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Every turnaround has to start somewhere, and no team in the Southland Conference could use a turnaround on defense more than Nicholls State right now.
With 50-plus points allowed now in each of its last three contests, the Nicholls State football team is going back to work on some basic fundamentals.
Since a 33-21 victory over Northwestern State to open conference play back on October 12 – a game in which Nicholls had shut out the Demons at halftime, 27-0 – the next three contests have all been a consistent barrage of points allowed.
As in: 55 points allowed, 55 points allowed, 56 points allowed.
Lamar was the latest offense to feast on the Colonels defense, rolling to 421 total yards and 35 first-half points.
Nicholls’ offense was no slouch and actually out-gained the Cardinals, 483-421 in yards, but the team had a difficult task trying to play catch-up after falling into a rut early and being down 35-17 at halftime and ultimately losing 56-34.
As for what can be done to fix the defense, Nicholls coaches say they’re starting with the basics. That’s because according to Colonels defensive coordinator Jeremy Atwell, fundamentals were the first thing that stood out after watching game film in recent weeks.
“You look at the yardage and everybody looks at the statistics, and you go, ‘Wow.’ We watched it without looking at the results or anything and we asked ourselves how we gave up the statistics that we gave up. You get a defensive tackle not getting in his gap and that turns into a 30-yard or a 20-yard run. That adds up on you,” Atwell said.
Indeed, rush defense has been a particular sore spot for Nicholls in recent weeks. In back to back weeks against Stephen F. Austin and McNeese, the Colonels allowed 334 and 313 yards, respectively, on the ground.
Against Lamar, Nicholls surrendered a more modest 92 yards rushing but gave up over 300 yards through the air and five touchdowns to quarterback Caleb Berry.
The defense’s struggles have all been a combination of the little things, said Nicholls linebacker Chris Bermond.
“It’s gap integrity and little mental errors that can be easily fixed,” Bermond said. “It definitely starts up front and then it goes to us and then goes from there. If we’re not getting pressure on the quarterback, then our secondary is going to look bad.”
“When you blitz and everybody is gap sound, then we’ve got a great defensive play,” added Nicholls coach Charlie Stubbs. “But sometimes young, inexperienced guys will stick their nose in the wrong gap and then all of a sudden there’s a big play. But if everything is tied together, we can stop people.”
For his part, Stubbs said that while the Colonels need to improve on the fundamental aspects such as missed tackles, part of the defense’s struggles has been due to the caliber of opponents the team has faced recently.
McNeese and Stephen F. Austin both rank second and third in the conference in scoring offense, with the Lumberjacks being first in total offense.
“Some of it is our opponents creating some match-up problems for us,” Stubbs said. “What we try not to get locked into are the yards that are gained. We’re trying to force our opponents to kick field goals or create turnovers. The defensive players, I feel like they’re working hard and there are none of them that want success more than they do.”
Another thing that’s affected the Colonels is injuries. Because of that, Nicholls has had to make some adjustments by reshuffling some players into different positions.
Injuries have also forced other players to stay on the field for longer stretches of time.
“We’re a thin football team,” Stubbs said. “We’ve got some defensive football players playing every snap all the time. We’re just thin. It’s an area we just need to create more depth in, but of course you’ve got to get better, too.
Despite the struggles in recent weeks, the Nicholls coaching staff remains upbeat.
The Colonels have still been competitive in all three games largely because of an offense that has put up 41, 30 and 35 points respectively in that span.
Now it’s time for the team to come together in all three phases, Stubbs said.
They’ll have to in order to have any chance against Sam Houston State – the Southland Conference leader in scoring offense – next week.
“We’ve been in a lot of games this year,” he said. “Last year, we weren’t even in some games in the second half. As I said at the very beginning of the year, it’s a team game and offense, defense and special teams have to come through for Nicholls to win. We’re excited because we know that if we put it all together, we can win games down the stretch.”
The Nicholls State defense has struggled throughout the 2013 season. The Colonels have routinely given up 400-plus yards in games. Nicholls coach Charlie Stubbs believes that if the team can fix its problems, the Colonels can contend in the Southland Conference chase the rest of the season.
