MONROE, La. - Playing a Sun Belt program for the second consecutive week, the Nicholls State University football team jumped out to a 7-0 lead at ULM but the Warhawks countered with 21 points in the second quarter and added two unanswered touchdowns after halftime to hand the Colonels a 35-7 loss Saturday night in Malone Stadium.
With the loss, Nicholls dropped to 0-2 for the second consecutive season with all four losses coming against FBS programs. ULM (1-1) extended its winning streak against the Colonels to 10 games and improved to 24-3 in the all-time series.
Unlike last week at South Alabama, Nicholls got off to a fast start and scored on a 7-yard pass from
Kohen Granier to
K.J. Franklin to close out the first quarter. ULM (1-1) tied it up in the second, but then two Colonel mistakes led to a pair of ULM touchdowns for a 21-7 advantage at the break. ULM picked off a pass deep in Colonel territory that made way for a short TD drive, then the Warhawks took advantage of a 14-yard punt for another short field.
ULM extended the lead to 28-7 with a third-quarter touchdown. Nicholls countered with its second-longest drive of the night, but
Gavin Lasseigne missed wide on a 41-yard field goal.
In the fourth, Warhawk quarterback Chandler Jones accounted for his third touchdown of the night to finish the scoring.
Nicholls had a better showing on offense, totaling 306 yards with Granier throwing for 231 on 26 of 42 passes. Tight end
Lee Negrotto led with 43 yards receiving with the bulk coming on a 36-yard catch. Franklin hauled in five passes for 41 yards to surpass 100 receptions for his career.
But the running game wasn't able to break through as the offense finished with 75 yards on 23 carries. The ULM defense stuffed two third-and-short rushes that led to Colonel punts in the first half.
Julien Gums carried the ball nine times for 35 yards and now just needs 35 to become the program's all-time leading rusher.
ULM produced 424 yards of offense, led by Jones who was 20 of 25 for 253 yards and two touchdown passes.
Freshman
Kaiden Jones led the Colonel defense with nine tackles while
Zack Bernard had eight. The duo each had a tackle for loss as the defense totaled four stops behind the line. But the Colonels allowed 8 of 14 on third down and ULM scored a touchdown in all five trips to the red zone.
UP NEXT
Nicholls will close out its three-game road swing to start the 2022 campaign with a trip to Southeast Missouri on Saturday, Sept. 17. Kickoff against the Redhawks is scheduled for 2 p.m.
