The New Face Of Nicholls State: Chase Fourcade

If you haven’t heard of Chase Fourcade you must have been living under a rock.  He is the freshman quarterback for the Nicholls State football team.  He beat out former quarterback for the Colonels, Tuskani Figaro, during the off-season and was named starter for Week 1 and on.  The former Archbishop Rummel Raider quarterback is coming off of two Division I state titles and accumulating a 46-6 record over that time span.  As a senior, he was mentioned as a Class 5A All-State player as well as getting an honorable mention in the New Orleans All-Metro team. Fourcade was also named 2015 Clarion-Herald Player of the Year.  In his junior year, Fourcade completed 61% of his passes and threw for nearly 1,600 yards and 14 touchdowns.  He also rushed for 513 yards while racking up another 13 touchdowns on the ground.  In addition to football, Chase was also a baseball player being named first-team catcher on the New Orleans Advocate’s All-Metro team.  He was a 2-star rated dual quarterback coming out of high school before attending Nicholls State.

Chase Fourcade is the only a freshman that came into Week 1 playing against a stout SEC team in recent history.  He did not think he would start Week 1, yet alone at an away game in Georgia against the always-favorable Georgia Bulldogs.  Regardless Chase looked poised and managed the offense well for his first game.  Things really started to click for him in Week 2 when Nicholls hosted Incarnate Word.  Fans could see his true arm coming to play as they started putting up more points as the game went along.  He just looked more comfortable throwing the ball especially in front of the home crowd.  Fourcade provides an amazing entertainment factor to Nicholls State fans.  There is no doubt that he will come out of the offensive unit as one of the key leaders and also a key figure for the Nicholls State football team.

You couldn’t help but be impressed at his performance in Mobile this past Saturday.  South Alabama is a quality football program and is the Colonels’ second FBS opponent this year in only Week 3 of the regular season.  There could have been a huge blowout but Fourcade kept moving the chains and maintained a very well-balanced offensive unit for the evening.  The Jaguars unfortunately came up victorious in a thriller 41-40 overtime finish.  However, Colonel fans have a lot to look forward to considering Fourcade is playing very well for a freshman and against two very well coached FBS programs.

I recently interviewed Chase and I asked him several questions, one of which pertaining to the game of football in particular.  I asked, “What is it you enjoy most about football?”  Chase replied, “I enjoy being around my teammates.  I like helping them out, working out with them, and just being around them in general.  I enjoy the learning aspect of the game as well.  I am willing to learn anything if it improves my game.”  From a coaching perspective, I do not think they would want to hear any other answer from their starting quarterback.  The fact that Chase enjoys the learning aspect of the game has to please any coach of his.  He is such a young talent that has so much room for growth and I believe that with that kind of

mindset and talent, the sky is the limit for the former Archbishop Rummel Raider.  You can only coach so much until the player takes it upon himself to learn the nature of the game.  Chase exemplifies a great attitude towards the game and seems willing to work well with others.

Chase’s uncle, John Fourcade, has a bit of a football past himself so it is easy to see where Chase gets his quarterback attributes.  John Fourcade was a former quarterback for the New Orleans Saints back in the late 80’s until he was waived in July 1991.  He was the Most Valuable Player in the 1982 Senior Bowl throwing for 115 yards and running for 33 yards and two touchdowns.  He also holds the record for yards at Ole Miss for 6,713 yards after surpassing Archie Manning, the previous record holder. Just like his uncle, Chase will look to break a couple of records himself as a starting freshman quarterback.

I am curious to see how this season will unfold for the young talent.  He seems to have everything around him to properly utilize his skills at the quarterback position.  Already proven that he can handle the higher tier of competition against FBS opponents, he leaves little room to doubt that he can take his game to the next level ad help the Colonels bring home a Conference championship.  As a freshman, he has already achieved many goals that he may not have envisioned himself.  Now that he realizes his true potential, he can now set his own individual goals as well as help his teammates recognize theirs as mentioned in the interview above.  Chase mentioned that he “Enjoys being around his teammates, I enjoy being around them, and helping them out.”  It goes to show that Chase is a down to earth kind of guy and really cares about the man next to him.  A football team can revolve around a rare, talented quarterback but Chase has realized that he will not be able to complete all these goals by himself.  It takes teamwork, chemistry, and relationship building to take the Colonel football to the next level and I believe Chase will do just that.  As I was interviewing this gentleman, I could tell that he genuinely cared about his teammates.  It was never about HIM, but rather the other guys.  I think that is important as a quarterback to show your teammates that you are willing to learn and work with them.  He is a selfless young man who just wants to win football games and help his team in any manner possible.  Chase’s next matchup will be against the McNeese State Cowboys this Saturday in Lake Charles, LA.  He will look to bring the Colonels to a 2-2 record as they battle the Cowboys for an inner-conference game.

I had the chance to sit down with Chase and ask him a few questions.

1. Why did you choose Nicholls to play collegiate football?

“I felt like they showed me love.  They always called me on the weekend just to see how I was doing and how my

previous game went for high school.  It was just a matter of showing appreciation and that they wanted me to come play for them.”

2. How would you say you performed in high school as a quarterback?

“I felt like I managed games very well at Rummel.  I understood my job and played to my standard whether we knew we were going to win big or if it was a close game.

3. Were you nervous coming into college as a freshman?

“Absolutely.  I jumped into the position Week 1 against Georgia and had no intentions of that happening coming into school in the fall.  I did not know how many chances I would get as a starter since I was just a freshman.”

4. What do you enjoy the most about football?

“I enjoy being around my teammates.  I like helping them out, working out with them, and just being around them in general.  I enjoy the learning aspect of the game as well.  I am willing to learn anything if it improves my game.”

5. How do you see the rest of the year playing out for you?

“Individually, I am looking to progress every week, one game at a time.  I know what I have to do and we know what we have to do as a team as well.  It is just a matter of recognizing our goals and going out to achieve them.”