Making the Grade: Colonels have work to do after bye week

Terrebonne gets its turf … but it shouldn’t have taken this long!
October 24, 2018
Martin enjoying collegiate success
October 24, 2018
Terrebonne gets its turf … but it shouldn’t have taken this long!
October 24, 2018
Martin enjoying collegiate success
October 24, 2018

The halfway point of the Nicholls State University football season has passed us, but we figured we’d treat this weekend as such with the bye week on the schedule.


The Colonels will return to the field on Saturday against Incarnate Word in Thibodaux — the start of a four-game stretch for Nicholls which will dictate whether or not the team returns to the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs.

The Colonels are 4-3 going into the game and are firmly on the bubble. They can seal their own fate with wins in the final weeks of the year — all games that the Colonels could win.

With the bye week this past Saturday and no game to recap, we decided to give out grades to the Colonels’ three phases, while talking about players to look out for in the final month of the season.


OFFENSE:

Grade: C+

I expected more out of the Nicholls offense than what we’re seeing. Quarterback Chase Fourcade is now a three-year starter. He’s seen everything that there is to see and has faced everyone there is to face. With all of his experience and talented returnees all over the field, I thought for sure that we’d see the Colonels soar and become a prolific, high-powered offense in 2018. The Colonels aren’t bad offensively — not at all. But they’re not dominant, either. They rank just No. 8 in the Southland in scoring (24.3 points per game) and they’re No. 6 in total offense (424.4 yards per game). There are a lot of reasons for the team’s struggles, but I think it’s time we give a little of it to Fourcade, himself. Look, the dude is a terrific player. He makes plays with his arm and legs both. But Chase is a junior now. It’s time to become a more prolific passer and a more accurate passer. Last year, Fourcade completed 54.4 percent of his 298 passes — all while battling injuries throughout the year. Now healthy, his completion percentage has only been lifted marginally, up to 54.8 percent in 2018. In today’s world of high-powered offenses and teams scoring 30, 40 or even 50 points per game, that’s not enough. To be fair, he offsets some of this by making plays with his legs, but we’d love to see that completion percentage test 60 percent before the end of next season. Fourcade is capable of doing it. He’s a wonderful student-athlete and is as gifted a quarterback as Nicholls has ever had. But now is the time with the playoffs on the line. He and his receivers have to better support that dominant Colonels’ rushing attack, which has outgained opponents 1,458-932 on the ground this season, averaging 208.3 yards rushing on the year.


GUY TO WATCH: Halfback Julien Gums – This guy has come on big in the past few weeks. He will be a force down the stretch.

DEFENSE

Grade: A


The Colonels’ defense is mean. They’re No. 1 in the Southland in scoring defense, allowing just 22.4 points per game. Their scoring success is because the team doesn’t allow many yards, giving up just 335.6 yards per game — enough to rank second in the league behind McNeese State. The Colonels could be better at handling the run in the second half of the season. So far, they give up 133.1 yards on the ground per game with a 3.7 yards per carry average. If they can do that, they will force more opponents into third and long, obvious passing situations. When that happens, the Colonels can potentially pounce. Nicholls is first in the Southland in passing defense and fourth in sacks. If the Colonels can dictate the pace of the game and control what teams do with their playcalling, they’re awfully hard to deal with. Evan Veron is arguably the best player in the entire Southland Conference right now, owning just a ridiculous 16.5 tackles for loss in just 7 games. But Sully Laiche, Ronald Ollie and others aren’t too bad, either. The Colonels also are strong on third down defense, allowing opponents to convert just 33.7 percent of their tries on the season. That’s a remarkably low number.

GUY TO WATCH: Linebacker Evan Veron – This dude is just a mean, nasty football player. He’s worth the price of admission each Saturday.

SPECIAL TEAMS


Grade: D

The Southland Conference has a lot of parity, which means there will always be a lot of close, hard-fought games. That puts a strong onus on special teams and the Colonels have not answered the bell. Nicholls’ kicking game has been a bit of a wreck this season, which is a huge surprise because senior kicker Lorran Fonseca was money in 2017. But this year, everything has been an adventure for the Colonels, who are last in the conference in extra point percentage (three misses) and No. 9 in field goal percentage (53 percent). It’s almost impossible to win close games with kicking problems. The Colonels absolutely, positively have to clean up this phase if they want to have any hope to get to the playoff. On coverage and return units, the Colonels are a little better, but nothing special. Most of the Nicholls special teams groups are middle of the pack in the conference — at best.

Nicholls football


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