MEMPHIS, Tenn. – Nicholls and Memphis were knotted with 10 each at halftime, but the Tigers out-scored the Colonels 21-0 in the second half to get their first win of the 2008 season in front of 22,167 in Liberty Bowl Memorial Stadium. Nicholls’ only touchdown came in the second quarter when sophomore Kyle Hughes blocked a Memphis field goal that senior Lardarius Webb returned 70-yards for the score.

“I’m extremely proud of our guys. They came out pumped up for the game and kept that tone the whole game. We didn’t give up at the end and a lot of it wasn’t pretty, but it is a starting point,” said Head Coach Jay Thomas.

The Tigers put forth 449-yards of total offense to the Colonels’ 164, and had three costly fumbles. Nicholls was also out gained in the second half 232 yards to 29, and finished the game 0-for-7 on third downs.

Leading the Colonels statistically on offense was senior Jerald Watson with 37 total yards rushing on four attempts. Watson was one of 10 ball carriers for the Colonels in the game.

As expected, both seniors Vincent Montgomery and Chris Bunch got reps in at quarterback with Montgomery getting the starting nod.

On defense, Nicholls was led by senior Andrew Eddie with 11 total tackles (nine solo) and junior Garrick Spain, who was the only other Colonel tackler to notch double digit stops with 10 (six solo).

“There were a couple of drives where we really shot ourselves in the foot. We had a big run at that was called back for a clipping penalty, and turned over the ball right before half. We did have signs of being able to do some things, and it was easy to see that we were rusty in some areas,” said Thomas.

Nicholls has an open date scheduled for this Saturday, and will suit up against No.8 Northern Iowa on Thursday Oct. 2 at 7 p.m. The contest will be broadcasted by ESPNU.