Colonels seek second win at South Alabama

After taking down the University of Incarnate Word for their first win of the season, Nicholls football looks ahead at their next game against the South Alabama Jaguars.

“We came out this weekend, gave it our best effort, and came out with a win,” Jeff Hall, a senior defensive back for Nicholls, said.

“We started off fast. We came out the gate pretty good, but I think [on offense] we left some points on the board in the first half,” Nicholls Head Coach Tim Rebowe said. In the 35-28 victory by the Colonels, Nicholls scored 14 points in the first quarter.

According to Rebowe, the Nicholls’ defense was a strong point for the team until the fourth quarter.

“Defensively we were really good for three quarters. We held a pretty good offensive quarterback in check for 23 yards and one first down after three. We have to learn how to put a team away,” Rebowe said.

Rebowe said, Nicholls held the Cardinals to just six points throughout the first three quarters of the game, but gave up 22 points in the fourth.
“I thought we could have executed more on the passing game,” Nicholls starting quarterback Chase Fourcade said.

Fourcade connected 23 of his 48 passes with the addition of two touchdowns.

“I thought the running game was excellent. Being able to have [five yards a carry] and get all those first downs will help us to open up the passing game a lot,” Fourcade said.

The Colonels had 209 rushing yards against the University of Incarnate Word. The running work was split between both C.J. Okpalobi and Dontrell Taylor, with the two of them scoring a total of three touchdowns.

“It’s all of the team. If it wasn’t for our defensive lineman, our front seven, I wouldn’t have had that interception. I wouldn’t have had it if it wasn’t for coach putting me in that position and calling the right play,” Hall said on his game-ending interception.

According to Hall, teamwork was the backbone for the Colonels defensively, as Nicholls was able to hold the Cardinals to only seven first downs and 84 rushing yards. The Colonels defense was also able to sack the University of Incarante Word’s quarterback six times.

“I was proud of the way we won the game and are now 1-0 in the conference,” Rebowe said.

Nicholls’ game against the University of Incarnate Word was true freshman Fourcade’s first time starting the entire game for the Colonels.

“It was really great to get that first college experience against a big time team like Georgia, and then just coming back here and playing in front of the home crowd,” Fourcade said, echoing Rebowe’s words of pride.

After the win at home, the Colonels have set their sights on the away game ahead of them.

“We can only take it one game at a time, but we expect to put an even better performance than we put on last week,” Hall said in regards to Nicholls’s upcoming game against South Alabama.

“It’s the same message each week: Last week’s over. You have to forget about it and get ready to go for next week,” Rebowe said.

“I think we are going to come out with a fire and come out like we did last week. South Alabama has a great defense and has a great team overall,” Fourcade said.

The University of South Alabama’s football team has been averaging 17.7 points and 278 passing yards a game so far this season. South Alabama has put up the most amount of points in the fourth quarter of their games, which is where Nicholls has given up the most amount of points.

“It’s a tough place to play over there in Mobile. I’d love to see some of the fans come out and support us,” Rebowe said. Nicholls kicks off their away game against South Alabama on Saturday at 6 p.m.