Week 5 Southland Football Preview

Week 4 showed why this will remain a two-bid league, with one team posting a dominant road win and the other taking a home win. While two Louisiana teams earned critical conference wins, two more Texas teams picked up FBS paychecks, and the Southland Conference will play a near-full slate this week. Southeastern Louisiana is on a bye this week.

UIW (2-2, 1-0 SLC) at #8 SFA (5-0, 2-0 SLC) | 5:00 p.m.

Nacogdoches will host a pair of undefeated Southland Conference teams this weekend as the Lumberjacks will entertain the Incarnate Word Cardinals. The last time the two teams met was last season in San Antonio, where the Lumberjacks won 31-17. SFA holds a 6-3 series advantage. The last Cardinals victory was in 2024 in Nacogdoches with a 27-20 win.

Incarnate Word closed out its non-conference schedule with a 62-10 loss to Texas State last weekend in San Marcos. Quarterback Emmett Brown had a total of 250 yards of offense and a touchdown. The Cardinals' rest of the schedule will focus now on the Southland Conference but will face a tricky road test against Stephen F. Austin, who are undefeated at home.

When asked about facing the Lumberjacks on the road, head coach Clint Killough said, “We need to eliminate our mistakes and play some clean football. They are very solid on both sides of the ball and have big play capabilities that can hurt you at any time.”

The Lumberjacks closed out their non-conference schedule with a 63-14 win over Northeastern State.

Quarterback Gavin Rutherford continued his offensive spree with 309 total yards and five touchdowns. Also having standout games were Bugs Mortimor and Jeffery Jones, who had a combined 269 all-purpose yards and two touchdowns.

“It was great to close out the non-conference like this in front of a huge crowd tonight,” said Colby Carthel after the victory. “We played a lot of people tonight, which was good for us. We saw plenty of great things on both sides of the ball, but now we must put our focus on Incarnate Word, who has a 1-0 record in conference play.”

Nicholls (2-3, 1-1 SLC) at Houston Christian University (2-3, 1-1 SLC) | 6:00 p.m.

Both teams arrive this week with losses in their most recent results. Nicholls took its first home conference loss of the season, losing to Lamar 49-18. Houston Christian lost to North Texas on the road, 63-14. Historically, the Colonels have the overall edge with a 10-2 record.

Nicholls has not had success on the road this season, but this game may serve as an opportunity for them to bounce back as they try to get back into winning ways.

“It was not a great showing for us last week, but now we turn the page as we face a great opponent which plays well at home,” head coach Tommy Rybacki said. “I feel that this was a bit of a wake-up call for us, and we need to focus on getting back to the basics.”

The Huskies return to their friendly confines after playing four of five on the road, but it will be their first home conference game of the season. Coincidentally, the last time the Huskies hosted the Colonels was in 2024, and it was Houston Christian that took the victory, 24-21.

“It will be nice to be back home and hopefully be able to put a good performance. Practice has been very good and Nicholls is a very good team in which we need to keep everything in front of us if we are going to win,” Huskies head coach Jason Bachtel said in an interview.

UTRGV (2-2, 1-1 SLC) at East Texas A&M (1-4, 1-2 SLC) | 6:00 p.m.

UTRGV may be in its second season, but the signs of turning the corner are still showing. The Vaqueros are seeking their second road win in the Southland Conference, and a win in Commerce would boost confidence.

When talking about limiting the Lions' big-play abilities, head coach Travis Bush said, “They're gonna make plays, so it's a matter of limiting them, uh, trying to slow them down; you're not gonna stop them. But really, just trying not to get many gifts, make them earn it, but yeah, they got some guys that can go, and they actually, well, you can coach those; all is a great offensive mind. They do a good job. They scheme things well offensively.

So, and he always does a good job, you know, trying to find your weaknesses on your defense. So, and if, for us, their defense is sound, they fly around. They got some good physical guys back there in the secondary, and the D-line is solid. So it's gonna be, again, we're gonna have to play our best across the board to have a chance.”

The Lions staged a late comeback that fell short last week on the road against McNeese. But they do have a home conference win over Northwestern State this season.

“A little more time or a little fewer mistakes would have been more ideal,” Clint Dozel said in a recent interview. “To have success, we need to create matchup problems in the front because they (UTRGV) play so well on defense.”

Northwestern State (0-5, 0-2 SLC) at #14 Lamar (3-1, 1-0 SLC) | 6:00 p.m.

The Cardinals are just a game under .500 (12-13-1) all-time against Northwestern State and have been making up ground in the series recently. While the two teams have split the past 10 meetings, Lamar has won three straight and four of the previous five meetings and is 6-2-1 (.722) all-time against the Demons in Beaumont. A victory on Saturday would equal the longest Lamar win streak in series history.

For the Demons, after dropping their fifth straight contest, most recently against Southeastern Louisiana, head coach Blaine McCorkle continues to see progress from his young quarterback, who threw for three more touchdowns.

“Zack Wilcke has been very good for us despite not getting the results. He has been very good and making great progress for us.”

When asked about this week's opponent, McCorkle said, “The Cardinals are a well-coached team that will probably make the playoffs. Those guys are sound fundamentally, and they will make you pay for your mistakes.”

Lamar earned a statement win on the road versus Nicholls, 49-18.

“It felt great to get a win on the road at a place like Nicholls. To get two road wins out of three felt pretty good,” Cardinals head coach Pete Rossomondo said. “Northwestern State has some really good athletes; it is not a reflection of what they are as a team. They are young but have some really good skill players.”

McNeese (2-3, 1-2 SLC) at LSU (3-1, 1-1 SEC) | 6:45 p.m.

McNeese survived a late rally from East Texas A&M to win its first conference game, 27-24 at home. This will be only the third time that the Cowboys will play LSU and the first since 2021. McNeese lost 34-7 in the last meeting.

“It was a great win for us, especially to close it out at home like that,” head coach Matt Viator said. “We have some stuff to clean up from a penalty aspect because we are going up against a team that utilizes the run-pass option very well with Sam Leavitt.”

LSU Tigers need no formal introductions after a very busy offseason on- and off-the-field matters, but they have a few statement wins on their schedule and are primed to be a playoff team on their own with an experienced and controversial head coach in Lane Kiffin.