The 2006 football season is now upon us, and the Colonels’ first step towards repeating as champs begins tonight when they play the Southern Arkansas Muleriders for the first time in school history at 6 p.m. Tonight’s game will be the first home game since the Colonels defeated McNeese State last season to win their first Southland Conference championship. The Colonels finished the season 4-0 at home last year and have a 94-78-3 lifetime record at Guidry stadium.

The excitement of football season has spread throughout campus, and avid Colonels’ football fan Jared Price, healthcare management junior from Thibodaux, said this season already has him more excited than last season.

“I think everyone will be ready for some football now that we are defending our title,” Price said. “I can’t wait till game time. I missed football season too much.”

Price said that this is the most excited he has been about any previous Colonels football season since he has been at Nicholls.

Head football coach Jay Thomas said despite battling the weather, the Colonels will come out ready to play.

“We’ve had some weather issues, but we’ve gotten practice in when we could,” Thomas said. “We have had some success in preparing for Southern Arkansas despite having to battle the weather. Overall, we’re hoping to be ready come game time.”

Thomas said it is important for the Colonels to perform well because the Muleriders have already played one game and now have time to correct their mistakes.

The Division II Muleriders are 1-0, beating the University of Arkansas-Monticello 18-15 Saturday.

Even though the Colonels have two big games against I-A opponents coming up, Thomas said it is important not to overlook tonight’s opponent and its Flexbone offense.

“We don’t even mention the big games,” Thomas said. “We have been focusing on Southern Arkansas and only Southern Arkansas since practice began. We have to take one game at a time, one play at a time, one series at a time and one minute at a time.”

In addition to the Flexbone offense, the Muleriders use multiple defensive schemes, while the Colonels run the triple-option offense and a 4-3 style defense.

Over the last couple weeks, the Colonels have worked on fundamentals, and Thomas said his main concern is the special teams.

“With the weather we haven’t been able to work on special teams as much as I’d have liked,” Thomas said. “If we can get our timing down, then we’ll be okay. It is really important for us to keep the game tempo up.”

Division II pre-season All-Americans, halfback D.D. Holyfield and fullback Tony McDonald, carry the load on offense for the Muleriders along with quarterback Josh SanFilippo.

Thomas is 11-9 overall in two seasons with the Colonels and Muleriders coach Steve Quinn is 32-23 overall in five seasons.

The Muleriders are a member of the Gulf South Conference, where they finished 4-5 in conference and 6-5 overall last season.