Colonels top San Diego for first playoff win in 32 years
The No. 13/14 Nicholls State University football team raced out to a 32-point lead against No. 18/19 San Diego early in the third quarter and held off a late rally to win its first playoff game in 32 years, defeating the Toreros 49-30 Saturday evening at Manning Field in John L. Guidry Stadium.
With the victory, Nicholls (9-3) extends its winning streak to five games and advances to the second round to play at No. 3 Eastern Washington in Cheney, Washington. Kickoff is scheduled for 4 p.m.
Saturday’s win marks only the second time the Colonels have won in the playoffs, with their first coming in 1986.
Southland Conference Player of the Year Chase Fourcade completed 21 of 31 passes for 337 yards with two touchdowns while adding 82 yards rushing and two more scores.
The Colonels had 606 yards of offense, with Dontrell Taylor recording his fourth 100-yard rushing game with 124 yards and two touchdowns. Damion Jeanpiere, Jr. fueled the passing game with 143 yards and a score on seven receptions.
Defensively, the Colonels allowed one first-half touchdown to the Toreros, who came into the game ranked 10th nationally in scoring.
But Walter Payton Award finalist quarterback Anthony Lawrence caught fire after intermission, adding three more touchdown passes to extend his nation’s-best total to 39.
Nicholls has dominated the opposition in the first half during its winning streak, and Saturday was no different.
Nicholls scored on its opening drive and San Diego, on its second possession.
However, the Colonels then took a 21-7 lead after first-quarter touchdown runs by Taylor and Fourcade.
San Diego (9-3) chipped into the deficit with a field goal before Nicholls added a rushing touchdown from Julien Gums.
Fourcade then hit Tajh Smith for his first career touchdown for 52 yards, sending Nicholls into the break with a 35-10 lead.
The Red and Gray scored again on the opening drive of the third quarter on a Jeanpiere 17-yard touchdown catch for a commanding 42-10 lead.
However, the Toreros made a late push to make the game interesting.
San Diego pulled out a few trick plays, scoring on a reverse flea-flicker as Lawrence found Dalton Kincaid open for a 38-yard touchdown. Kincaid caused problems all night for the Colonel defense, finishing with four touchdowns on just six receptions (87 yards). Three came in a span of eight minutes between the third and fourth quarters, making the score at 42-30.
But San Diego had trouble slowing down the Colonel rushing attack all night, and Nicholls ran the ball 10 of 12 plays on its next possession to all but put the game away at 49-30.
Fourcade had a 10-yard rush in the drive and ended it with a 13-yard keeper with 8:53 remaining.
The Colonels rushed for 269 yards, reaching 200-plus for the fifth-straight game.
San Diego went three-and-out on the ensuing possession and turned it over on downs in the final minute to end the game.
While the defense did not record a sack for the first time this season, it allowed only nine yards rushing on 14 carries.
Austin Dickerson had a career-high seven tackles, while Ahmani Martin accounted for 1.5 of the Colonels’ six tackles for loss. Sully Laiche had five stops and forced a turnover in the opening quarter.
Lawrence finished 30 of 56 for 322 yards for San Diego, with Michael Bandy totaling 144 yards on nine receptions.
Defensively, the Toreros recorded two sacks, and Cassius Johnson intercepted a Fourcade pass in the third quarter.
For the Colonels, Taylor needed only 14 carries for his eighth career 100-yard game, which tied Josh Son for the program record. He scored the Colonels’ first two touchdowns on 27- and 49-yard runs.
Nicholls redshirt junior Garret LeBlanc received playing time.
GAME NOTES
The nine wins are the second-most in team history (10 in 1986). The program’s only other playoff win was against Appalachian State in 1986. Fourcade needs just 89 yards to break the program’s all-time passing record (Doug Hudson, 7,670 yards). Jeanpiere, Jr. climbed to No. 2 on the all-time receiving yards list (2,302). Sophomore Dai’Jean Dixon moved into ninth on the career top-10 receiving list with 1,224 yards. Nicholls has faced Eastern Washington just once in program history, with Nicholls winning at home 37-14 in 2004.