LSU defense falters in tough road loss at Georgia
October 1, 2013
Patterson ready to show Class 3A it means business
October 1, 2013
With three wins already under their belts, the Nicholls State football team has some confidence as it prepares to enter the conference portion of its schedule.
True, the Colonels’ last two victories against NAIA schools Langston College and Arkansas Tech haven’t been awe-inspiring, but the team nevertheless found ways to overcome obstacles and earn victories against teams that proved to be a thorn in its side.
Nicholls amassed 492 total yards in one of its best offensive showings to date last Saturday in a 44-34 victory over Arkansas Tech at John L. Guidry Stadium.
Quarterback Tuskani Figaro garnered his first career start and accounted for five touchdowns – three passing, two throwing – and rushed for 281 yard on 21 carries. He also threw for 94 yards through the air.
It wasn’t the Colonels’ most complete performance, as the team allowed 453 total yards and didn’t put the game out of reach until a late touchdown run from Figaro covered 88 yards to cap the game’s scoring.
But no matter how it has looked, the Colonels are 3-2 and have a bye week upcoming before Southland Conference play begins.
“It’s a big thing for these kids and getting a bye week allows us to freshen up,” Nicholls coach Charlie Stubbs said. “Right now, having an FBS victory (vs. Western Michigan) is also a big deal. I think the schedule works out as well as it can because we came out of the three FBS games with some highs and lows. Unfortunately, we also had a few injuries, but I think the schedule is probably in the best order.”
Now, the Colonels can lick their wounds a bit as they prepare for Northwestern State on October 12.
The team would like to see some consistency and improved play as it goes into second half of its schedule. To that end, Stubbs said he’d like to see Nicholls take a step toward correcting some of the issues it’s had with penalties and get more aggressive defensively.
“We’re attacking, but we only had two sacks in our first four games,” Stubbs noted. “We have not had that many tackles for loss, so I’d like to see us really penetrate and force opposing offenses to be in really long-yardage situations.
“Then on special teams, we’ve got to get more consistent. We’ve given up too many long returns. For us to be successful in our conference, we have got to win most games in that phase.”
Colonel players agree that the team needs to improve in some areas.
Beaux Hebert, who has started three of the Colonels’ five games this year, didn’t see much playing time in last Saturday’s victory during Figaro’s coming-out party but figures to get plenty of snaps during conference play.
Hebert said the team needs to put together four quarters and get off to better starts. Nicholls trailed, 16-7, in the first half against Langston on September 21 and while they never trailed against Arkansas Tech, the team did allow 21 second-quarter points after taking a 14-0 lead.
“A lot of team’s motto is ‘finish,’ but we’ve got to start good, too,” said Hebert. “You don’t want to let them come out and dictate.”
Tight end Nick Scelfo said the team needs to keep finishing drives. Nicholls did that last Saturday, going 4-for-4 with four touchdowns in the red zone in the first half alone.
The Colonels added a 30-yard Andrew Dolan field goal on another trip to the red zone in the fourth quarter.
“The biggest emphasis with us in (camp) was red-zone scoring because we’d struggled with that,” said Scelfo, who caught two passes for 15 yards and a touchdown. “Even early in the season, we struggled there, so that’s always an emphasis.
“I said this in the fall, but you can drive the ball 700 yards down field (a game), but if you don’t score points, you can’t win the game. You can have as good an offense as you want, but unless you finish drives, you’re not going to win. That’s really been our focus throughout fall camp and the rest of this year: finishing drives and scoring points.”
However things work out in conference play, the Colonels say they feel more battle tested having faced three FBS teams to open the season, something that no other Southland team can boast.
“There are a lot of teams that are really strong and we’re going to have to do our work, but we’re really excited,” Stubbs said. “It’s going to go down to the fourth quarter in a lot of games and even overtimes. What we’ve got to do is stay healthy, continue to improve, and be solid in all three phases. We’re not good enough in any phase to dominate a game.”
Following the bye week, Nicholls will host Northwestern State at John L. Guidry Stadium.
Nicholls State quarterback Tuskani Figaro darts up the field during a preseason practice. In the first start of his career, Figaro rushed for 281 yards – a single-game rushing record for the Colonels. The Colonels are 3-2 so far this season heading into Southland Conference play. Following a bye week, Nicholls will host Northwestern State in the opener of the Southland slate. Nicholls believes that it will be successful in league games if it cleans up its pass rush and its big play ability.
