No. 23/RV Nicholls Colonels (2-1, 1-0 SLC) at No. 3/3 Sam Houston State Bearkats (2-0, 0-0 SLC)
Huntsville, Texas (Bowers Stadium)
Saturday, Sept. 23 | 6:00 p.m. CT
Nicholls Game Notes | Sam Houston Game Notes
Video Stream: ESPN3
Audio: 100.3 FM KLRZ
Live Stats
FIRST FIVE
• The newly ranked No. 23 Nicholls Colonels head back to Texas to take on defending Southland Conference champion, No. 3 Sam Houston State. Nicholls will be looking for its first road win of the season and to put an end to its longest losing streak against any opponent - 10 games. The contest, scheduled for a 6 p.m. kickoff on Saturday, Sept. 23, will air on ESPN3 and can be listened to on ESPN Radio New Orleans 100.3 FM and KBZE 105.9 FM.
• For the first time since 2007, Nicholls cracked the top 25 as the Colonels were ranked No. 23 in this week's FCS Coaches Top 25 Poll. Nicholls had been receiving votes since the preseason poll, but a win over rival McNeese and a strong showing at Texas A&M was not enough to move them up to the top 25. The Colonels are No. 28 in the STATS FCS Poll with 251 votes.
• The Colonels have two daunting tests early in their conference schedule if they hope to have any chance at a title run. Picked to finish fifth in the Southland Preseason Poll, Nicholls opened its league schedule with McNeese, which came in at third in the poll, with the second game at SLC favorite Sam Houston State. Nicholls ended an eight-game drought vs. the Cowboys but have not defeated Sam Houston since the Colonels' championship season in '05. The two perennial powers have a combined 13 SLC titles since 2000.
• Nicholls is coming off a dominating 44-13 victory over Prairie View A&M last weekend. The Colonels rolled out to a 34-0 lead in the second quarter before going on to claim the 31-point victory. Sophomore
Kyran Irvin paced the offense with a career-high 113 yards rushing and two touchdowns, while
Kenny Dotson added two sacks for the defense. The Panthers were receiving votes in both preseason polls after opening the season with a 44-31 loss to No. 3 Sam Houston.
• Junior
Lorran Fonseca became the second Colonel to earn a weekly Southland award as he was named SLC Special Teams Player of the Week. Fonseca connected on 47- and 49-yard field goals in the win over Prairie View and continued to be an asset on kickoffs, adding four more touchbacks to his season total.
BY THE NUMBERS
1 - The Colonels have one native of Texas on their 2017 roster - junior wide receiver
Mason Roberts. A graduate of Cy-Woods, Roberts hauled in a two-point conversion to tie the game at Texas A&M and followed up with a career-game against Prairie View, which included his first career TD on a 62-yard catch.
8 - The Colonels will take on eight programs from Texas this season. Both nonconference games were against Lone Star teams - Texas A&M and Prairie View A&M. In league play, Nicholls will face Abilene Christian, Houston Baptist, Incarnate Word, Lamar, Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin.
10 - Sophomore
Chase Fourcade has thrown at least one touchdown pass in 10 consecutive games. Last season at McNeese was the lone time he did not have a TD pass in his 14 career games.
40.1 - WR
Damion Jeanpiere Jr. is leading the FCS in yards per catch, averaging 40.1 yards a reception in the first three games. Jeanpiere was held to just one catch against Prairie View A&M, but it went for 42 yards. He has nine grabs for 361 yards.
49 - Junior kicker
Lorran Fonseca had a pair of 40 yard-plus field goals in the win over Prairie View A&M, including a personal-best 49-yarder. The 49-yarder was the longest made field goal for the Colonels since Andrew Dolan connected from 49-yards out on Nov. 12, 2011 vs. Lamar.
ON THIS DATE IN COLONEL HISTORY ...
• Nicholls has a 1-5 record on Sept. 23, falling in the last five games. The lone win came in the inaugural '72 season.
| YEAR |
OPPONENT |
W/L |
SCORE |
H/A |
| 1972 |
Slippery Rock |
W |
18-14 |
H |
| 1978 |
Troy State* |
L |
16-6 |
H |
| 1989 |
Stephen F. Austin |
L |
24-7 |
A |
| 1995 |
Southern Illinois |
L |
48-20 |
A |
| 2000 |
Western Illinois |
L |
44-3 |
A |
| 2006 |
South Dakota St. |
L |
24-17 |
H |
SCOUTING THE BEARKATS
• The Bearkats head into the matchup as the No. 3 ranked team in both FCS Top 25 Polls. Sam Houston started its season with a win over Richmond, which is currently ranked in the top 10.
• Sam Houston had a bye week after defeating Prairie View A&M on the road, 44-31. The 'Kats led by as much as 21 before fending off a second-half comeback by the Panthers.
• Sam Houston is led by 2016 Walter Payton Award winner, quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe. Last season, the UAB transfer set the FCS single-season record with 57 touchdown passes.
• While the defense has allowed over 1,000 yards in the first two games, the Bearkats were without All-American defensive lineman P.J. Hall. The reigning Southland Defensive Player of the Year has 36 sacks in his first three seasons.
• Sam Houston is directed by head coach KC Keeler, who is in his fourth season. After winning a national title at Delaware in 2003, Keeler has led SHSU to the FCS Playoffs in all three of his seasons with the Bearkats.
LAST MEETING
Oct. 22, 2016
No. 1 Sam Houston State 38, Nicholls 21
THIBODAUX, La. – Freshman
Chase Fourcade threw for 254 yards and a touchdown and rushed for another but the Nicholls State University football team was unable to keep pace with No.1 Sam Houston State as the Colonels were handed a 38-21 loss on Saturday at John L. Guidry Stadium. (
RECAP)
LAST OUTING
Sept. 16, 2017
Nicholls 44, Prairie View A&M 13
THIBODAUX, La. – The Nicholls State University football team put up a stellar performance in the first half, racing out to a 34-0 lead and went on to defeat Prairie View A&M, 44-13, Saturday night at Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium. (
RECAP)
A WIN OVER SAM HOUSTON STATE WOULD...
... put the Colonels at 3-1, their best start since 2007
... match the program's best start in the SLC since 2007 (2-0)
... give
Tim Rebowe his 11th career victory and first over a ranked opponent
... be the 10th 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 9-5
... snap a 10-game losing streak in the series against Sam Houston. Last win came in the Colonels' championship season in 2005
WEEKLY AWARDS
For the second straight week, a Colonel was honored as K
Lorran Fonseca garnered Southland Special Teams Player of the Week. Fonseca had 47- and 49-yard field goals in the win over Prairie View... Colonels picked up two weekly honors after their close contest with SEC's Texas A&M.
Damion Jeanpiere Jr. took the Southland's Offensive Player of the Week after torching the Aggie defense with 174 yards on five receptions. On defense,
Allen Pittman racked up 16 tackles to take the LWSA's weekly honor.
BREAKING BAD
Since Coach Rebowe arrived, he has been putting an end to several losing streaks. With the win over Houston Baptist in 2015, the Colonels not only gave Rebowe his first career win, but also closed the books on a 23-game losing streak. A few weeks later at Lamar, Nicholls put to rest two road skids - 18 Southland road games and 16 straight away games. Nicholls recently ended 8-game droughts against McNeese and SFA, but still have lengthy losing streaks against Sam Houston (10 games) and Central Arkansas (8).
SACK IT TO ME
After three games, Nicholls is 8th in the FCS with 12.0 sacks.
Terrell Encalade leads the way with 4.0, ranking 12th, and
Kenny Dotson is 21st with 3.0.
Sully Laiche has 1.5 and was 12th in the FCS last season with 9.5 sacks. He had three games with 2.0 or more sacks, highlighted by a 3 sack day against UIW. He started the 2017 season with a sack, causing a fumble on the play, and added a half-sack at Texas A&M to give him 11 sacks in 13 career games.
RED ZONE
The Colonels have had success scoring this season when inside the red zone, turning all 9 chances into points. Five of the trips have resulted in touchdowns. Nicholls is one of 14 teams in the FCS with a 100 percent conversion rate.
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