Opponent Preview: Nicholls
10/7/2016 12:00:00 AM | Football
NACOGDOCHES, Texas - Stephen F. Austin heads back on the road, making the trek to Thibodaux, Louisiana, for a key Southland Conference showdown with Nicholls Saturday. The game against the Colonels kicks at 2:36 p.m. from John L. Guidry Stadium, airing nationwide on the American Sports Network.
Television/Radio Information
Stephen F. Austin will make its second appearance of the season on the American Sports Network when the Lumberjacks battle Nicholls Saturday at Guidry Stadium. Lyn Rollins (play-by-play) and Rene Nadeau (analyst) will have the call of the game with Tatum Everett on the sideline. The local affiliate for ASN is KTPN (The Z) out of Tyler-Longview, airing on Suddenlink channels 9 (SD) and 109 (HD) and over-the-air on channels 47.1 and 51.2. The game can also be found online at Southland.org/Live and through the Southland Conference app, as well as on DirecTV 696 and Dish Network 419. Rob Meyers will have the audio call at Q107.7 FM, available online at Q1077.com as well as through the Lumberjack Sports Network on TuneIn. Live stats will be available at GeauxColonels.com with Twitter updates @SFA_Football.
Five Storylines
• Saturday marks the 33rd meeting between the two teams as SFA has dominated the all-time series 25-7, including holding an eight-game winning streak against Nicholls. The Lumberjacks have been victories in their last five trips to Thibodaux and are 11-4 all-time at Guidry Stadium.
• Saturday's game will mark a homecoming of sorts for head coach Clint Conque who returns to his alma mater. Conque spent two seasons at Nicholls, earning first team All-America honors at linebacker in 1983 from the Associated Press. Conque was then selected to Nicholls’ Silver Anniversary Team in 1997, followed by an induction into the schools’ Hall of Fame in 2005.
• Coach Conque has been efficient against teams from his home state during his SFA career. Conque, who is a Baton Rouge native, is 4-1 in games played in the state of Louisiana, including a pair of wins in Lake Charles (2014, 2016) and one each in both Thibodaux (2014) and Hammond (2015).
• Six Lumberjacks on the 2016 roster are Louisiana natives with four of them making the trip to Thibodaux this weekend. WR De'Quann Ruffin (New Orleans), DE Gary Sampson (Covington), S Germod Williams (Shreveport) and P Michael Crowder (Pineville) are all listed among the two-deep and could see action at Nicholls Saturday.
• A number of Lumberjacks rank among the nation's best, led by Trevon Smith leading the nation in total kick return yards (475). Trae Hart is sixth in punt return average (19.5), Kedrick Harrison seventh in sacks per game (1.00) and Storm Ruiz ranking eighth in field goals per game (1.40) and 13th in field goal percentage (87.5%). Hunter Taylor is among the national leaders in three categories, ranking 14th in yards per completion (14.31), 19th in yards per attempt (8.45) and 21st in passing efficiency (156.4).
Scouting The Colonels
2016 Record: 1-3 overall, 1-1 Southland Conference.
Last Three Games: L at McNeese (38-13), L at South Alabama (41-40, OT), W vs. Incarnate Word (35-28)
Head Coach: Tim Rebowe (LSU, 1987). Second season at Nicholls (4-11, .267)
Key Offensive Players:
• #9 Chase Fourcade (Fr., QB): 67-of-123 (54.5%) for 798 yds., 5 TDs, 4 INTs; 23 rushes for 39 yds. (1.7 avg.)
• #29 Dontrell Taylor (Fr., RB): 61 rushes for 243 yds. (4.0 avg.), 3 TDs
• #24 C.J. Okpalobi (Sr., RB): 68 rushes for 236 yds. (3.5 avg.), 2 TDs
• #2 C.J. Bates (Sr., WR): 18 catches for 237 yds. (13.2 avg.), 1 TD
• #3 Damion Jeanpiere (So., WR): 10 catches for 150 yds. (15.0 avg.), 2 TDs
Key Defensive Players:
• #26 B.T. Sanders (Sr., DB): 29 tackles (16 solo), 1 FF, 1 INT
• #58 Hezekiah White (R-So., LB): 27 tackles (16 solo), 5.5 TFL, 2 PBU
• #47 Allen Pittman (R-Fr., LB): 21 tackles (11 solo), 0.5 TFL, 1 PBU, 1 BK
• #55 Sully Laiche (Fr., DL): 18 tackles (12 solo), 4.5 TFL, 3.0 sacks
• #10 Jeff Hall (Sr., DB): 16 tackles (10 solo), 1.0 TFL, 2 INTs, 3 PBU, 1 BK
Synopsis: Nicholls has posted a 1-3 record on the year and is 1-1 in Southland Conference play, putting a scare into a pair of FBS foes. The Colonels dropped a 26-24 decision at Georgia in their season opener before a 41-40 overtime loss at South Alabama, and have split their Southland Conference games, defeating Incarnate Word 35-28 and losing at McNeese 38-13 last Saturday. Nicholls is averaging 28 points and 334 yards of offense per game, putting up 131.5 rushing and 202.5 passing yards per game. Freshman QB Chase Fourcade has taken over the helm of the Colonel offense as WR C.J. Bates has emerged as his top receiving threat, with RBs Dontrell Taylor and C.J. Okpalobi both rushing for over 200 yards already in 2016. Defensively, Nicholls is giving up 33.2 points and 396.8 yards per game, ranking as one of the top defensive units in the conference. The Colonels are allowing 132.5 rushing and 264.2 passing yards per game, led by senior DB B.T. Sanders’ team-best 29 tackles. LB Hezekiah White has added 27 tackles and a team-best 5.5 tackles for loss while DL Sully Laiche has added 18 tackles, including 4.5 tackles for loss and three sacks.
Head Coach Clint Conque's Weekly Press Conference Transcript
On what the team learned at the Battle of the Piney Woods:
“I’m certainly disappointed with our performance. We played an outstanding football team who is worthy of their number two ranking. A lot of things happened in that game, and at the end of the day, they were in position to make big plays, and they made them even when our guys had them covered. We were in position to make big plays, and we didn’t. We misfired early and got sacked five times early in the game. We had some miscues, both offensively and defensively, and before you know it, its 28-0 at the end of the first quarter. Now you’re out of your game plan and all the momentum is going their way, and we kind of lost our poise as well. Its obviously incredibly disappointing. I apologize to our fan base. They deserve better than that game. As I said last week, the conference championship was not decided Saturday. The season’s not over. There’s six games scheduled left, and we have an outstanding opponent again this week in Nicholls. We have to pick up the pieces and move forward. I told our players that last night it’s how we choose to approach this week and the lessons that we learn that will define what kind of football team we are. It was a disappointing game, especially when you consider who it was and the stage we were on, but all I know is how to get back to work. We’re trying to build a program here, and we have a chance to go down to Thibodaux and get our third conference win. That’s what I need our players, staff and everyone associated with our program focused on to get us ready to play.”
On playing in another tough environment this weekend:
“This is our longest trip of the year, and may be our most challenging. Thibodaux’s a tough place to play, and especially at two-thirty in the afternoon with the heat and humidity in south Louisiana. Having played there and coached there, I have to do a good job of getting our players ready to play. In addition to the trip and tough environment, we’re playing a really good football team. They’ve become a real talking point across the country this season, and for good reason. They give Georgia all they can handle in Athens and lose by two points. Then they took South Alabama to over time, went for the win and came up a little short. That South Alabama just beat a top 25 team in San Diego State handily this week. They lost a pretty good rivalry match against McNeese this week, but they beat Incarnate Word at home. We know as coaches we have to get our players refocused on the challenges this football team presents in addition to the trip and environment.”
On trying to get the running game going against Nicholls:
“I think that any time you want to be a good football team, you have to show some balance. Our plan last week was to show some balance, but when you fall behind 28-0, it gets you out of your game plan. We’ve just have to stick to the plan. Last year we ran the football against this team. We’re going to have to be able to throw it and run the ball and maybe protect our defense a little bit more. They are playing a lot of snaps, and we have to do better on first down. I think our conversion rate got better throughout the game. We might have been 12 of 25 between third and fourth downs on Saturday, which is closer to 50%. That’s an important number because when you can move the chains, you can keep playing and get opportunities to score and keep your defense on the sideline. This is a very good opponent. They are very big and physical both on the offensive and defensive lines. A lot of great athletes from southeast Louisiana. They have big receivers who I thought made great catches against McNeese last week. Coach Rebowe has done a great job with that program. They get lined up and play hard. They are starting a freshman quarterback, and he has made some fantastic throws. He’s going through a little bit of learning curve, I’m sure, but he’s got good people around him.”
On the SFA quarterback situation:
“Zach (Conque) did some really good things and Hunter (Taylor) did too. He just missed some things. We go back and chart a lot of things and I think Zach was seven of eleven on third down conversions which kept the chains going throughout the game. Hunter had a couple more explosive plays, but he had some deflections and was sacked. A couple of those were not his faults. We’re going to need all hands on deck every week. We’ll have a plan together, and both of them will be a big part of what we do moving forward. We’re still in the formulation part right now.”
On the attitude of the team:
“It’s the same thing we’ve focused on every week of the season: the 24-hour rule. You have 24 hours to either celebrate or stew, and then you flush it and move on. Every game you look at the things you did well and the things you need to improve upon. Obviously this past game takes on a different meaning because of the intensity of the game, the fan base and the venue. With that being said, we better flush it quickly because Nicholls is a really good team coming off a tough rival loss as well and they are going to come out swinging. It’s our job as coaches to get our players psychologically prepared for a really good Nicholls team.”
On what the team can take away from last year’s rally against Nicholls:
“You have to look at the resiliency we showed after fumbling the ball five times, three of which were in the red zone. The resiliency there goes to show you’re never out of any game. We were down 21-7 late and came back and won the game. If you look historically at this game, this isn’t your grandfather’s Nicholls, or even your older brother’s Nicholls. They’re a really good football team. They’re not tremendously complicated in what they do, but what they do they do it well. At times they’ve been able to move the ball, score points and play good defense. It’s our job to get our players refocused. I think all you have to do is turn the tape on and see how hard they played against Georgia, South Alabama and McNeese. It’s Southland Conference football - every week presents a challenge, and this week certainly presents a challenge itself.”
-SFA-
