October Questions, October Answers
October 10, 2018
Viles Crochet Jr.
October 10, 2018
BY CASEY GISCLAIR
casey@rushing-media.com
For the third-straight year, the message is the same: Nicholls State University is the REAL NSU.
The Colonels beat Northwestern State 28-10 on Saturday night in Natchitoches — the third-straight season that Nicholls has triumphed over its in-state conference rival.
The Colonels rushed for 299 yards in the win, controlling time of possession and limiting the Demons’ opportunities to improve to 4-2 on the season and 3-1 in Southland Conference play.
The Demons are now 2-3 and 1-2 in the league.
Nicholls started slow in the win.
The Demons got the ball first and drove down the field, getting deep into Nicholls territory before having to settle for a short, 28-yard field goal by Austy Fendrick to go up 3-0.
After the early score, the Demons’ defense stymied Nicholls’ offense, forcing two three and out punts, then an interception to carry their lead into the second quarter.
But instead of ballooning their advantage, the Demons couldn’t take advantage. They missed a field goal in the middle of the first quarter, then drove to the Colonels’ 4-yard-line and saw another opportunity go away when Austin Dickerson took a pass in the back of the end zone to end a scoring opportunity.
Then Nicholls got going.
After the interception, the Colonels’ offense found its stride, going 80 yards in six plays — a short, quick touchdown drive capped on a 5-yard pass from Chase Fourcade to Dai’Jean Dixon for a 7-3 lead.
The Demons answered with a touchdown drive of their own to go up 10-7, but after that score, Nicholls struck again with a 12-play, 87-yard drive capped on a 3-yard touchdown run from Fourcade to take a 14-10 halftime lead.
Northwestern State coach Brad Laird said he was proud of his team’s effort as the underdogs in Saturday’s game.
But he said for the team to take the next step, they have to learn to start making the most of the opportunities they are given.
“We’re playing hard, but we’ve got to take advantage of our opportunities,” Laird said. “That’s the biggest thing right now. We had chances in the first half and we even had some chances after Nicholls scored on the first drive of the second half.”
In the second half, it was all Colonels.
Nicholls’ defense came to life in the second half, keeping the Demons out of scoring position for most of the rest of the game.
With possession of the ball, Nicholls’ ground-based offense got to work. The Colonels opened the third quarter with a bang — a quick scoring drive capped on a 1-yard run by Kendall Bussey to go up 21-10.
After that touchdown, the teams traded continuous possession changes throughout the half, but the Colonels’ power running game significantly shortened the game, which the Demons’ offense struggled to find footing.
Nicholls rushed 55 times for 299 yards in the win with three touchdowns.
Five players got the balanced workload for the Colonels and no player received more than 11 carries.
Dontrel Taylor rushed 11 times for 103 yards. Freshman Julien Gums had another big game, carrying 10 times for 66 yards. Bussey, Kyran Irvin and Fourcade also got into the act, rushing for 53 yards, 49 yards and 30 yards respectively.
The power running game enabled the Colonels to possess the ball for 35-minutes and 32-seconds of the 60-minute game, running 72 plays compared to 61 for the Demons.
Northwestern made a last-ditch effort in the fourth quarter to cut Nicholls’ lead but was thwarted by the Colonels’ defense.
Nicholls instead cashed in one final touchdown on a short run from Gums with 1:42 to play which sent the game to its final margin.
With the win, the Colonels are now 3-1 in Southland Conference play — firmly in the thick of things in the chase for the conference title.
But the Colonels have a tough game coming up on Saturday at Abilene Christian. The Wildcats are just 1-3 in Southland play, but they’ve proven capable of challenging anyone in the league. Their three losses are by just a combined 16 points.
On Saturday, Abilene Christian traveled to Lake Charles and nearly beat McNeese, falling 24-21.
The Wildcats are a pass-happy offense, led by sophomore quarterback Luke Anthony.
Anthony has thrown for 300 or more yards in 3 of the Wildcats’ 6 games. On Saturday, he threw more than 60 times, while having 314 passing yards.
Kickoff for that game will be set for 2:30 p.m.
After the Abilene Christian game, the Colonels will embark on their bye week.
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