Box Score and Play-by-Play

SAN DIEGO– The Nicholls State University football team opened up the 2010 season with a 47-0 loss to Division I-FBS foe San Diego State on Saturday evening in front of 25,290 fans in Qulacomm Stadium.  

Nicholls (0-1) was led by sophomore LaQuintin Caston at quarterback with 83 yards passing.  Caston completed 12-of-25 attempts while rushing 17 times for 49 yards.  Caston completed passes to six different receivers on the night, but his favorite targets were sophomore running back Jesse Turner and junior wide receiver Kenyad Blair.  Turner caught three passes out of the backfield for 28 yards, while also carrying the ball ten times for 45 yards.  Meanwhile, Blair, in his first season after transferring in from Northeast Oklahoma Junior College, snared three passes for 20 yards in his first game in a Colonel uniform.  

Leading all tacklers for the Colonels was senior Tarbbarris Hicks with eight total (six solo, two assist) and one for a loss.  Junior Shawn Elrod followed with six total (five solo, one assist) in his first game as a Colonel.

The Colonels played over 25 freshmen in the game, with three – Tyrie Allen, Josh Dudley and Jordan Hanberry – starting the game.  At multiple times in the game, Nicholls had five or more freshmen on the field on both sides of the ball.

"We had times, not numerous, but some times to score in the game but just didn't finish on drives.  Overall, I have to give a lot of credit to San Diego State, they are so athletics at every position and are fast, which is tough to simulate in practice," said Head Coach Charlie Stubbs.

"I'm not overly disappointed.  They [SDSU] are a formidable opponent, and we knew that coming in.  There are a lot of positives from the game.  I told the team after the game that I was proud of them and I thought that they played hard from start to finish, and that this was a test for us but it wasn't the final.  We have a lot more football ahead of us."

The Colonels were without a turnover until late in the fourth quarter.  To that point, Nicholls had run 59 offensive plays without a miscue.

Senior Patrick Dolan lived up to his preseason All-American status, punting seven times for an average of 42.1 yards/punt.  He had a long of 50 and one land inside the 20-yard line.

Also, Nicholls forced an Aztec fumble in the first quarter with senior Jeremy Garrett stripping Davon Brown and senior Ed James recovering.  The play ended with a failed 40-yard field goal attempt by true freshman Andrew Dolan, having the distance but sailing wide left.

After a scoreless first quarter, San Diego State scored three touchdowns in the second quarter with Aztec quarterback Ryan Lindley and wide receiver DeMarco Sampson connecting twice for scores.  However, breaking the scoreless tie was Davon Brown with a 6-yard touchdown run.  Brown's score came at the 11:31 mark of the second quarter.  Brown finished with two touchdowns and 65 yards on 11 carries.

The first of the Lindley-to-Sampson connections for scores came on a 71-yard strike down the sideline, and the second came on an 18-yard dart that split two Colonel defenders in the middle of the end zone.  Sampson finished with seven receptions for 179 yards and two touchdowns.

"All in all, we have some positives to build from.  There are some things that we have to work on, but I just want the team to know that there is a tomorrow and we are going to keep getting better and improving," added Stubbs.

Nicholls came out in the second half, and on the San Diego State's first offensive series, the Colonels forced a punt – their first of the game.  Junior Chika Madu got a few key blocks, and scampered 32-yards before being taken down.  In addition to his punt return, Madu took five kickoff returns a total of 91 yards with a long of 25 to lead the Colonels with 116 all-purpose yards.

Madu's punt return gave the Colonels a spark, and Nicholls put together an 8-play 35 yards drive that ended with a Dolan 24-yard field goal try.  However, the attempt was blocked and returned 18 yards to the 32 by the Aztecs, setting up a 6-play scoring drive that was capped by a 20-yard Brown touchdown run to extend the lead, 27-0 with 11:55 in the third.

San Diego State rounded out the third quarter scoring with a 44-yard field goal by Abel Perez at the 2:44 mark.

The Aztecs scored 17 points in the fourth quarter to round out the game.  Nicholls will play at FBS Western Michigan next Saturday, while San Diego State will travel to New Mexico.