No. 24/25 Nicholls Colonels (4-4, 3-2 SLC) at UIW (5-3, 4-2 SLC)
San Antonio, Texas (Benson Stadium)
Saturday, Nov. 2 at 4 p.m. CT 
Nicholls Game Notes   |   UIW Game Notes
Audio: ESPN Radio New Orleans Tunein 
Stream: ESPN3 
Live Stats
 

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FIRST FIVE
• The No. 24/25 Nicholls State University football team ends it 2019 Texas Tour with a matchup against the UIW Cardinals on Saturday, Nov. 2 in San Antonio. The contest will be the fifth in the Lone Star State for the Colonels this season where Nicholls has split its four games. ESPN3 will televise the sixth meeting between the schools, with kickoff scheduled for 4 p.m. central. 

• Nicholls suffered consecutive losses in the Southland Conference for the first time in a season since 2016 following a heartbreaking overtime loss at home against Abilene Christian. The Colonels started out fast with a 14-3 lead early, but ACU answered with four of the next five touchdowns. Nicholls rallied with 10 unanswered point in the fourth quarter to force overtime, but a fumble in overtime led to an empty possession and the Wildcats closed it out for a 37-31 victory. The loss snapped the Colonels' eight-game home winning streak which dated back to 2017. 

• UIW was red-hot with four consecutive victories before dropping a 44-41 decision in overtime against Northwestern State last weekend at home. The Cardinals led 38-30 after a touchdown with less than three minutes remaining, but the Demons rallied, highlighted by a 4th-and-18 conversion, to tie the game with a touchdown and two-point conversion with 19 seconds remaining. UIW kicked a field goal to start overtime and NSU ended the game with a touchdown pass on 4th-and-goal from the 1. 

• The Colonels are riding a three-game winning streak in the all-time series against UIW after falling in the first two matchups. UIW won the first meeting in the Colonels' winless 2014 campaign, then followed up with a close 20-10 win in Tim Rebowe's first season. Nicholls had strong performances in the last three as they led by at least 17 points in the second half, but the Cardinals mounted comebacks in '16 and '17. Nicholls hung on for 35-28 and 38-31 victories, respectively, before cruising at home last season in a 48-21 blowout. The win knocked UIW out of first place and was the start of the Colonels' four-game winning streak to close out the regular season, resulting in a Southland Conference championship. 

• The Southland Conference has been a wild affair so far this season, with Central Arkansas currently leading the pack with a 4-1 record. UCA is in the top 10 of the rankings at No. 9/10 following another comeback victory at Sam Houston State. Nicholls barely stayed inside the top 25 after consecutive losses, coming in at No. 24 in the coaches poll and 25 in the media poll. The Colonels, who are the lone squad to defeat UCA in league play, are one of four teams with two losses in conference. UIW and Sam Houston are each 4-2, while Nicholls and Southeastern Louisiana are 3-2.  


BY THE NUMBERS
33 - With all of the quarterback records locked up, Chase Fourcade is also eyeing the all-time program record for rushing touchdowns.  With his rushing TD last weekend against ACU, Fourcade notched his 31st career touchdown on the ground and puts him two behind the school record. Broderick Cole, who played from 2004-07, crossed the goal line 33 times as he racked up 2,111 yards. 

59 - With his 1-yard pass to tight end Bry'Kiethon Mouton in the third quarter against Abilene Christian last weekend, quarterback Chase Fourcade set a new career program record with 59 touchdown passes. Fourcade's mark eclipsed Doug Hudson's previous record which was set in 1986. Fourcade is the program leader in passing yards, completions, total offense, and points responsible for. 


300 - Senior linebacker Allen Pittman enters the matchup with UIW needing only 10 tackles to reach 300 for his career. No other Colonel has more tackles this decade, and the 300 would put him within striking distance of the program Top 10 list (325). Pittman is also seventh on the FCS active career list in total tackles.


SCOUTING THE CARDINALS
• UIW will look to rebound from an overtime loss at home against a winless Northwestern State team. The loss was the first at home under second-year head coach Eric Morris (7-1).  

• Following a blowout loss to Sam Houston State, UIW reeled off four consecutive wins in conference play by taking down Abilene Christian, HBU, Southeastern Louisiana and Lamar. Their nonconference win was a 63-44 victory at home against Texas Southern.

• The Cardinal offense is led by sophomore quarterback Jon Copeland. In eight games this season, Copeland has tossed 17 touchdown passes and is averaging 261.5 yards per game. In the win over Lamar, he threw for 376 yards and four touchdowns.

• The UIW defense has a knack for causing turnovers.  The Cardinals lead the FCS with 25 turnovers gained, helped by an FCS best 16 interceptions. UIW has picked off at least one pass each game this season, and failed only twice to record an interception last year.   


A WIN OVER UIW WOULD...
... give the Colonels their 26th league win under Rebowe and up his record to 23-10 in last four years in the Southland.
... improve Rebowe's record vs. Texas schools to 20-10.
... give the 2016 class its third four-game sweep of a Southland opponent. The seniors went 4-0 against SFA and Northwestern State, and are 3-0 against, UIW, HBU, and Lamar. Nicholls does not play Lamar this season. 
... be the 13th road win in Rebowe's tenure. Colonels had 10 from 2005-14.
... give Nicholls a 4-2 lead in the all-time series with its fourth consecutive victory.
... secure the program's fourth consecutive five-win season. The only other era to complete the feat was 10 straight years from 1981-1990. 


LAST MEETING VS. UIW
Oct. 27, 2018
No. 19/20 Nicholls 48, UIW 21

THIBODAUX, La. – Junior quarterback Chase Fourcade accounted for five touchdowns for the second straight home game and the Nicholls State University defense had a dominating performance against first-place UIW, as the Colonels rolled to a 48-21 victory on Homecoming Saturday evening at Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium. (RECAP)


ON THIS DATE IN COLONEL HISTORY ...

• Nicholls has a 2-3 overall record on Nov. 2 and lost its only Southland matchup against Lamar in the last game on the date. The Colonels' two wins were against Southern, and Nicholls is 0-2 in Texas.  
 

YEAR	OPPONENT	W/L	SCORE	H/A
1974	McNeese	L	26-20	H
1985	Sam Houston	L	28-14	A
1991	Southern	W	21-7	A
1996	Southern	W	14-0	H
2013	Lamar*	L	56-34	A

LAST GAME
Oct. 26, 2019
Abilene Christian 37, No. 15 Nicholls 31

THIBODAUX, La. – The No. 15 Nicholls State University football team erased a 10-point fourth-quarter deficit to force overtime against Abilene Christian, but following the Colonels' third fumble of the day, the Wildcats closed out the game with a touchdown to hand Nicholls a 37-31 setback Saturday evening on Manning Field in John L. Guidry Stadium. (RECAP)


COLONELS AND CARDINALS
Nicholls and UIW were two of the three Southland teams to make the FCS playoffs in 2018. The Colonels and Cardinals were joined by another Cardinals squad, Lamar, in the postseason to represent the SLC. Nicholls had the lone home game in the opening round and defeated San Diego, while UIW fell at Montana State and Lamar dropped its game at Northern Iowa. The Colonels fell in the next round at national runner-up Eastern Washington. 

FOURCADE VS. UIW
Senior quarterback Chase Fourcade has played well in his three games against UIW, helping the Colonels to a 3-0 record during his tenure. Fourcade has tossed nine touchdown passes against UIW - his most against any opponent - totaling 913 yards in the air with a 64.4 completion percentage. Although his best overall performance was last year where he accounted for five touchdowns (4 pass, 1 rush), the last time he was in San Antonio he threw for a career-high 358 yards. 


UP NEXT
Nicholls returns for its final two home games, first hosting HBU on Saturday, Nov. 9 for the Hall of Fame Game. Kickoff against the Huskies is scheduled for 3 p.m. and the game will be broadcast on Cox Sports TV.


STAYING SOCIAL
Follow the Colonels all season long on Twitter (@Nicholls_FB) and Instagram (@Nicholls_FB).