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Nicholls State University is having its best football season in quite some time.
But one of the players responsible for the Colonels’ turnaround is now sidelined for the season with a severe knee injury.
Colonels coach Charlie Stubbs announced this week that senior tailback Marcus Washington will miss the remainder of the 2013 campaign after an MRI revealed that he tore ligaments in the knee while catching a pass out of the backfield in the team’s win against Northwestern State.
“We were hoping it wasn’t going to be as significant,” Stubbs said. “But through the testing and the MRI, it showed that it was a serious knee injury and Marcus will be out for the remainder of the year.”
In Washington, the Colonels are losing arguably its best pure runner and receiver.
Prior to the injury, Washington was ranked fifth in the Southland Conference in rushing yards per game, netting 413 yards on 96 carries on the year.
The Colonels’ senior was also second in the conference in scoring with nine total touchdowns.
But the Lillian, Ala., native was also a threat in the passing game. Washington led Nicholls in receiving through its first six games of the year, catching 24 passes for 223 yards and two touchdowns.
In Washington’s final game of his career, he rushed for 77 yards and three touchdowns.
“Marcus has been everything I’ve wanted out of a player,” Stubbs said. “He’s not only a leader, but he’s a great ambassador for the football program and the university.”
During his hot start to the 2013 season, Washington told The Tri-Parish Times that his focus was leading a turnaround within Nicholls’ program and also helping the team push itself forward toward the Southland Conference Championship.
“Whether they need me to run the ball 30 times or block or catch passes, I’m just there to make the team better,” Washington said.
For his career, Washington will rank as Nicholls’ No. 8 all-time leading rusher with 1,827 yards.
He also eclipsed the 100-yard rushing four times in his time with the team – the most recent occurrence this year in Nicholls’ win against Arkansas Tech.
With Washington out of the team’s plans going forward, the Colonels will likely turn to Dalton Hilliard Jr. at the halfback position.
The son of Tri-parish native and former New Orleans Saints star Dalton Hilliard Sr., the younger Hilliard has rushed the football 20 times for 73 yards and a touchdown this season.
Hilliard has also hauled in four passes for 35 yards.
The 5-foot, 6-inch tailback has started two games previously in his career.
