No. 17/RV Nicholls Colonels (6-2, 5-1 SLC) vs HBU Huskies (1-7, 0-6 SLC)
Thibodaux, La. (John L. Guidry Stadium)
Saturday, Nov. 4 | 3:30 p.m. CT
Nicholls Game Notes | HBU Game Notes
Tickets: NichollsTickets.com
Television: Eleven Sports (DirecTV 623; AT&T U-verse 1665; Verizon FiOS 597)
Video Stream: Southland Digital Network
Audio: 100.3 FM KLRZ
Live Stats
FIRST FIVE
• The 2017 Nicholls State University football team has put together a historic season thus far and will aim to go undefeated at home for just the third time in program history as they host an eager HBU Huskies squad for Senior Day. The Saturday, Nov. 4 contest is scheduled to kickoff at 3:30 p.m. and will be aired on Eleven Sports, Southland Digital Network and ESPN Radio New Orleans 100.3 FM.
• Nicholls claimed its fourth consecutive win after coming away with a 38-31 victory at UIW. The Colonels led 31-14 over the Cardinals at the break, but just like last season's matchup, UIW did not go away quietly. The Cards scored a touchdown with 45 seconds remaining before the lone Texas on the Nicholls roster,
Mason Roberts, completed his big day by recovering the onside kick. Roberts had a career-high 106 yards receiving and a touchdown and was joined by quarterback
Chase Fourcade (358 yards passing),
Dai'Jean Dixon (100 yards receiving, 2 TD) and
Corey Abraham (12 tackles) - all finishing with career days.
• HBU and Nicholls have only met three times - all in the last three seasons - and all three have been memorable for the programs. In 2014, the Huskies scored the game's final two touchdowns to earn their first-ever win in the Southland with a 31-21 victory. A year later, the Colonels snapped a 23-game losing streak with a convincing 38-17 win over HBU, giving first-year head coach
Tim Rebowe his first career victory. And last season, the teams battled to double overtime before the Colonels escaped with a 33-30 win.
• Nicholls made a huge jump in the Coaches Top 25 Poll after its win at UIW, going from No. 23 to No. 17. Despite being ranked in the coaches poll, the Colonels fell a few votes shy of cracking the STATS FCS Poll, coming in at No. 26. The Colonels made their debut in the polls for the first time in 10 years at No. 23 after their win against Prairie View A&M (Sept. 16). Following a loss to No. 3 Sam Houston, the Colonels fell out but quickly returned the next week at No. 25 with a win at Lamar. Nicholls climbed to No. 20 before dropping back down to No. 23 after the bye week. The No. 17 ranking is the highest for the Colonels since they were the No. 13 team in 2007.
• Nicholls will be honoring its 16-member 2017 Senior Class before Saturday's contest with the Huskies. The class includes
Leon Alexander,
Marcel Andry,
Christian Boutte,
Robert Brice II,
Terrell Encalade,
Raheem Falkins,
Tuskani Figaro,
Brandon Godfrey,
Blake Hartman,
Brian Hernandez,
Tevin Lawson,
Stephen LeBouef,
David McKey,
Lazarus Ona,
Jarrell Rogers, and
Tyler St. Germain.
BY THE NUMBERS
2 - Nicholls had two receivers record 100-yard games in the win over UIW as
Mason Roberts and
Dai'Jean Dixon both completed the feat for the first time in their careers. Roberts had 108 yards on 3 grabs and a score while Dixon had 4 receptions for 100 and 2 touchdowns. The Colonels have not had two 100-yard receivers dating back to the 2002 season.
12 - Junior safety
Corey Abraham continued to be a one-man wrecking crew with a career-high 12 tackles in the win at UIW. Abraham, who ranks 14th in the NCAA with 5.8 solo stops per contest, leads Nicholls in total tackles to rank 9th in the SLC (60).
20.0 - The Colonels have three receivers averaging over 20.0 yards per catch this season.
Damion Jeanpiere Jr. leads the way at 25.1 (628/25), followed by
Mason Roberts with 20.8 (208/10) and
Dai'Jean Dixon at 20.7 (310/15). The single-season record for YPC was set in 2013 by Erik Buchanan (24.1).
55.3 - Nicholls leads the Southland and ranks 36th in the FCS with 53.4 penalty yards per game. In the win over Lamar, the Colonels had only four penalties for 30 yards.
4,000 - Chase Fourcade eclipsed the 4,000-yard mark for passing yards in just his second season, putting him fifth on the Colonels' all-time passing list after just 19 games. Fourcade is looking to become only the second player in team history to pass for 2,000 yards in back-to-back seasons (Doug Hudson, 1985-86).
ON THIS DATE IN COLONEL HISTORY ...
• Saturday's contest with HBU will be the rubber match for the Colonels as they hold an all-time record of 3-3 on 11/4. Despite the three wins, Nicholls has never scored more than 21 points on the date.
| YEAR |
OPPONENT |
W/L |
SCORE |
H/A |
| 1972 |
Livingston* |
L |
26-0 |
H |
| 1978 |
UT Martin* |
W |
7-3 |
A |
| 1989 |
Northwestern St. |
W |
21-15 |
H |
| 1995 |
Sam Houston St.* |
L |
24-17 |
H |
| 2000 |
Sam Houston St.* |
L |
27-21 |
H |
| 2006 |
Texas St.* |
W |
21-19 |
A |
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES
• HBU will be looking to snap a six-game losing streak and pick up its first win in league play on the season. The Huskies earned a 24-17 victory back on Sept. 7 against Texas Southern.
• The Huskies showcase one of the league's top defenses, ranking third in points allowed and fourth in yards allowed. In their last outing, HBU gave up a lone touchdown to Northwestern State but was defeated on a last-second field goal for a 10-7 setback.
• HBU is led by linebacker Garrett Dolan, who ranks third in the FCS with 12.4 tackles per game. In last season's 33-30 double OT loss to the Colonels, Dolan racked up 12 stops, including one for loss.
• The Husky offense features a pair of freshman playmakers in quarterback Bailey Zappe and receiver Dennis Houston. Zappe has thrown for 1,226 yards and 2 TDs while Houston leads the Huskies with 362 yards receiving on 33 catches.
LAST MEETING
Oct. 15, 2016
Nicholls 33, HBU 30 (2 OT)
HOUSTON – Senior
C.J. Okpalobi rushed for 103 yards with the final 12 leading to the game-winning touchdown as the Nicholls State University football team defeated HBU in double overtime, 33-30, on Saturday night at Husky Stadium. (
RECAP)
LAST OUTING
Oct. 28, 2017
No. 23/RV Nicholls 38, UIW 31
SAN ANTONIO, Texas – Behind a career-high 358 yards passing from sophomore
Chase Fourcade and 100-yard receiving efforts by
Mason Roberts and
Dai'Jean Dixon, the Nicholls State University football team scored 31 points in the first half and hung on for a 38-31 victory over UIW on Saturday at Benson Stadium. (
RECAP)
A WIN OVER HBU WOULD...
... put the Colonels at 7-2, which would be their best record through 9 games since the 1987 season (8-1)
... be the most wins for Nicholls since the 2002 campaign (7-4)
... surpass the program's most SLC victories of 5, set in the 2005 and '16 seasons
... give Nicholls a perfect 5-0 record at home, marking just the third time the team went undefeated at home (1975, 2005)
... give
Tim Rebowe his 15th career victory
... be the 14th SLC win in the Rebowe era (2015-). Colonels had nine victories in league play in the previous 7 seasons
... improve Rebowe's record vs. Texas schools to 12-6
... improve the Colonels' record to 3-1 all-time vs. HBU
FOURCADE TOSSES CAREER HIGH
Sophomore
Chase Fourcade completed 18 of 31 passes in the win over UIW, totaling a new career-high of 358 yards passing. Fourcade had three touchdown passes en route to his career mark, besting last season's 341 yards at McNeese. Fourcade was honored by the LSWA with the state's offensive Player of the Week.
PICK 6
The Colonels have six interceptions on the season by six different players, and three have been returned for touchdowns.
Jonavon Lewis had a 67-yd return in the win over McNeese, while
Allen Pittman took one back 54 yards at Lamar.
Darryl Adams Jr. also had a 52-yard interception return at Lamar but was tackled at the 2. In the win at UIW,
Laryon James hauled in a tipped pass and ran it 55 yards for a score. Last season, the defense led the Southland with 15 interceptions. Nicholls had an INT in all but one game (Central Arkansas) and totaled four at South Alabama and three at Northwestern State.
GAMEDAY/STADIUM ANNOUNCEMENTS
Nicholls Athletics announced several
new improvements for the 2017 season, including the
clear bag policy. Please click on the provided links for details.
NICHOLLS FOOTBALL ON TWITTER
For the latest news and in-game updates, be sure to follow the team on Twitter
@Nicholls_FB.
