Sept. 19, 2009

Final Stats

RUSTON, La. - Nicholls played Louisiana Tech to a tough first half - trailing 13-3 at halftime - but injuries and fatigue caught up with the Colonels as the Bulldogs won 48-13 in Joe Alliet Stadium on Saturday night.

"I feel like we grew up and matured tonight in a lot of areas, but we still have some things to clean up," said Head Coach Jay Thomas. "I told the team in the locker room after the game that we played hard, just did not execute for the entire game. We have to improve and learn from this loss."

True freshman quarterback Jacob Witt took the majority of snaps under center, and finished 9-for-20 with 107 yards through the air while rushing for another 41 on seven carries and a touchdown.

Senior wide receiver Antonio Robinson tallied a total of 131 yards (101 receiving and 30 rushing) for the Colonels, while senior Ross Schexnayder was 2-for-2 on field goals. His two makes were of 48 and 44 yards, while Robinson notched his second 100 yard receiving game of his career.

Louisiana Tech's offense was led by junior quarterback Ross Jenkins, throwing for a career high 357 yards, while completing 21-of-30 passes for two touchdowns.

Nicholls was led defensively by sophomore defensive back Bobby Felder with nine tackles, while Louisiana Tech was led by sophomore linebacker Adrien Cole with nine total takedowns.

The Colonels (1-2, 0-0 SLC) and Bulldogs (1-2, 0-0 WAC) ended the first quarter with a 3-3 tie on the heels of field goals by both teams. Louisiana Tech drew first blood at the 12:03 mark on a 28-yard field goal by Matt Nelson, while Schexnayder responded for the Colonels with a 48-yard field goal on the ensuing drive.

Following a defensive stand by Nicholls forcing a punt, the Colonels drove down the field, converting two fake punts a long the way, to bring the ball to the Louisiana Tech 31 before a Witt fumble. The Bulldogs then drove downfield on 6-plays, covering 81 yards to score the game's first touchdown via a Daniel Porter 2-yard touchdown run to open the second quarter. Nelson added the extra point, and the Bulldogs led 10-3 with 14:55 left in the second quarter.

The Bulldogs' Nelson booted another through the uprights to close out the first half scoring to give Louisiana Tech the 13-3 lead heading into the locker room. Nelson's kick was good from 44 yards, marking the first points scored by the Bulldogs not via Colonel turnovers.

The Colonels only had one penalty - a defensive offside call - in the first half, and despite turning over the ball twice in the first half (a fumble and an interception), trialed by only 10 at the midway point.

"We played smart fundamental football in the first half despite turning over the ball, and our offense had some positive things happen. It was good to have some momentum swing our way in the first half, and we are starting to see some of our younger players mature," said Thomas about the first half.

However, the flood gates opened in the second half, and Louisiana Tech wasted no time in extending its lead - 34-3 - via three touchdowns within in the third quarter. Nicholls was out-gained 232-to-72 yards in the quarter.

The Bulldogs went on to score 34 unanswered points until Witt raced in the end zone from 24 yards out at the 10:47 mark of the fourth quarter to make the score 41-10 after Schexnayder's extra point. It was the Colonels first touchdowns of the game.

Louisiana Tech finished the game with 558 yards of total offense to Nicholls' 271, and controlled the time of possession, 31:09 to 28:51.

Next up for Nicholls is Jacksonville State on Saturday Sept. 26 at 3 p.m., while Louisiana Tech will enter its bye week before facing Hawaii.

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