Thibodaux, Louisiana (Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium)
Saturday, November 12 at 3 p.m. CT 
Nicholls Game Notes (PDF) | Texas A&M-Commerce Game Notes(PDF)
TV: ESPN+ LINK 
Audio: ESPN Radio New Orleans 100.3 FM   |   TuneIn  
Live Stats: Link
Promotion: Military Appreciation Day

• The Nicholls State University football team wraps up the regular season with two home contests at John L. Guidry Stadium, taking on Southland newcomer Texas A&M-Commerce for Military Appreciate Day on Saturday, Nov. 12. The game will air at 3 p.m. on ESPN+ and can be listened to on ESPN Radio New Orleans 100.3 FM.

• Nicholls is coming off a bye week after another tough loss on the road in league play. Unlike the league-opening setback at Northwestern State where the Colonels couldn't hang on late, the Red and Gray trailed for most of the day at Lamar and could never tie it up or gain the lead.  Down by a touchdown late in the final quarter, Nicholls came up short on a fourth-down try and then could not force a three-and-out that allowed LU to finish off a 24-17 victory. Despite the loss, running back Julien Gums rushed for 104 yards for his 14th career 100-yard game. 

• Playing in its first season at the Division I level and in the Southland, Texas A&M-Commerce jumped out to a great start with a 3-0 league record but have since lost two straight. The Lions  notched a win over now ranked Southeastern in their SLC debut and went on to claim victories over McNeese and HCU. But Commerce fell to the top two teams in the standings the last two weeks, dropping matchups at home to UIW and Northwestern State. The Lions are led by Offensive Player of the Year candidate Andrew Armstrong, who is averaging 105 yards receiving and has 15 touchdown catches. 

• Nicholls will be aiming for a second straight home win after starting the season 0-2 at Guidry Stadium. Since head coach Tim Rebowe took over the program in 2015, the Colonels have a 27-13 record in Thibodaux and have notched six consecutive winning seasons at home. Nicholls would need to tally victories in the final two games against Texas A&M-Commerce and Southeastern to keep the streak going. 


A WIN OVER COMMERCE WOULD...

... improve the Colonels' record in November to 17-6 under head coach Tim Rebowe.
... secure a .500 or better finish in conference for the seventh consecutive campaign. Nicholls had a winning record in '16 (5-4), '17 (7-2), '18 (7-2), and '19 (7-2), and finished 3-3 in the spring 2021 season. 
... improve Rebowe's record vs. Texas schools to 27-15.
... give Nicholls a 28-12 record at home in the Rebowe Era.
... be the 40th Southland victory for Coach Rebowe.

BY THE NUMBERS

7.0 -- True freshman Eli Ennis leads the defense with 7.0 tackles for loss this season, helped by 3.5 over the last two games. Ennis leads the Southland in conference play with 1.5 TFLs per game.

14 -- All-Southland defensive lineman Perry Ganci racked up a career-high 14 tackles last outing at Lamar. Not only was the 14 stops a career best for the 2021 first-team selection, but it was his first double-digit tackling effort in his four seasons. Ganci nearly cracked double figures with nine tackles in the Southland opener at Northwestern State. Ganci is tied for the team lead with 2.0 sacks.

35/36 -- Running back Julien Gums is looking to break two more all-time records -- both involving touchdowns. After finding the endzone for the game-winner against McNeese, Gums is now tied with a pair of former teammates for touchdown records. His 36 overall touchdowns matches receiver Dai'Jean Dixon who set the record last season, and his 35 rushing scores ties quarterback Chase Fourcade's mark set in 2019.  

40+ -- Redshirt freshman Jaylon Spears had his third kick return for over 40 yards last week against Lamar.  In his first campaign as the kick returner, Spears has returns of 46, 45, and 43. He ranks second in league  play at 25.4 per return and is third overall at 23.2. 

100.5 -- Running back Julien Gums heads into the final two weeks of the regular season as the leading rushing in conference play at 100.5 yards per game. Gums has three 100-yard games in league games which includes the last two contests. Already the program's all-time leading rusher, Gums is also among the leaders in the FCS with his school record 14 100-yard games.  

300 -- Quarterback Kohen Granier has two starts in conference this season and has threw for over 300 yards in both contests. Granier recorded his first 300-yard showing of his career at Northwestern State with 324 yards in the air. After missing the Houston Christian game with an injury, Granier threw for a new best 339 yards to lead the Colonels to a win over McNeese.

 

MOUNT RUSHMORE

Over the last five-plus seasons, the Nicholls offense has had 44 100-yard rushing performances by a combined 11 players.  Senior running back Julian Gums leads the current players on the list with a program record (14) 100-yard games, and is followed by Collin Guggenheim (6), Marquese Albert (1) and John Carrington III (1). 
- While individual recognition is nice, wins are a plenty when it comes to having a 100-yard rusher. Under Tim Rebowe, Nicholls is 32-11 when having at least one player rush for 100 yards. The Colonels are also 14-1 when having at least 300 yards rushing as a team.
- The running game started slow this season, totaling just 59, 75, and 50 yards rushing in the first three contests. But the offense found success against Jacksonville State as Guggenheim rushed for 119 and Gums had 80 yards, leading a 239-yard ground-game effort. Nicholls rushed for 231 yards at NSU, led by Gums' 104-yard day, then finished just shy of 200 with a 192-yard outing at HCU. Gums rushed for over 100 yards in the last two games against McNeese and Lamar.