Nicholls Colonels at McNeese Cowboys
Lake Charles, La. (Cowboy Stadium)
Saturday, Oct. 31 -- 2 p.m. CT 
ESPN+: LINK 
Live Stats: Link

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 • The Nicholls State University football team will stay in Louisiana for its second straight road game, heading to Lake Charles for a Halloween contest against McNeese on Oct. 31 at Cowboy Stadium. The Colonels and Cowboys are two of five teams in the Southland that are tied for fifth in the standings with a 2-3 record, looking to climb back to .500. Kickoff is scheduled for 2:00 p.m. and the game will air on ESPN+. 

• For lack of a better term, Nicholls exorcised its road demons with its 31-27 victory at Northwestern State. The win was not only second-year head coach Tommy Rybacki's first on the road, but it also ended a 13-game road skid that dated back to the 2024 season. The Colonels had not scored a touchdown in their previous three road contests but after scoring their first in the second quarter against NSU, the offense followed with three consecutive touchdown drives to start the second half. The Colonels held a 10-point lead in the fourth quarter before the Demons scored a touchdown but failed on the extra-point try. NSU got the ball back with less than two minutes remaining and drove down to the 15 for the final play, but Skylar Husband picked off a pass in the end zone to seal the win. It marked the ninth win in the series for the Colonels in the last 10 matchups with the lone loss coming in 2022. 

• McNeese also had a close game with Northwestern State, 24-21, for its last victory before having a tough outing last weekend at UIW where they fell 38-6. The Cardinals led 28-6 at halftime before adding two scores in the fourth quarter to make the final. McNeese was outgained in total yards, 513-283, and the six points were the fewest scored by the Cowboys this season. McNeese's other league win came at home where they hung on to knock off East Texas A&M, 27-24, on Sept. 26. 

• Saturday's matchup between Nicholls and McNeese will be the 51st meeting between the programs with the Cowboys holding a 32-18 advantage despite its current five-game losing streak. Nicholls won its fifth in a row for the first time in series history with a 31-7 victory at home last season against the Cowboys. The Colonels used 21 unanswered points in the second half to pull away, ending their six-game losing streak on the season. 

 

A WIN OVER MCNEESE WOULD...

... give the Colonels back-to-back road wins for the first time since 2023 (at No. 4 UIW, at Southeastern). 
... extend the Colonels' winning streak to six games in the all-time series against McNeese. The longest prior to the current streak was four games. 
... be the third straight win in Lake Charles, matching the program's longest road win streak in the series. 
... even Nicholls' league mark at 3-3. The Colonels have finished .500 or better in nine of the last 10 seasons. 

BY THE NUMBERS

3 -- Safety Skylar Husband ended the game at Northwestern State with his third interception of the season. With 4 seconds on the clock and NSU at the 15-yard line, Husband picked off a pass in the end zone as time expired for the victory. The three interceptions are the second most in the SLC. 

10 -- Sophomore punter Pharrell Harewood notched his 10th punt of 50-plus yards in the win over NSU, which is the most in the Southland this season. In the opening quarter, Harewood's 55-yard punt was downed at the NSU 3-yard line. 

11 -- Kennon Loftin and Antonie Okelo-Johnson both had a team-high 11 tackles in the victory at NSU. Loftin's 11 stops gave him 63 on the year which ranks fifth most in the Southland, while also adding 1.5 TFLs in the win. Okelo-Johnson's effort was a career high as he finished with 2.5 TFLs with a sack. 

302 -- Quarterback Chase Richardson had a perfectly balanced effort in the win at Northwestern State, passing and rushing for exactly 151 yards each. He completed 12 of 24 passes with two touchdown passes and rushed 22 times, accounting for 302 of the Colonels' 360 yards of offense. He because the first Colonel this season to rush for 100 yards. 

LAST MEETING
Oct. 25, 2025
Nicholls -- 31
McNeese -- 7

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. (FULL RECAP)

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