The Air Force Academy bombed the Colonels 72-0 in the season opener Saturday afternoon in Falcon Stadium in Colorado Springs, Colo. The margin of victory was the second largest in Air Force history, and it was the worst margin of victory loss in Colonel history.
One of the few bright spots for Nicholls State was Patrick Dolan, a preseason All-American punter, who punted seven times with an average of 46.7 yards per punt. Dolan had a career-long 59-yard punt that put the Falcons on their 4-yard line. He also had three other punts more than 50 yards.
“We’ve seen a lot of things that we need to work on and clean up. I have all the confidence that these guys will bounce back,” head coach Jay Thomas said. “In a game like this, you have to steal some momentum because you have everything going against you, and we were unable to ever get that momentum swing.”
Junior linebacker Yashua Willis led all tacklers with a career-high 10 tackles with five being solos. Defensive linemen, freshman Darrell Brown, and junior Marquis Russell turned in seven tackles each in their first collegiate game.
In a game that was completely lopsided, Thomas was able to still find some positives to build toward the next game.
“One positive about today’s game is that a lot of young guys, including a lot of freshmen, got a chance to play. We are a very young football team, and it showed today. We have a lot of football left, and we will definitely improve,” Thomas said.
The Colonels’ offense failed to score on its opening drive and quickly found itself down 7-0 after a 63-yard drive by Air Force. The Colonels’ next offensive possession caught a break after a successful fake punt as senior running back Marlin Meeks made the gamble pay off from the NSU 4-yard line to the Colonel 32.
The drive ended on the next play after a Colonels fumble. Air Force took advantage of the Colonels’ error with a field goal to jump on Nicholls 10-0.
Bad went to worse for the Colonels when they turned the ball over deep in their own territory. Air Force made the Colonels pay with a two-play scoring drive that increased the lead to 17-0. Air Force went on to score four more touchdowns in the half to lead 45-0.
The Colonels finished the day with four turnovers, all fumbles. The Falcons continued toward their success in the second half by adding four more touchdowns to defeat the Colonels by 72 points.
Air Force outgained the Colonels in yards by 571 to 151. Leading Nicholls in rushing was Meeks with 28 yards on one carry, and senior Antonio Robinson led the Colonels in receiving with 32 yards on four receptions.
Nicholls hopes to bounce back Saturday in its home opener against Duquesne with a 1 p.m. kickoff.
