PINE BLUFF -- Time for round two as the Golden Lions head down to Louisiana to face 18th-ranked McNeese State tomorrow afternoon at Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles. Kickoff is scheduled for 7:30 p.m. and will be broadcast live on Comcast SportsNet Houston. The game will also be on the radio on KUAP, 89.7 FM in Pine Bluff.

This is the first meeting between UAPB and McNeese State. The two teams had very different results in their opening games as UAPB lost their first game, while McNeese State was a big winner.

With several key players sidelined, including a handful of starters, the Arkansas-Pine Bluff Golden Lions lost to defending Sun Belt Conference champions Arkansas State 62-11. A-State had four different rushers with over 100 yards and the Red Wolves piled up 672 yards of total offense, 509 rushing. Meanwhile, the Golden Lions, who averaged close to 400 total yards in 2012, was held to just 173 total yards.

McNeese defeated South Florida 53-21 on the road in their opening game. The Cowboys scored 40 unanswered points, including 31 in the third quarter alone, rolling off one of the biggest wins in school history at Raymond James Stadium. It was the school's first-ever win over an automatic qualifying Bowl Championship Subdivision (BCS) team.

Going into Saturday, the Golden Lions hope to have most of the players that missed the opener back on the field.

Tale of the Tape

With both teams having such different results in their first games, the comparisons are a bit lopsided. Besides the point differential, McNeese rolled up 424 total yards against South Florida, while UAPB had 173 against Arkansas State. There is also a wide gap between the teams on total defense as McNeese surrendered a sizeable chunk at 342 yards. However, the Golden Lions gave up 672.

Next up

The Golden Lions will get a taste of home cooking next Saturday as they face Alabama State in a huge Southwestern Athletic Conference game at Golden Lion Stadium.