Nicholls wraps up spring football

The sleds are being hit just a little bit harder at Nicholls State University this spring.

The pads are popping a little louder; the drills are being run more briskly and there is slightly more attention being paid to detail.

The Nicholls State football team won just one game in 2011.

That sour taste has been on everyone’s minds for the past month as the team has gone through its annual spring practices.

“It’s a bad taste in our mouths,” junior quarterback Landry Klann said. “We know that we should have done significantly better than we did a year ago. How disappointed we were, you can’t even really explain that. Every day, we come out here and we’re thinking about that.”

“Attitude – we just have a different attitude and a different effort,” senior wide receiver LaQuintin Caston said. “Everybody here wants to wipe that record away. Obviously, as a team, we’ve put that record behind us in terms of the standings, but we still remember that we have something to prove.”

Probably one of the reasons why the Colonels are so hungry is because of the number of players on the roster who lived through last season’s nightmare campaign.

The Colonels return virtually a vast majority of their starters on both ends of the football.

On offense, two-headed quarterback monster of Klann and sophomore Beaux Hebert return under center.

That duo combined to complete 60-of-101 passes in 2011 with more than 600 yards and three touchdowns.

But Klann and Hebert also tossed a combined eight interceptions.

Klann said he believes those numbers will be flipped around this fall because of the hard work both signal callers have put in to polish their craft.

“Arm strength was the big thing for me and then in general, just footwork and speed,” Klann said. “I know both he and I did a lot to polish up all of the main things for a quarterback. We watched film to work on the mental game to make sure that decisions are made quicker and we’re able to anticipate what the defense is trying to do.”

Nicholls State coach Charlie Stubbs apparently believes in the improvement of the quarterbacks, because the third-year coach decided following last season that he would move senior LaQuintin Caston to wide receiver.

Prior to his new role as a slot target, Caston was a two-year starter under center, establishing himself as one of the best dual threat players in the Southland Conference.

As a receiver, he figures to be an elite weapon within the team’s offense.

“His athleticism is uncanny,” Klann said. “He has the ability to take it to the house every, single play. This will give him an opportunity where he can be the ball and be athletic.”

But in addition to the athleticism, Klann said Caston also brings intelligence to the position. The quarterback said Caston’s experience under center allows him to understand things other receivers may not.

Caston gave an example of that experience and detailed a play from a recent practice.

“I was running a route and the route was supposed to be 14 yards down the field, but I saw the defense blitz, so I knew I couldn’t make it the whole 14 yards before Landry would get hit,” Caston said. “So I broke my route out short, which gave me the opportunity to be open. Giving the quarterback a second option faster than he expected is a big help, especially when the blitz is on.”

Like on offense, Nicholls returns a slew of players on defense.

Probably the most prominent returnees are linebacker Jordan Piper and defensive backs Siegan Vergenal and Jordan Hanberry.

Piper said with so many returnees, the Colonels are schematically sound. He said the group’s biggest point of emphasis this spring has been on communication.

“We’re trying to get our alignment assignment down,” Piper said. “We want to know where we’re at, know where we’re there and know what we’re doing. Once that happens, everything else takes care of itself.

“We want our defenders to be individuals within the team. Take care of your business and then the team will be better.”

Being better is what it all comes back to in Thibodaux.

The Colonels open the season Sept. 1 against Oregon State and play a schedule that also includes South Alabama, Tulsa and the entire Southland Conference slate.

Stubbs believes his team is up to the challenge.

“We have the 2012 motto of Band of Brothers,” Stubbs said. “For us to get this thing turned around, we have to all be for Nicholls and we have to all pull together and play as one. … We’ve got a lot of work to do yet, but if we do our work, and come out of that early part of the schedule healthy, then we’ll be ready to jump into the Southland Conference.”

Members of the Nicholls State defensive line put in extra work following a practice. 

CASEY GISCLAIR | TRI-PARISH TIMES