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September 1, 2019
Tigers flex their muscles in blowout win
September 1, 2019
The Nicholls State football team found magic last year in Kansas.
This year, they found trouble — holes the team will need to fill before the start of Southland Conference play.
Kansas State walloped the Colonels 49-14, smashing Nicholls from start-to-finish with a dominant performance on both sides of the line of scrimmage.
Colonels coach Tim Rebowe didn’t mince words after the game.
He said his team got soundly beaten and must now return home and find answers.
The Wildcats possessed the ball for more than two-thirds of the game and they outgained Nicholls 573-276.
“Hats off to them. They came out ready to play,” Rebowe said. “They got that running game going and once they did, it was hard to stop. … I thought they handled us up front, and then offensively, we couldn’t get anything going because we really didn’t have the ball.”
This is a surprising blowout loss from a Nicholls team that’s had a flare for the dramatic against Football Bowl Subdivision opponents under Rebowe.
The Colonels have usually put scares into “bigger school” opposition in recent years, challenging both Georgia and Texas A&M and beating Kansas last year.
But victory was never a serious part of the equation this year for Nicholls, as Kansas State jumped out to a 14-0 lead after 1 quarter and then a 28-0 advantage at halftime with four-straight rushing touchdowns — all by four different players.
The rushing game was something Nicholls couldn’t handle on Saturday night.
Without Sully Laiche and Evan Veron — both out with injuries — Nicholls looked overmatched, surrendering 361 rushing yards, while also allowing Kansas State to convert 10-of-12 third downs.
“They ran hard,” Rebowe said. “It didn’t matter which back they put in there, but of course, when they are running behind that big offensive line, I think (anyone) can get in there.”
In the second half, Nicholls got on the scoreboard on a 26-yard touchdown run from Kendall Bussey to cut the deficit to 28-7.
But that was all the momentum the Colonels could muster, as Kansas State generated three-straight scores in the fourth quarter to go up 49-7 before Nicholls got a late-game score from Julien Gums to send the game to its final margin.
Senior quarterback Chase Fourcade was 10-of-18 with 126 yards and an interception. His top target was Dai’Jean Dixon, who had 5 catches for 92 yards.
The good news for Nicholls is it will now have a week to lick its wounds.
The Colonels have a bye week before taking on Prairie View A&M on Sept. 14.
