No. 22/RV Nicholls Colonels (8-3, 7-2 SLC) vs. No. 18/16 South Dakota (7-4, 4-4 MVFC)
Thibodaux, Louisiana (Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium)
Saturday, Nov. 25 at 3 p.m. CT | Tickets
Nicholls Game Notes | South Dakota Game Notes
Audio: 100.3 FM KLRZ
Stream: ESPN3
Live Stats
FIRST FIVE
• The Nicholls State University football team hosts South Dakota in the opening round of the FCS playoffs on Saturday, Nov. 25 at 3 p.m. at Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium. Both the Colonels and Coyotes came up short in the final week, but went on to earn at-large bids to round out the 24-team tournament field. The contest will be streamed on ESPN3 and can be listened to on ESPN Radio New Orleans 100.3 FM.
• Nicholls is set to make its fourth appearance in the FCS playoffs, but first since earning the Southland Conference's automatic bid in 2005. The Colonels went 1-1 in 1986, winning at Appalachian State, 28-26, before falling at Georgia Southern, 55-31. Nicholls was then handed a 48-3 loss at Montana in 1996 and in the last appearance, lost a close battle on the road at Furman, 14-12. Saturday's matchup against the Coyotes will be the first-ever home playoff game for the Red and Gray.
• The Colonels gave the Southland Conference three teams in the playoff field, joining automatic qualifier Central Arkansas and at-large recipient Sam Houston State. The Bears of UCA ran the table in the Southland this season with a perfect 9-0 record (10-1) and earned the No. 4 seed. Sam Houston State took the No. 6 seed with a 10-1 overall mark and an 8-1 SLC record, falling to UCA, but join the Bears with a first-round bye. Nicholls did not play UCA this season and was defeated against Sam Houston, 66-17, in Huntsville. If the Colonels advance with a win over South Dakota, a rematch with the Bearkats will be next.
• A member of the Missouri Valley Football Conference, South Dakota has never faced the Colonels; however, Nicholls has played 11 games against teams that are current members of the MVFC. The Red and Gray have had a little success against what most say is the toughest conference in the FCS, posting a 3-8 overall record. Nicholls has wins over Illinois State (1-2), Southern Illinois (1-1) and Youngstown State (1-0). The rest of the losses have come against Western Illinois (0-2), and one each against North Dakota State, South Dakota State and Northern Iowa. The last meeting was in 2008 as Nicholls fell on the road at UNI, 34-14.
• Nicholls was well-represented on the All-Southland teams, landing 10 players on the second team. On offense, RB
Kyran Irvin, WR Damion Jeanpiere, Jr., and offensive linemen
Chandler Arceneaux and
Ryan Hanley were voted on by the coaches and SIDs. For the defense, linemen
Sully Laiche and
Kenny Dotson were joined by linebacker
Allen Pittman and safeties
Corey Abraham and
Ahmani Martin.
Lorran Fonseca represented the specialists, earning the nod at placekicker. OL
Eddie Houston and DL
Tevin Lawson received honorable mention. Nicholls' 10 honorees were the third most in the SLC, trailing Sam Houston (13) and UCA (12).
BY THE NUMBERS
3 - Three teams from the Southland Conference received bids to the FCS playoffs, marking just the sixth time in league history that more than two SLC teams made the postseason. The last time was in 2013 when McNeese, Sam Houston State and Southeastern Louisiana all earned spots in the playoffs.
5 - Nicholls won five home games in a single season for just fourth time in program history. No team has ever won six games at Guidry Stadium and only two teams - the 1975 (5-0) and 2005 (4-0) championship squads - have finished undefeated.
7 - Nicholls has had seven 100-yard rushing performances this season by four different players.
Kyran Irvin leads the team with three century-mark outings, followed by two from
Dontrell Taylor, and one each by
Jeremy Rounds and redshirt freshman
Tahj Smith.
10 - A total of 10 Colonels were named All-Southland - all on second team - and none of the 10 are seniors. Seven juniors received the nod, including two-time honoree OL
Chandler Arceneaux, and the other three were sophomores - highlighted by two-time selections DL
Sully Laiche and LB
Allen Pittman.
18 - K
Lorran Fonseca continued his outstanding campaign with a field goal at Southeastern and currently ranks 1st in the FCS with 18 made field goals. He not only leads the FCS, but he also broke Jose Bran's single-season record of 16, set in 1990. Fonseca is 18-of-22 on the year (.818), which ranks 10th in percentage in the FCS. Fonseca was named Second Team All-Southland.
2,000 - Sophomore QB
Chase Fourcade eclipsed 2,000 yards passing for the second time in as many seasons, becoming just the second player in team history to have two 2,000-yard seasons. With a history of running the triple option, there has been only eight seasons that featured a 2,000-yarder passer (including Fourcade's). The only other player to throw for 2,000 twice was Hall of Fame quarterback Doug Hudson (1985 - 2,348 and 1986 - 3,627).
SCOUTING THE COYOTES
• South Dakota finished the season 7-4 overall and 4-4 in MVFC play. Despite dropping four of their last five, the Coyotes' loaded schedule was enough to grant them their first postseason berth since becoming a member of Division I.
• Offense, offense, offense. While having a respectable defense, South Dakota is fueled by its high-powered offense. In the FCS, the Coyotes rank No. 1 in first downs, 2nd in total yards, 5th in scoring, 6th in 3rd down conversion, and 9th in passing offense. They also take care of the football, turning it over only 10 times for the year (6th).
• Leading South Dakota is quarterback Chris Streveler, who is a finalist for the Walter Payton Award. He ranks in the top 10 of the FCS in total offense (351.9 - 4th), points responsible for (18.0 - 5th) and passing yards (294.2 - 9th).
• Not to be outdone, the USD defense has been one of the best in causing negative yardage. The Coyotes are 3rd in the FCS with 8.5 tackles for loss per game, and rank 8th in sacks with 3.18. DL Darin Greenfield is 12th in the nation with 17.5 TFLs.
• South Dakota is 1-6 vs. Southland teams (0-3 vs. Lamar; 0-1 vs. UCA and McNeese; 1-1 vs. SLU)
• The Coyotes are 1-3 vs. Louisiana schools and 0-3 in games played in the Pelican State (0-1 vs. LA Tech and McNeese; 1-1 vs. SLU)
A WIN OVER SOUTH DAKOTA WOULD...
... give the Colonels 9 wins, second-most for a single-season in team history (10 - 1986)
... be the second postseason victory since joining Division I (Won vs. App State in '86)
... be the most wins for Nicholls since the 1996 campaign (8-4)
... give
Tim Rebowe his 17th career victory and first versus a ranked opponent
... put Nicholls 6-0 at home, which would be the best home record in program history
... improve the program's record to 4-8 vs. teams currently in Missouri Valley Football Conference
... give the Southland Conference its 43rd playoff victory by a team currently in the league. Teams have a combined 42-47 record (.409).
... set up a rematch with Sam Houston State, which has a 10-game winning streak in the series
LAST OUTING
Nov. 16, 2017
Southeastern Louisiana 21, Nicholls 17
HAMMOND, La. – For the third straight year, the River Bell Classic came down to the final play, but like last year, the No. 17/25 Nicholls State University football team was on the short end as the Colonels dropped a 21-17 decision Thursday night at Strawberry Stadium. (
RECAP)
PERFECT AT HOME
The Colonels finished the regular season with a perfect 5-0 record at home. Surprisingly, it marked just the third time in program history that the team went undefeated at John L. Guidry Stadium. The other two teams to complete the feat were the 1975 and 2005 championship squads.
EDDIE ROBINSON FINALIST
Third-year head coach
Tim Rebowe is one of 18 finalists for the Eddie Robinson Award, which is awarded to the FCS top head coach. Rebowe was introduced as head coach exactly three years ago (Nov. 21) and took over a program that was winless on the year and in the midst of an 18-game losing streak. Rebowe turned the program around immediately as Nicholls nearly won its first two road conference games, but a victory over Houston Baptist finally ended the streak at 23 games, which was the longest in Division I at the time. Nicholls won two of its last three to finish 3-8 and went 5-6 overall last season, posting a winning record (5-4) in league play for the first time since 2005. This year, Nicholls is 8-3 overall and finished third in the SLC with a 7-2 mark, while earning its first postseason berth since 2005. Over the last two seasons, three of the losses have been in nail-biters against FBS programs, including SEC Georgia and Texas A&M. Nicholls also took South Alabama to overtime before falling by a point.
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