EDINBURG, Texas - The Nicholls State University football team fell short of its first road league win since 2023, dropping a 28-21 contest to UTRGV Saturday night at Vackar Stadium.
Nicholls (3-7, 3-3 SLC) made the 10-hour trek to take on the newcomer Vaqueros (7-3, 3-3 SLC) for the first time in program history in front of a sold-out crowd of 12,177.
The Colonels never led in the game but had one last chance to tie it for the third time as they started their final drive with under a minute remaining. But a catch-and-lateral fell to the turf as Nicholls saw its two-game winning streak come to an end.
UTRGV, which improved to 6-0 at home in its inaugural season, had the edge in total yards, 392-327, and was plus-one in turnovers. After missing a field goal on their opening drive, the Vaqueros took the lead on their next possession, scoring via an Eddie Lee Marburger touchdown pass to Tony Diaz.
Nicholls answered with a 12-play drive of 65 yards, tying the score on a 4-yard
Miequle Brock Jr. touchdown scamper. Brock ran for 50 yards on the day on 11 carries.
After the teams traded punts in the second quarter, UTRGV went back up 14-7 with its own 4-yard touchdown rush by Nathan Denney, who totaled 120 yards on the ground and two scores. Nicholls had not allowed a 100-yard rusher in its last nine conference games.
Before the break, the Colonels moved into the red zone after an 18-yard catch by
Scrappy Osby (6 rec., 66 yards) with less than 30 seconds remaining. With no timeouts, Nicholls spiked it and then completed a short pass on third down but did not have enough time to attempt a field goal.
On the first possession of the third, Nicholls put together another successful drive as they moved the ball to the UTRGV 26. But quarterback
Ean Rodrigue was stopped on a keeper for no gain on 4th-and-2. However, the defense came up with a big play as
Travin Moore caught a tipped pass at midfield and returned 20 yards to the Vaquero 22.
Two plays later, Rodrigue and
Everett Hunter connected for their third touchdown of the season, this one going for 16 yards.
Gabriel Showalter booted the extra point to tie the game at 14-all.
The defenses forced consecutive punts again but Nicholls' traveled just 16 yards and went out of bounds at its own 35. Following a 28-yard reception, UTRGV grabbed the lead back on a 7-yard Denney TD rush.
In the fourth quarter, another Colonel miscue made way for a UTRGV touchdown drive. The Vaqueros forced and recovered a fumble on third down, taking over at their own 35. Marburger then doubled the advantage with a 44-yard strike to Tavian Cord with 10 minutes remaining.
The Colonels brought the deficit back to seven following a
Shane Lee touchdown run. Brock and Osby had plays of 15-plus yards to spark the drive, and Nicholls also took advantage of two UTRGV personal fouls. Facing a 3rd-and-goal from the 8, Lee bounced to the outside for his third touchdown of the year. For the game, Lee rushed 13 times for 56 yards.
On UTRGV's final drive, Nicholls had two chances to get the ball back but the Vaqueros converted on a 3rd-and-7 and a 3rd-and-17. The drive chewed up five minutes, giving the Colonels only 43 seconds to go 90 yards.
For the defense,
Hayden Shaheen had 10 tackles while
Ty Marsh finished with eight and totaled 2.0 tackles for loss.
Alex Villavaso had a sack for the second straight week.
Rodrigue completed 19 of 32 passes for 193 yards. He carried the ball 16 times but had a net of just 21 yards after being sacked three times.
UP NEXT
Nicholls will play its final home game, hosting Northwestern State on Saturday, Nov. 15 for Senior Day. Kickoff is slated for 3 p.m.
