• The Nicholls State University football team opens up Southland Conference play back on the road, heading to Natchitoches for a contest against rival Northwestern State. The Colonels will be looking to extend its winning streak to seven games in the series while the Demons aim for a 2-0 start in league play. The game will air at 3:30 p.m. on ESPN+ and can be listened to on ESPN Radio New Orleans 100.3 FM.

• The Colonels enter their conference schedule winless on the season, falling to two FBS programs (South Alabama and ULM), nationally-ranked SEMO, and  Jacksonville State, which is transitioning from the FCS to FBS. Nicholls is 12-19 all-time in Southland openers but have been better under head coach Tim Rebowe with a 5-2 mark in his seven seasons. The Colonels have not began their Southland slate against the Demons in Rebowe's tenure. The last opener for Nicholls and NSU was a 33-21 victory for the Colonels in 2013, which was the program's only conference win in a four-year span. 

• Northwestern State has a 28-21 upper hand in the all-time series but the Colonels have cut into the deficit by winning the last six meetings for the N-S-U Trophy. Nicholls lost the first matchup in the Rebowe Era in 2015 before claiming four of the next six victories by at least 10 points. The teams squared off twice in 2021 -- once in the spring (Nicholls won at NSU, 31-24) before a contest last October (Nicholls won at home, 42-21). Although the Red and Gray have won three straight in Turpin Stadium, NSU has a 17-7 mark at home against the Colonels. 

• Nicholls played its first home game last weekend after three straight on the road, and will start its league schedule with two more contests away from Thibodaux. Not only will the Colonels have played five of their first six on the road, but have also faced one of the toughest schedules in the nation. According to the NCAA Rankings, Nicholls has faced the 23rd toughest slate in FCS with two FBS games, one program transitioning to the FBS, and a Top 25 FCS program. The team's schedule is even tougher in the Massey Rating, coming in at No. 13 in strength of schedule. 

BY THE NUMBERS

2 -- WR Al'Dontre Davis hauled in two touchdowns for the first time in his career, scoring on 6- and 8-yard touchdown catches in the first half against Jacksonville State. Davis finished with 7 receptions for 80 yards and had a long grab of 35 yards. Over the last two games, Davis is averaging 88.0 yards and 7.5 receptions with three TD catches. 

3 -- The Colonels hold lengthy winning streaks against three league opponents. Nicholls has won seven straight against HBU, the last six versus Northwestern State and five in a row against Lamar. The Red and Gray face all three teams on the road this season, starting with this weekend's game at Northwestern State.

6.0 -- Although the Nicholls defense had a tough time slowing down Jacksonville State, the Colonels matched their season high of six tackles for loss. Perry Ganci led the unit with 1.5 TFLs and he and Elijah Reames teamed up for one sack. 

35 -- Another record running back Julien Gums is approaching is the career mark for rushing touchdowns (35), which is held by former quarterback Chase Fourcade. Gums found the end zone early in the fourth at South Alabama for his 33rd career rushing TD but he's been held out of the end zone the last three games. He is also just two total TDs from tying the career touchdown scored mark set by receiver Dai'Jean Dixon last season.  

111 -- Kicker Gavin Lasseigne became the program's all-time leader in extra points after going 3-for-3 against Jacksonville State. Lasseigne needed two to break Andrew Dolan's record of 109 set in 2010-13 and reached the milestone in the second quarter. Lasseigne converted on 46 PATs in the fall '21 campaign which was just two shy of the single-season record. 

119 -- Running back Collin Guggenheim had his strongest showing of the season, rushing for 119 yards on only 13 carries against Jacksonville State. Guggenheim broke off carries of 31 and 47 yards before punching in a 2-yard touchdown. 

2,658 -- Running back Julien Gums made history Saturday by becoming the program's all-time leading rusher, passing Josh Son's mark of 2,658 yards for a career. Gums headed into Saturday's game needing only two yards and picked up 7 on his first carry. The New Orleans native had been only 103 yards away from breaking it since last October after running for over 100 yards in the first quarter of the Southland opener. But Gums suffered an injury in that game and missed the rest of 2021. He had limited carries in the first three games, totaling 101 yards. 

A WIN OVER NORTHWESTERN STATE WOULD...
... improve the Colonels' all-time record to 22-28 in the series vs. NSU
... prevent a fifth consecutive loss. Nicholls has not lost five in a row under Rebowe since going 0-5 to start his inaugural 2015 season. In team history, the Colonels have started 0-5 six times (2015, '14, '03, 1995, '93, '92).
... be the seventh straight win in the rivalry against the Demons, extending the longest ever win streak for the Colonels. The previous longest was four games.
... give Nicholls a 6-2 record in Southland openers under Rebowe.
... be the 19th road win under Coach Rebowe. Nicholls is 17-16 in road FCS games in the Rebowe Era and has an FBS victory at Kansas. 
... improve Rebowe's record in October to 15-11. Nicholls has a winning record in October and November (16-6) under Rebowe.

LAST MEETING
Oct. 30, 2021
Nicholls 42, Northwestern State 21

Colonels notch sixth consecutive win in rivalry vs. Northwestern State

THIBODAUX, La.  – Four straight touchdowns by the Nicholls State University football team proved to be more than enough against rival Northwestern State, as the Colonels returned home following a two-game road trip with a 42-21 victory over the Demons Saturday afternoon on Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium. (FULL RECAP)

THE REAL N-S-U
While Nicholls no longer uses the abbreviate N-S-U, the battle for the Real N-S-U Trophy is as heated as ever. 

- Student government leaders established the trophy series in 1993 with the winning team getting to claim the wooden N-S-U trophy.
- The Demons won the trophy six straight times to kick off the revamped rivalry, extending their winning streak in the all-time series to nine games. The nine consecutive wins is the longest winning streak by either team in the all-time series.
- Nicholls is currently on its longest winning streak of the rivalry, winning the last six matchups against the Demons. The Colonels fell in Rebowe's inaugural season in 2015 but since 2016, the N-S-U Trophy has remained in Thibodaux.


BACK ON THE ROAD
Nicholls opened the season with three consecutive road games and after its home debut last weekend, are back on the road for the next two to open Southland play. 
- Although the Colonels play five of their first six games outside of Thibodaux, the schedule flips in mid-October/November with four of the final five contests being played at Guidry Stadium.


STAY SOCIAL
For more information on Colonels Football, follow the team on Twitter (@Nicholls_FB), and Instagram (@nicholls_fb).
 

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— Nicholls Football 🏈 (@Nicholls_FB) September 28, 2022