Wolf Pack devours Nicholls State, 52-17

NSU Sports Information Desk

The Colonels picked up their first loss of the season on Saturday night in Mackay Stadium, while Division I- Football Bowl Subdivision participant Nevada recorded their first win of their 2007 campaign with the Wolf Pack defeating Nicholls 52-17.

&#8220They (Nevada) showed why they were in a bowl game last year and that they are going to be a force in their conference this year here tonight,” said head coach Jay Thomas. &#8220I think that we (Nicholls) got better as a team tonight, especially with a lot of our younger players getting some playing time.”

In the loss, senior fullback Broderick Cole moved up the Colonels’ all-time rushing list with 58-yards in the contest, and climbed further up the all-time scoring list with his third quarter touchdown.

Cole is currently in the eighth spot on both lists with 1,655 career rushing yards and 144 points. Also standing out for the Colonels was junior Zack Morgan who had 51-yards to his credit and a 42-yard touchdown scamper.

Nicholls (2-1) drew first blood on a 32-yard field goal by Alex Romero that capped off a 10-play 60-yard drive that used 5:57 of official game time in the first quarter at the 6:53 mark.

The scoring drive was made possibly after senior defensive back Lester Brooks intercepted Nevada’s Nick Graziano on the Wolf Pack’s opening drive.

On the next Wolf Pack (1-2) drive, senior defensive back Jermaine Boggan picked off Graziano for his second turnover of the game in only the first quarter.

The Colonels offense sputtered, and senior punter Sean Comeaux was forced to punt, and his 36-yard punt put Nevada at their own 3-yard line to start their third drive of the game.

After Nevada showed signs of life on offense, the Colonels defense forced the Wolf Pack to punt, and Nicholls put together a four-play, 68-yard scoring drive that was capped off by a 42-yard touchdown run by junior running back Zack Morgan with 18.9 seconds left in the first quarter. The scoring drive lasted 1:11 as the Colonels took a 10-0 lead.

The first quarter ended with Nicholls on top 10-0.

On the Wolf Pack’s fourth drive of the game, Graziano settled down for Nevada as they marched down the field for 52-yards on 10-plays, but were forced to settle for a 45-yard field goal by Brett Jaekle to make the score 10-3 at the 12:05 mark of the second quarter.

Jaekle’s 45-yard field goal was a career long, and it extended Nevada’s streak of 320 consecutive games of not being shut out. The streak began in 1980 and is the longest current streak in the nation.

The Wolf Pack continued to build on their success as Graziano hit Adam Bishop for a 25-yard touchdown reception at the 6:47 yard mark of the second quarter.

The scoring drive totaled six plays and 63 yards and used 2:19 of official game clock, and Jaekle added the extra point to tie the game 10-10.

Graziano finished the game with five touchdowns and 236 yards passing as he completed 11-of-23 passes.

With the Wolf Pack score came the momentum swing to Nevada as Nicholls attempted a fake punt at the 5:55 mark of the second quarter on the Colonels own 28-yard line. Morgan’s rushing attempt was stopped for a loss and Nevada took over at the Colonels 25-yard line.

It only took two plays for the Wolf Pack to score with Luke Lippincott doing the deed by running it in from 16-yards out at the 5:08 mark.

Jaekle added the extra point as Nevada took their first lead of the ball game with the 17-10 advantage. Lippincott finished the game with 127 yards rushing and the lone score.

The Colonels stalled on the ensuing offensive possession, and punted to Nevada.

The Wolf Pack only needed two plays to score as Graziano connected with Marko Mitchell for the 49-yard touchdown reception.

Jaekle tacked on the extra point to give the Wolf Pack theNevada continued its scoring onslaught as they put points on the scoreboard on their next possession that also took just two plays with this one coming on a 52-yard pass from Graziano to Arthur King Jr. The scoring drive totaled just 12 seconds as the Wolf Pack closed out the half by scoring 31 unanswered points.

With Nicholls differing to the second half after winning the coin toss, the Colonels opened up the third quarter on offense, but went a quick three and out and gave the ball back to the Wolf Pack. Nevada picked up right where they left off with a Graziano touchdown pass to Bishop for 17-yards.

Jaekle added the extra point to complete the 6-play 35-yard scoring drive to give the Wolf Pack the 38-10 advantage at the 2:22 mark of the third quarter.

The Colonels showed signs of life on offense as they followed up Nevada’s scoring drive with one of their own as Cole ran it to pay dirt from 14 yards out to cap off a seven play, 58-yard drive.

Romero tacked on the extra point to make the score 38-17 in favor of Nevada at the 8:24 mark of the third quarter.

With the score, Cole moved into eighth place on Nicholls’ all-time scoring list with 144 points to his credit.

The New Orleans native also finished with 58 yards rushing to etch him eighth on the Colonels all-time rushing list with 1,655.

Nevada put another touchdown on the scoreboard in the third quarter to make the score 45-17, which rounded out the third quarter.

Nicholls did not score in the fourth quarter, but Nevada added a touchdown in the final 15:00 minutes to give the Wolf Pack the 51-17 lead that would be the final score

The Colonels will be back at home in John L. Guidry Stadium on Saturday as they take on the Cougars of Azusa Pacific.

Game time is for 12 p.m. and during halftime, the 2007 Colonel Hall of Fame class will be inducted.