Lippold scored himself from a yard out with 8:37 left, and suddenly it was 38-27. That was the last scoring of the day. McNeese ran for 199 yards on 33 carries, against 137 on 39 for SFA, but the Cowboys also gave up the pick-six and the margin held.
Stephen F. Austin is 1-0 and McNeese is 0-1. The fantasy read: Rutherford was the top scorer despite two interceptions and a lost fumble, because three touchdown passes will do that.