GIVING OUT GRADES!

Francis Helluin
October 26, 2017
Lafourche Booking Log – Oct. 25
October 26, 2017
Francis Helluin
October 26, 2017
Lafourche Booking Log – Oct. 25
October 26, 2017

After seven-straight weeks of football, the Nicholls football team got to do something it doesn’t often get to do on Saturday: rest.

Nicholls had its bye week this weekend, setting the stage for the team’s post-bye game against Incarnate Word on Saturday.


At press-time, Nicholls is 5-2 overall and 4-1 in Southland Conference play – still right in the thick of things in both the chase for the conference championship, but also a spot in the Football Championship Subdivision Playoffs.

We’ve watched a lot of the Colonels this season, so without a game to recap this week, we decided to do a position-by-position report card for the Colonels as the season stands this year.

QUARTERBACK: B


Chase Fourcade is really, really good and truthfully, this grade would be an A if not for some bad luck with injuries. In the past few weeks, Fourcade has been beat up, and Nicholls’ quarterback play has been a little bit shaky with him either on the shelf and/or out there with limited mobility. But with the bye week, we should see Fourcade at near full strength in the next few weeks. That’s good news for anyone who is a fan of the Colonels, because that kid is a program-changing player.

HALFBACKS: A-

Nicholls lost some talented ball carriers last season, but they’ve done a nice job replacing what they’ve lost, while also adding to the cupboard. Kyran Irvin is the most underrated player on Nicholls’ team. Through seven games, he has 83 carries for 416 yards and five touchdowns, averaging close to 70 yards per game he plays (he missed a game). Also proving big are guys like backup quarterback/wildcat threat Tuskani Figaro and also Jeremy Rounds, among others. The Colonels rush for 177.9 yards per game and they’ve looked pretty solid while doing it.


RECEIVERS: C+

The Colonels have a home run hitter in Damion Jeanpiere Jr., one of the most prolific threats in all of the Southland Conference. But what else is there? Jeanpiere accounts for more than 40 percent of Nicholls’ receiving yards. In the final stretch run of the season, Nicholls will need to get continued contributions from guys like Dai’Jean Dixon, Jarrell Rogers and others so that the team can continue moving the chains. If they do that, the running game, which is already prolific, should get even better. That’s a scary thought.

OFFENSIVE LINE: B+


For years, Nicholls was awfully bad on the offensive line – a big reason why the Charlie Stubbs tenure fell flat. But under coach Tim Rebowe, Nicholls is much, much better up front, which has allowed the team’s offense to soar. Kudos to those big fellows up front for doing an excellent job – both in the running game and also through air. Nicholls has only allowed 13 sacks all season, which is an awfully impressive statistic considering the competition that the team has faced.

DEFENSIVE LINE: A

In the preseason, Nicholls’ defensive line got a lot of hype, which got a lot of fans excited about what they might see in the regular season. So far to this point in the year, that hype has been warranted. Outside of the game against Sam Houston State, Nicholls’ defensive front has not allowed any yardage against anyone. That’s a good habit to have – especially against some of the great teams in the Southland Conference.


LINEBACKERS: B-

Nicholls’ linebackers are solid. Rarely do they get pushed backward, and they’re a group that make a lot of the routine plays – a staple of Rebowe’s defensive philosophy. Sophomore backer Allen Pittman is undersized, but he has the heart of a lion, making a lot of the same plays that we see guys in the major conferences make. John Curtis graduate Hezekiah White is awfully salty, as well. I love his quickness and ability to fly to the football.

DEFENSIVE BACKS: C


If there is an area where Nicholls can get better in the final few weeks of the regular season, it is with their defensive backs. The Colonels have allowed 1,542 passing yards with 12 touchdowns and just five interceptions this season. That’s not good enough. Granted, some of those numbers are a little bit bloated because the Colonels have had some big leads, which have set up some garbage time, but it’s not all just that which is contributing to the struggles. For the Colonels to win the Southland, they’ll need to be an aggressive, take away-oriented group that limits opponents to about the same number of touchdown passes as it gets takeaways. Anything less probably won’t be enough with the schedule that’s ahead.

SPECIAL TEAMS: B+

Nicholls couldn’t make a field goal for anything last year. But this year, the Colonels have fixed that in a big way. Kicker Lorran Fonseca has been nothing short of a miracle worker for the Colonels this season, already having made 11-of-13 field goals so far this year. Punter Tyler St. Germain is awfully good, too, owning a 40-yard average per punt with 14 of his kicks being downed inside the 20-yard-line and 10 of his punts leading to a fair catch. What keeps Nicholls from the A is that they’ve had several punts get blocked so far this year. That can’t happen in big games.


The Nicholls football team did something it doesn’t have an opportunity to do often on Saturdays in the fall: rest. The Colonels will return to the field this weekend against Incarnate Word.

NICHOLLS ATHLETICSGIVING OUT GRADES!