LAKE CHARLES - Whether it was on the ground or in the air, McNeese State showed why it was the fifth-ranked team in the Football Championship Subdivision.

Mark Fontenot completed 15 of 16 passes for 261 yards and three first half touchdowns and the Cowboys piled up 570 yards total offense in a 45-17 Southland Conference victory over Southeastern before an announced crowd of 15,153 Saturday night at Cowboy Stadium.

McNeese State (8-0, 3-0 SLC) won its 13th straight regular-season game with a dominating performance that saw the Cowboys throw for 389 yards while piling up 181 yards on the ground. Carlese Franklin caught seven passes for 115 yards while Quinten Lawrence had 102 yards on three catches. Kris Bush ran for 78 yards on 16 carries as the Cowboys bulled its way to a 28-10 halftime lead.

"They are the fifth-ranked team in the country for a reason," Southeastern head coach Mike Lucas said. "They were more physical on both sides of the ball and we did not respond. We had our moments moving the football against them, but they had tremendous team speed and fed off a great crowd and good teams do that."

Southeastern (2-6, 1-3 SLC) managed to put together a few highlights as sophomore quarterback Brian Babin finished the night 19-for-32 for 239 yards and two touchdowns and senior wide receiver Byron Ross posted the first 100-yard game of his career, surpassing his previous high of 64 yards against Stephen F. Austin in 2006.

Ross grabbed eight passes for 129 yards and caught both of Babin's touchdown strikes, but it wasn't enough to overcome the Cowboys attack.

After each team opened the game with punts on their first drives, McNeese State (8-0, 4-0 SLC) struck first with a 49-yard touchdown pass from Mark Fontenot to Quentin Lawrence.

Southeastern, which will visit Texas State on Saturday, answered with a four-play 68-yard drive on the next possession that ended with a 26-yard touchdown pass from Babin to Ross. It was the third touchdown reception of the year for Ross, tying him for the team lead with Jay Lucas and Merrick Lanaux.

Babin was perfect on the drive, completing both passes for 47 yards and would go on to complete eight of 15 first half passes for 134 yards.

However, the Cowboy offense promptly responded five plays after the Southeastern touchdown as Fontenot found Charles Franklin for a 10-yard touchdown pass to reclaim a seven point advantage as the second quarter began.

After Southeastern went three and out to start the second quarter, the Cowboys put together a seven-play, 44-yard touchdown drive capped by a 1-yard run by Kris Bush to extend the McNeese lead to 21-7.

Each squad punted on the next possession before the Lions answered by chipping away at the McNeese lead with a 32-yard field goal by sophomore kicker Jeff Turner. Turner improved to 7-of-9 on the year and 4-of-5 from beyond 30-yards as Southeastern closed to 21-10.

But, once again, the McNeese State offense responded with a 76-yard drive that ended with Fontenot's third touchdown pass of the game - a 3-yard pass to Wesley Mangan - to send the Lions into halftime trailing 28-10.

Southeastern received the ball to start the second half but was forced to punt, and once again, McNeese put together a scoring drive, this one ending in a 41-yard field goal by Blake Bercegeay to make it 31-10.

The Lions looked to strike back on the next possession as Babin led Southeastern on a methodical 12-play 74-yard touchdown drive that ended with a 12-yard touchdown pass from Babin to Ross for his team-leading fourth touchdown reception of the season.

The drive included a crucial conversion on third-and-19 as Babin found junior running back Jay Lucas on a screen pass that went 23 yards. Babin finished the drive 5-for-5 with 63 yards as the Lions cut the Cowboy lead to 31-17.

However, the Southeastern defense was unable to hold as the McNeese State answered with a 58-yard touchdown on the next drive for a 38-17 entering the final quarter.

Lucas, who entered the game leading the SLC in rushing, was held to 40 yards on 16 carries. Tommy Connors finished with nine tackles to lead Southeastern while freshman Mark Newbill added eight.

Score by Quarters 1 2 3 4 Score
Southeastern La..... 7 3 7 0 - 17 Record: (2-6,1-3)
McNeese State....... 14 14 10 7 - 45 Record: (8-0,4-0)

Scoring Summary:
1st Quarter
MCN - Lawrence 49 pass from Fontenot (Bercegeay kick), 8:21
SLU - Ross 26 pass from Babin (Turner kick), 5:57
MCN - Franklin 10 pass from Fontenot (Bercegeay kick), 4:12

2nd Quarter
MCN - Bush 1 run (Bercegeay kick), 11:12
SLU - FG Turner 32, 3:35
MCN - Mangan 3 pass from Fontenot (Bercegeay kick), :54

3rd Quarter
MCN - FG Bercegeay 42, 8:25
SLU - Ross 12 pass from Babin (Turner kick), 2:05
MCN - Pendland 58 pass from Fourroux (Bercegeay kick), :43

4th Quarter
MCN - Fourroux 2 run (Bercegeay kick), 8:15

SLU MCN
FIRST DOWNS................... 19 28
RUSHES-YARDS (NET)............ 30-69 44-181
PASSING YDS (NET)............. 239 389
Passes Att-Comp-Int........... 34-19-1 28-20-0
TOTAL OFFENSE PLAYS-YARDS..... 64-308 72-570
Fumble Returns-Yards.......... 0-0 0-0
Punt Returns-Yards............ 1--13 3--3
Kickoff Returns-Yards......... 7-133 3-98
Interception Returns-Yards.... 0-0 1-0
Punts (Number-Avg)............ 7-36.9 3-41.3
Fumbles-Lost.................. 2-0 2-1
Penalties-Yards............... 4-40 8-120
Possession Time............... 28:01 25:24
Third-Down Conversions........ 5 of 15 7 of 11
Fourth-Down Conversions....... 0 of 1 0 of 0
Red-Zone Scores-Chances....... 2-2 4-4
Sacks By: Number-Yards........ 0-0 1-10

RUSHING
Southeastern La. - Lucas 16-40; Gilbert 4-23; Owen 2-6; Babin 5-6; Ross 1-minus 1; Neville 2-minus 5. McNeese State - Bush 16-78; Hubbard 8-33; Fourroux 6-30; Pendland 6-29; Jones 2-7; Lasseigne 1-5; Franklin 3-3; Team 2-minus 4.

PASSING:
Southeastern La. - Babin 19-32-1-239; Neville 0-2-0-0. McNeese State - Fontenot 15-16-0-261; Fourroux 5-12-0-128.

RECEIVING:
Southeastern La. - Ross 8-129; Lucas 5-57; Cryer 2-19; Gilbert 2-5; Sobalvarro 1-21; Smith 1-8. McNeese State - Franklin 7-115; Lawrence 3-102; Pendland 3-84; Friddle 2-38; Johnson 1-20; Smothers 1-11; Davis 1-11; Bush 1-5; Mangan 1-3.