Colonels looking to chase the top dogs in 2017

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Last year, the Nicholls football team won five Southland Conference games, finishing the league schedule with a record above .500 for the first time in a really long time.

Now, the Colonels are ready to fight for a ring and the playoff berth that comes with it.

Expectations are as high as they’ve been in years around the Nicholls program as third-year coach Tim Rebowe leads the Colonels into the 2017 season.


At Southland Conference Media Day last week in Texas, coaches and media members picked the Colonels to finish fifth out of 11 teams.

But with a slew of returnees off last year’s team, the Colonels think they have a shot to do even better than that, emphasizing that they’re not satisfied with merely being in the middle of the pack.

“We have a long way to go,” Rebowe said. “As much as we build on the positives, I’m going to tell our guys that we haven’t done anything yet. If you look at those conference standings and where we were picked, I would much rather look at the end of the season and see Nicholls get into the playoffs than where we were picked in the preseason.”


The Colonels believe they have a group that can do exactly that.

Offensively, Nicholls is led by sophomore quarterback Chase Fourcade, who’s looking to evolve from a game-manager to a full-fledged playmaker in 2017.

Last year, Fourcade thrived as a true freshman, completing 201-of-365 passes for 2,482 yards and 18 touchdowns. As a rusher, Fourcade also found ways to hurt opponents, generating 324 yards and nine scores.


With a full offseason to get bigger, faster and stronger, Rebowe said Fourcade has evolved and is a better player who is more physically equipped to handle the mental and physical grind that is an 11-game college football season.

“I thought when we went out to spring ball and Chase threw his first pass in the spring, I thought he was just a lot bigger, stronger and the ball had a little bit more zip on it,” Rebowe said. “I think he’s made tremendous strides in the offseason. He’s a lot more mature and I see him every day throwing since spring ball. We take the fall expecting him to have an outstanding season.”

On the edges, Nicholls is going to have a lot of summer competition at wide receiver after losing C.J. Bates to graduation last fall.


Bates caught 53 passes for 798 yards and nine touchdowns last season.

Rebowe said he’s not quite sure how the receiving depth chart will shake out, but added that he’s confident some guys will step up.

Nicholls media dayCOURTESY


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