The No. 6 ranked McNeese State Cowboys turned three Bearkat second half turnovers into 21 points to defeat Sam Houston State 31-21 at Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, LA, Saturday.

After falling behind 10-0 in the first quarter, the Bearkats came back to narrow the margin to 10-7 at intermission. But two fumbles early in the third quarter resulted in 14 McNeese points in 17 seconds as the Cowboys went up 24-7. McNeese later scored an insurance touchdown after a third fumble to put the game out of reach.

An offensive battle, the game featured 939 yards total offense with McNeese gaining 520 total yards and Sam Houston 419.

Sophomore running back Chris Poullard had his second 100-yard rushing game of the 2007 season, carrying 21 times for 103 yards including touchdown runs of seven and six yards. He also caught a 14-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Rhett Bomar with 1:04 to play.

The difference in the game was McNeese's ability to take advantage of turnovers. The Cowboys (6-0, 2-0) scored three touchdowns following three SHSU fumbles while the Bearkats only scored on one of three balls coughed up by McNeese.

“We were fortunate in the first half to get two turnovers that kept us in the game, but unfortunately we didn't come away with any points,” SHSU head coach Todd Whitten said. “It didn't take long for them to strike in the second half. When you play a team like McNeese on the road, you can't turn the ball over.

“We worked really hard at that, but we weren't able to get it done. But I thought in a lot of areas we played better, we just didn't finish it in the end.”

The Cowboys turned the ball over two times in the first half (three overall), but Sam Houston couldn't capitalize and trailed 10-7 heading into the break.

With the Kats driving to start the third period, quarterback Rhett Bomar hit tight end Blake Martin for an 11-yard gain around midfield. Martin fumbled while fighting for extra yardage, and eight plays later, Cowboys running back Toddrick Pendland bulldozed his way into the end zone from 14 yards out for a 17-7 lead following the kick.

On the ensuing kickoff, wide receiver Catron Houston put the ball on the ground. This time it took Pendland only one play to take it in from 24 yards out. The extra point by kicker Blake Bercegeay was good, and just like that SHSU was down 24-7.

“We fought hard, and that is one thing we always do even if we don't play as well as we want to,” Bearkats linebacker Luke McCall said. “We just can't win games giving up turnovers and big plays. They got two right there to start the third. Our offense had some turnovers, but there is nothing we can do about that. But we also gave up some big third-down conversions and had some missed tackles. You can't win games when you play like that.”

The bright spot for the SHSU offense was the play of sophomore running back Chris Poullard. Despite matching up with the conference's top rushing defense, Poullard found some room to run and racked up 103 yards on 19 carries (an average of 4.9) and scored two rushing touchdowns.

Poullard's first score came in the second quarter on a 7-yard race to the left corner of the end zone to help cut the Cowboy's lead to 10-7. He later scored on another 7-yard run in the fourth and added the Kats' last touchdown on a 20-yard pass from Bomar with a minute left in the game.

“Last week, we knew were going to run the ball,” Poullard said. “We worked on some different schemes and the offensive line did a great job. I did my part and tried to help the team win, but we had some turnovers.

“We came out in the first half and were in the game at 10-7 and had no turnovers. But we had two in the third and got down 24-7. That kind of took away from our game plan.”

Bomar finished the night 22-of-35 passing for 277 yards and a touchdown, but faced constant pressure from the McNeese defense. The Cowboys held Bomar to 39 yards rushing on 12 carries and recorded two sacks.

All-SLC defensive end Bryan Smith had one and a half sacks to bring his conference-leading total to nine.

In the meantime, the McNeese offense came up with some big plays with Pendland scoring three touchdowns to go along with 90 yards rushing. Quarterback Derrick Fourroux was efficient as always, completing 21-of-30 attempts for 281 yards and a touchdown.

Wide receivers Carlese Franklin and Quinten Lawrence did most of the damage, combining for 203 yards receiving on 14 catches. Fourroux hit Lawrence for a 50-yard scoring strike down the middle with just over three minutes left in the game to seal it.

The Kats get the chance to turn things around Saturday when they host Northwestern State at 2 p.m.

“I think we have a pretty good football team, but it is frustrating to lose four in a row,” Whitten said. “We are in the toughest part of our schedule; well, the entire schedule is tough. We've just got to stick together as a team and bounce back.”

We got a great opportunity next week with homecoming, and it's a chance for us to regain some confidence and get another W.”