THIBODAUX, La. - The Nicholls State University football team scored 21 unanswered points in the second half and racked up a season-high 464 yards of offense as the Colonels defeated McNeese, 31-7, Saturday afternoon on Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium.

The win snapped a six-game skid for Nicholls (2-6, 2-2 SLC), which was playing at home for the first time in nearly two months. The victory was also the fifth straight in the series against McNeese (2-6, 1-3 SLC) -- a first in program history.

Nicholls did most of its damage on the ground with 303 rushing yards, led by running back Miequle Brock Jr. who rushed for 104 yards on 17 carries. Shane Lee added 72 yards and a touchdown while quarterback Ean Rodrigue, who made his first career start, rushed for 77 yards and completed 12 of 20 for 161 yards and a touchdown.

Rodrigue started his big day with a 34-yard touchdown run, capping the Colonels' opening drive after a brief weather delay. Nicholls pieced together another lenghty drive before the end of the quarter but this time, it ended with a 22-yard field goal by Gabriel Showalter for a 10-0 advantage.

Early in the second quarter, McNeese answered with its lone touchdown drive of the game. An acrobatic catch by Kameran Senegal went for 45 yards and Jake Strong polished off the possession with a 20-yard touchdown pass to Logan Mauldin. 

The defense took over the rest of the half as the teams combined for five punts. 

On McNeese's opening drive in the third, the Colonels brought pressure on a third-and-long and it resulted in a Ty Marsh interception at midfield. The senior safety caught the ball at the 45 and then evaded several Cowboys en route to his second pick-6 of the season and third of his career.

Following another McNeese punt, Nicholls chewed up nearly nine minutes off the clock with a 17-play, 86-yard touchdown drive. Lee took the snap from the Wildcat and scored from a yard out for a 24-7 lead.

McNeese used another deep pass to fuel its next possession, but Nicholls got the ball back after an incomplete pass on fourth down. On the Colonels' first play, Rodrigue executed a play action pass and found a wide open Karaaz Johnson for a 69-yard touchdown catch. Johnson had a 55-yard TD in the earlier win against UIW. 

Laurence Sullivan Jr. added an interception for the defense before the Colonels ran out the clock for their second win of the season.

Nicholls limited McNeese to 264 yards, 11 first downs and 3 of 10 on third down. Jake Dalmado led the unit with 10 tackles while Marsh had the lone sack to go along with his interception.

The Colonels held the ball for 38 minutes, helped by a season-best 11 of 16 on third downs. The 303 yards on the ground were the most in a league game for Nicholls since its 2023 home finale against Lamar (349).

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Nicholls will host HCU for Homecoming on Saturday, Nov. 1. Kickoff is scheduled for 3 p.m.