Lamar and Nicholls State face off this Saturday, with one team looking for their first win, Lamar, and the other, Nicholls, looking to keep themselves alive in the race for the Southland title and its subsequent playoff spot.

Lamar has no true standouts on the offense side, with the ball being spread around, even at the quarterback position. Quarterbacks Mike Chandler and Nick Yokey have both gotten significant playing time for the Lamar Cardinals, with neither having a clear advantage. Indicative of the quarterback situation is six receivers having 100 yards and five running backs with 100 yards, with no skill players going over 400 yards.

Lamar employs a similar style defensively, with 14 players totaling over 15 tackles. Unlike on offense, the defense does have a standout player in defensive back Ramond Stevens. Stevens leads the team in pass deflections with eight and adds 28 tackles, the third-highest mark.

 Lamar is one of the most evenly-rounded teams in the conference, having less than a 200-yard difference in passing and rushing yards. On the defensive side, however, it becomes a different story in production. The Cardinals’ defense has given up over twice as many touchdowns as the offense has scored.

Nicholls struggled early in the season, giving up much more points than they scored, but the team flipped the script in last week’s win. Nicholls put up 40 points offensively and defensively, intercepted the ball twice, and forced a fumble. Linebacker Eli Ennis won Southland Defensive Player of the Week for the Colonels with his performance against McNeese.

In the Colonels’ offensive explosion, Julien Gums continued to build upon his prolific Nicholls career. Gums reached the career rushing mark of 3,000 yards and tied the All-Time rushing touchdowns record, 35, and the All-Time rushing and receiving touchdown record, 36.

Saturday’s game will be the Colonels’ last away game of the season and its last game before their bye week. Nicholls plays at home against Texas A&M-Commerce on Nov. 12 before ending the season on Nov. 17 in the River Bell Classic against rival Southeastern Louisiana.

Game Info

Oct. 29, 2022

3:00 p.m.

Provost Umphrey Stadium, Beaumont, Tx.

Broadcast: ESPN+