#FIRSTFIVE
• The Nicholls Colonels (5-5, 5-3 SLC) close the season in the annual River Bell Classic against rival Southeastern Louisiana on Thursday, Nov. 17 at 6 p.m. in John L. Guidry Stadium. For the second straight week, the Colonels will be featured on the American Sports Network. Nicholls is coming off a close loss at No. 13 Central Arkansas, while Southeastern won its second straight game by defeating Abilene Christian.
• The Colonels are 3-1 at home this season, with their lone loss coming to No. 1 Sam Houston State. A win over Southeastern would give the Colonels four home wins for just the 14th time in school history. Head coach
Tim Rebowe is 4-4 at John L. Guidry Stadium in his two seasons, with all eight games coming in conference play. Against Southeastern, Nicholls holds a 6-4 all-time record against the Lions.
• Nicholls and SLU are meeting for the 26th time, with the Colonels holding a slight 13-12 advantage. The series was tied before last season's thrilling 27-24 victory in Hammond when Colonel kicker
Francisco Condado kicked a 40-yard field goal as time expired. The win snapped a four-game losing streak in the series.
• The Colonels are coming off a hard-fought 31-24 loss at conference-leader No. 13 Central Arkansas last Saturday. Nicholls held a 17-14 lead over UCA, but three turnovers in the fourth quarter allowed the Bears to stay undefeated in league play. The loss dropped Nicholls to fourth place in the standings and extended UCA's winning streak in the series to eight games.
• The Colonels will honor their 17-member Senior Class on Thursday before the game. The players who will be recognized are WR
C.J. Bates, OL
Chris Bordelon, OL
Jared Breaux, WR
Von Breaux, LS
Andrew Carriere, DL
Ja'Michael Edwards-Lott, QB
Tuskani Figaro, TE
Denzel Flemings, DB
Jeff Hall, DB
Tyren Hills, LB
Chris Lorden, RB
C.J. Okpalobi, QB
Devin Powell, DB
B.T. Sanders, WR
Josh Singleton, LB
Jeremiah Thomas and LB
Ceasar Trahan.
BY THE NUMBERS
1st - The Colonels are the No. 1 team in the FCS when it comes to fourth-down conversions. Nicholls has went for it on fourth down 12 times this season and converted 10 (83.3%)
9.5 - True freshman DT
Sully Laiche added two more sacks at Central Arkansas, giving him 9.5 for the season. Laiche enters the final week leading the Southland and ranks 6th in the FCS
19 - Redshirt freshman LB
Allen Pittman recorded 19 tackles at UCA. Pittman ranks third in the league in SLC play with 9.6 per game and his performance against the Bears was the most tackles in a single game this season in the Southland
187 - Senior WR
C.J. Bates nearly tallied 200 yards receiving for the second time in the last three games, racking up 187 on 9 receptions at UCA. Bates had 179 at NSU two weeks ago, threatening the program single-game record of 198, set by Dwight Walker (vs. Troy - 9/26/81)
1,099 - With his two big games recently, WR
C.J. Bates climbed into the Colonels' top 10 all-time receiving yards list with 1,099. Bates currently ranks 10th and is one of just two players on the list to play only two seasons
ON THIS DATE IN COLONEL HISTORY ...
• Nicholls is 3-3 all-time on Nov. 17, including a 1-1 record against Southeastern. Nicholls won in 1984 at home, but fell in Strawberry Stadium in 2011.
1973   Delta State   L   22-27   H
1979   Evangel   W   40-17   H
1984   Southeastern La.   W   36-7   H
1990   Southern   W   23-19   H
2001   McNeese   L   27-34   H
2011   Southeastern La.   L   14-31   A
SCOUTING THE LIONS
• Southeastern La. (6-4, 6-2) won for the fifth time in its last six games after defeating Abilene Christian, 31-19. SLU's losses came to Lamar and Central Arkansas, and they did not have to play undefeated Sam Houston State.
• The Lion defense had an outstanding showing against ACU, holding the Wildcats to 29 rushing
yards. The total was helped by four sacks and SLU enters the final week ranked fourth in the Southland with 2.2 per game.
• Southeastern's passing offense ranks seventh in the FCS with 16.04 yards per completion. The Lions' longest catch came on the final play in the win at McNeese as Brandon Acker caught a pass for an 82-yard touchdown.
• The offense is headed by QB Justin Alo, who threw for 293 yards and two scores in the win at Abilene Christian. WRs Juwan Dickey (701 yds) and Brandon Acker (666) are his top targets, combining for 13 TDs.
ALL-TIME SERIES vs SLU
Series Record: Nicholls leads at 13-12
in Thibodaux: NICH leads 6-4
First Meeting: 9/30/72 @ SLU; SLU 31-9
Last Meeting: 11/19/15 @ SLU; NICH, 27-24 (
RECAP)
Most Points Scored (combined): 79, 2013
Most Points Scored by NICH: 45, 2009
Most Points Scored by SLU: 62, 2014
LAST OUTING
Nov. 12, 2016
No. 13 Central Arkansas 31, Nicholls 24
CONWAY, Ark. – Nicholls State University senior
C.J. Bates set a new career-high with 187 yards receiving and added two touchdowns, but two costly turnovers by the Colonels led to a pair of scores by No. 13 Central Arkansas as Nicholls fell, 31-24, Saturday evening at Estes Stadium. (
RECAP)
A WIN WOULD...
A win over SLU would accomplish several feats...
- First winning season since 2007 (6-5)
- Most wins since 2007 (6)
- Most Southland wins in school history
- Best finish in SLC since 2005 (t-1st/5-1)
- Give Coach Rebowe a .500 record (9-9) in conference games after two seasons. The Colonels were 1-28 in league game the previous four seasons
- Back-to-back wins over SLU for first time since 2009-10
PITT-BULL
Redshirt freshman linebacker
Allen Pittman has emerged as the Colonels' leading tackler in his first season of action. Pittman totaled 19 stops last weekend at UCA and was named LSWA co-Defensive Player of the Week. He had 10 solo tackles in the game and 2.0 for loss. On the season, he ranks fourth in the league with 8.8 tackles per game.
PY2K
True freshman QB
Chase Fourcade is just the sixth Colonel to record 2,000 passing yards in a single season. The feat has now been accomplished seven times and Fourcade's 2,227 yards is currently the sixth most in a single season.
1. 3,627 - Doug Hudson (1986)
2. 2,491 - Bobby McDonald (1987)
3. 2,374 - Brad Zeller (1998)
4. 2,356 - Gordon Falgoust (1981)
5. 2,348 - Doug Hudson (1985)
6. 2,227 -
Chase Fourcade (2016)
7. 2,049 -
Landry Klann (2012)
ABOUT THE BELL
Nicholls and Southeastern play for the River Bell Trophy, currently located in Thibodaux after last season's win by the Colonels. The River Bell was first awarded in 1972 and recently went through a redesign, with the new trophy being officially released in 2012.
SULLY-TIFIED
The played of true freshman
Sully Laiche has helped solidified the Colonel defense as it has become one of the best in the league. Very rarely does a defensive lineman record as many tackles as Laiche, but he is currently second on the team with 57. Laiche also leads the Southland in sacks with 9.5 on the year.
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