NATCHITOCHES — Just when you want to stand up and applaud, or embrace this team as a true national championship contender, doubt creeps in.

It comes after a jaw-dropping first half of near perfection. After three quarters of total control.

The doubt shows up during a panic-filled fourth quarter that leaves an apparent blowout in the hands of an onside kick recovery.

The final outcome leaves you scratching your head after covering your eyes.

Rarely has a seven-point win over a heated rival seemed so unsatisfying, or left you so confused.

For three quarters McNeese looked like the team we expected. Overpowering, fast, dominating, a juggernaut rolling through opponents.

Then in the blink of an eye everything changed. Total domination turned to complete hibernation for a defense.

And the offense, which had steam rolled through Northwestern State like a runaway locomotive through paper, was stopped dead in its tracks.

The reversal of fortune Saturday night almost cost the Cowboys everything — almost.

A 32-point lead had been reduced to a touchdown with just over two minutes left.

Suddenly a team that looked like champions needed to recover that onside kick and get a fourth-down stop to avoid a collapse of historic proportions.

What had seemed like an easy win an hour earlier had become a survival test.

The Cowboys found a way to pass, but left Turpin Stadium standing but a bit shaky.

“We got the W, it is all good,” said senior safety Aaron Sam. 

That is one way of looking at it. The 35-28 victory over the Demons kept all of McNeese’s season dreams alive. 

So maybe the glass is half full.

For others it is half empty after almost being completely shattered.

“We won the game, that is all that matters,” said head coach Matt Viator.

Yet there are holes in that story.

McNeese didn’t score a point in the second half and gained just 88 yards after getting 287 and 35 points in the first.

And the players are going down with injuries at an alarming rate.

“We are just running out of guys,” Viator said. 

That helps explain it.  

But 24 straight points and 22 in the fourth quarter seems a little much considering the McNeese defense had five sacks in the first half and allowed just three first downs and a field goal.

“I’m not sure what happened,” Sam said. “The good news is at the end we stood up to the challenge at the end.”

At the very end make that.

Freshman Dominique Hill broke up the final Zach Adkins pass of the night on fourth down with just under a minute remaining. 

That came moments after another freshman, David Bush, recovered an onside kick. But three running plays didn’t pick up a game-clinching first down for the Cowboys.

“We have to be able to finish,” Hill said. “We have to keep stepping on their throats.”

This does seem to be about the Cowboys and their killer instinct.

We have seen this in years past. Games that look to be over are left hanging. 

“We can’t be satisfied with how it ended,” Hill said. “The victory is great, but we have to finish stronger.”

Usually a win that keeps you in first place, against a rival on the road is more than enough to cheer about.

However, this team has bigger aspirations. 

It is them who talk about playing for a national championship. It is them who talk about the playoffs.

It is also them who have set the bar so high. Not just when it comes to this season but this game.

When you make the first half look so easy you leave folks to wonder what is wrong when you make things so hard at the finish.

“It is a mixed feeling,” Hill said. “We have to find a way to stay focused, to handle our business until the end.”

This is why so many people who like this team expect more out of it. The Cowboys have shown us just how good they can be. They have also shown us the other side too.

It leaves many wondering just what team is going to show up and when.

“I don’t know if it is that frustrating if it only happens once,” Sam said. “If it happens over and over again then it gets frustrating.”

He then said the team has already moved on to the next game, forgetting everything but the victory.

“We got the win and everything else is erased,” Sam said.

As long as they keep the glass half full, it will be easy for forget it has a crack.

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Jim Gazzolo is managing sports editor. Email him at jgazzolo@americanpress.com(Roddy Johnson/Special to the American Press)

Roddy Johnson