No. 10/11 Nicholls upended by Tulane 42-17:

NEW ORLEANS, La. – A few early empty possessions and a potent rushing attack led to the Nicholls State University football team’s first loss in a 42-17 decision Saturday night in front of 21,092 fans at Yulman Stadium.

 

Nicholls (1-1) was aiming for a rare occurrence, looking to take down FBS opponents in consecutive weeks following its season-opening win over Kansas. But after holding the Jayhawks to 56 yards on the ground last Saturday, Nicholls (1-1) had trouble containing the rush by Tulane (1-1), which racked up 268 yards.

 

Nicholls also had three drives go deep into Tulane territory in the first half but came away with just three points.

 

“I thought we had some opportunities in the first half that we let slip away,” said Nicholls head coach Tim Rebowe. “You know, we missed a couple of field goals. I thought our guys were playing hard. It did get away from us in the back end. We gotta be able to stop the run and we didn’t stop the ball. They did a tremendous job in the second half. We got out of our gaps a couple of times, missing tackles. But hey, they’ve got a good ball club. We just got to regroup and get ready for next week.”

 

New Orleans native Dai’Jean Dixon led the offense with a career-high 112 yards receiving on four receptions – all in the first half. Chase Fourcade threw for 239 yards and a touchdown but had a pair of interceptions. His touchdown was a 7-yarder to Gabe Fuselier right before halftime to make the score 21-10.

 

Corey Dauphine did most of the damage for Tulane, scoring on runs of 38, 69, and 35 yards.  His first was after Nicholls missed on a Lorran Fonseca 46-yard field goal in the opening quarter. Fonseca then made good on a 21-yarder in the second that cut the lead to 7-3. Dixon highlighted the drive with a 55-yard catch en route to his second career 100-yard game, but Tulane stuffed three rushes inside the 5 to keep Nicholls out of the end zone.

 

Tulane countered immediately with Dauphine’s longest touchdown run of the night to make the score 14-3. Later in the second, Green Wave quarterback Jonathan Banks then made it 21-3 on a hard-fought 5-yard score.

 

The Colonels had another shot to put points on the board, but Fonseca missed left on a 42-yard try. However, the defense, which totaled three sacks on the night, got one from Kenny Dotson that led to an Evan Veron fumble recovery. Veron scooped up the ball and ran 12 yards to the Tulane 26.

 

Dixon led the drive with a 26-yard catch, and Fuselier caught a slant from 7 yards out for his first career touchdown with the Colonels.

 

In the third quarter, Nicholls moved to the Tulane 34 after a face mask. On the next play, Fourcade went deep to Damion Jeanpiere Jr., but the ball was picked off by Roderic Teamer at the 5. The Green Wave then chewed off 7:28 off of the clock on a 14-play scoring drive for a 28-10 advantage.

 

Nicholls had one last shot, scoring on a 35-yard touchdown run by Dontrell Taylor with 12:42 remaining in the game. But Dauphine closed the door on any chance of comeback with a 35-yard touchdown run.

 

Following Fourcade’s second interception, Tulane added a touchdown with two minutes on the clock to make the final.

 

Nicholls totaled 176 yards rushing, led by Fourcade with 53 and Kendall Bussey added 51. Jeanpiere chipped in with 62 yards receiving on four receptions.

 

On defense, Khristian Mims finished with a career-high eight tackles, and Allen Pittman had seven. Laryon James and Sully Laiche had a half-sack.

 

Banks threw for 190 yards for the Green Wave, with Darnell Mooney catching six passes for 111 yards and a touchdown. Dauphine had 152 yards on just six carries, and Darius Bradwell accounted for 93 yards on 13 rushes.

 

UP NEXT

 

The Colonels begin Southland Conference play next weekend (Sept. 15) at McNeese. Kickoff in Cowboy Stadium is scheduled for 6 p.m. The contest will be aired on Cox Sports TV and on ESPN3 outside of CST territory.

By: Nicholls State University