2021 Nicholls Colonels football team

American college football season

The 2021 Nicholls State Colonels football team represented Nicholls State University as a member of the Southland Conference during the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season. Led by seventh-year head coach Tim Rebowe, the Colonels compiled an overall record of 6–5 with a mark of 5–3 in conference play, placing third in the Southland. Nicholls State played home games at John L. Guidry Stadium in Thibodaux, Louisiana.

Previous season[edit]

The Colonels finished the 2020 season with a 4–3 record, 3–3 in Southland play, during the shortened season due to the COVID-19 pandemic. As Nicholls decided to play during the scheduled FCS season in the spring, their schedule only consisted of FCS teams, including all teams who chose to play in the spring from the Southland, and Lincoln (MO). They concluded the season ranked No. 23 in the STATS poll and No. 20 in the FCS Coaches poll.

Preseason[edit]

Preseason poll[edit]

The Southland Conference released their preseason poll in July 2021. The Colonels were picked to finish second in the conference.^[1] In addition, eleven Colonels were chosen to the Preseason All-Southland Team.^[2]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Southeastern Louisiana	48 (8)
2	Nicholls	43 (4)
3	Incarnate Word	32
4	McNeese State	26
5	Northwestern State	21
6	Houston Baptist	10

Preseason All–Southland Teams[edit]

Personnel[edit]

Schedule[edit]

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
September 4	6:00 p.m.	at Memphis*	No. 22		ESPN+	L 17–42	30,263
September 11	6:00 p.m.	at Louisiana*			ESPN3	L 24–27	25,417
September 25	3:00 p.m.	North Alabama*			ESPN+	W 31–17	7,314
October 2	3:00 p.m.	Houston Baptist		Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA	ESPN3	W 48–17	5,840
October 9	12:00 p.m.	No. 14 Southeastern Louisiana	No. 25		ESPN+	L 48–58	7,402
October 16	11:00 a.m.	at No. 18 Incarnate Word			ESPN3	L 21–38	1,369
October 23	6:00 p.m.	at Houston Baptist			ESPN+	W 44–14	2,362
October 30	12:00 p.m.	Northwestern State		Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA (NSU Challenge)	ESPN+	W 42–21	7,328
November 6	12:00 p.m.	at McNeese State			ESPN+	W 24–14	8,898
November 13	3:00 p.m.	No. 17 Incarnate Word		Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA	ESPN3	L 23–27	6,392
	6:00 p.m.	at No. 15 Southeastern Louisiana			ESPN+	W 45–42	6,057

^[3][4]

Game summaries[edit]

At Memphis[edit]

Nicholls at Memphis

1 2 3 4 Total No. 22 (FCS) Colonels 7 0 7 3 17 • Tigers 10 19 6 7 42

Pregame line	Over/under
MEM-22.5	59

Statistics	Nicholls	Memphis
First downs	17	32
Total yards	299	587
Rushing yards	100	322
Passing yards	199	265
Turnovers	0	1
Time of possession	28:45	31:15

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Nicholls	Passing	Lindsey Scott Jr.	17/30, 194 yards, 1 TD
	Rushing	Julien Gums	13 carries, 48 yards
	Receiving	Dai’Jean Dixon	7 receptions, 107 yards
Memphis	Passing	Seth Henigan	19/32, 265 yards, 1 TD
	Rushing	Brandon Thomas	16 carries, 147 yards, 1 TD
	Receiving	Javon Ivory	5 receptions, 106 yards

At Louisiana[edit]

Nicholls at Louisiana

1 2 3 4 Total Colonels 7 3 0 14 24 • Ragin’ Cajuns 10 7 7 3 27 Date: September 11, 2021 Location: Cajun Field Lafayette, LA Game start: 6:04 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3 hours and 15 minutes Game attendance:  25,417 Game weather: 85 °F (29 °C) • Weather: Sunny • Wind: NE 5 MPH Referee: Trennis Livingston TV announcers (ESPN3): Dan McDonald (play–by–play) and Scott Brazda (analyst)

Scoring summary 1 12:10 LA John Stephens Jr. 14-yard pass from Levi Lewis (Kenneth Almendares kick) (7 plays, 80 yards, 2:46) LA 7–0 10:54 NICH Dai’Jean Dixon 21-yard pass from Lindsey Scott Jr. (Gavin Lasseigne kick) (3 plays, 25 yards, 1:10) TIE 7–7 08:20 LA Kenneth Almendares 46-yard field goal (6 plays, 21 yards, 2:26) LA 10–7 2 05:54 LA Michael Jefferson 46-yard pass from Levi Lewis (Kenneth Almendares kick) (4 plays, 99 yards, 2:09) LA 17–7 00:36 NICH Gavin Lasseigne 42-yard field goal (9 plays, 32 yards, 1:38) LA 17–10 3 00:43 LA Kris Moncrief 67-yard interception returned (Kenneth Almendares kick) (2 plays, 0 yards, 0:52) LA 24–10 4 09:29 LA Kenneth Almendares 28-yard field goal (14 plays, 72 yards, 4:10) LA 27–10 05:03 NICH K. J. Franklin 20-yard pass from Lindsey Scott Jr. (Gavin Lasseigne kick) (10 plays, 75 yards, 4:26) LA 27–17 00:33 NICH Dai’Jean Dixon 6-yard pass from Lindsey Scott Jr. (Gavin Lasseigne kick) (7 plays, 81 yards, 1:45) LA 27–24

Pregame line	Over/under
LA –26.0	65

Statistics	Nicholls	Louisiana
First downs	24	20
Total yards	511	417
Rushing yards	152	113
Passing yards	359	304
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	33:12	26:48

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Nicholls	Passing	Lindsey Scott Jr.	26/37, 359 yards, 3 TDs, 1 INT
	Rushing	Lindsey Scott Jr.	18 carries, 121 yards
	Receiving	Dai’Jean Dixon	14 receptions, 198 yards, 2 TDs
Louisiana	Passing	Levi Lewis	19/33, 304 yards, 2 TDs
	Rushing	Chris Smith	11 carries, 46 yards
	Receiving	Michael Jefferson	3 receptions, 84 yards, 1 TD

North Alabama[edit]

North Alabama at Nicholls

1 2 3 4 Total Lions 7 7 0 0 14 • Colonels 0 3 14 14 31

Pregame line	Over/under
NSU-17	58.5

Statistics	North Alabama	Nicholls
First downs	21	28
Total yards	314	463
Rushing yards	130	291
Passing yards	184	172
Turnovers	1	1
Time of possession	30:42	29:18

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
North Alabama	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Nicholls	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Houston Baptist[edit]

Houston Baptist at Nicholls

1 2 3 4 Total Huskies 0 14 0 3 17 • Colonels 21 14 10 3 48

Pregame line	Over/under
NSU-26	62.5

Statistics	Houston Baptist	Nicholls
First downs	10	33
Total yards	182	650
Rushing yards	35	421
Passing yards	147	229
Turnovers	2	4
Time of possession	22:45	37:15

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Houston Baptist	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Nicholls	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

No. 14 Southeastern Louisiana[edit]

Southeastern Louisiana at Nicholls

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 14 Lions 7 24 14 13 58 No. 25 Colonels 7 7 21 13 48

Pregame line	Over/under
NSU-1	72.5

Statistics	Southeastern Louisiana	Nicholls
First downs	32	26
Total yards	573	507
Rushing yards	167	209
Passing yards	406	298
Turnovers	1	0
Time of possession	37:51	22:09

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Southeastern Louisiana	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Nicholls	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

At No. 18 Incarnate Word[edit]

Nicholls at Incarnate Word

1 2 3 4 Total Colonels 7 14 0 0 21 • No. 18 Cardinals 0 14 7 17 38 Date: October 16, 2021 Location: Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium San Antonio, TX Game start: 11:00 a.m. CDT Elapsed time:  3:09 Game attendance:  1,369 Game weather: 69 °F (21 °C) • Weather:Sunny • Wind: 14mph SSW Referee:  Ed Bourgeois TV announcers (ESPN3):

Pregame line	Over/under
IW-2	76.5

Statistics	Nicholls	Incarnate Word
First downs	28	19
Total yards	445	469
Rushing yards	202	81
Passing yards	243	388
Turnovers	1	0
Time of possession	35:25	24:35

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Nicholls	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Incarnate Word	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

At Houston Baptist[edit]

Nicholls at Houston Baptist

1 2 3 4 Total • Colonels 27 3 7 7 44 Huskies 7 7 0 0 14 Date: October 23, 2021 Location: Husky Stadium Houston, TX Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT Elapsed time:  03:11 Game attendance:  2,362 Game weather: 68 °F (20 °C) • Weather: Rain • Wind: 9mph S Referee:  Craig Helser TV announcers (ESPN+):

Pregame line	Over/under
NSU-21	65.5

Statistics	Nicholls	Houston Baptist
First downs	30	15
Total yards	572	157
Rushing yards	347	8
Passing yards	225	149
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	36:52	23:04

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Nicholls	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Houston Baptist	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

Northwestern State[edit]

Northwestern State at Nicholls

1 2 3 4 Total Demons 0 14 0 7 21 • Colonels 7 21 14 0 42

Pregame line	Over/under
NSU-23.5	55.5

Statistics	Northwestern State	Nicholls
First downs	17	34
Total yards	345	564
Rushing yards	135	300
Passing yards	210	264
Turnovers	3	1
Time of possession	25:54	34:06

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Northwestern State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Nicholls	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

At McNeese State[edit]

Nicholls at McNeese State

1 2 3 4 Total • Colonels 0 7 7 10 24 Cowboys 7 0 7 0 14 Date: November 6, 2021 Location: Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA Game start: 12:00 p.m. CDT Elapsed time:  3:10 Game attendance:  8,898 Game weather: 56 °F (13 °C) • Weather: PC • Wind: NNE 8mph Referee:  Gary Leeper TV announcers (ESPN+):

Pregame line	Over/under
NSU-5.5	55

Statistics	Nicholls	McNeese State
First downs	22	22
Total yards	367	352
Rushing yards	180	188
Passing yards	187	164
Turnovers	2	4
Time of possession	30:25	29:35

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Nicholls	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
McNeese State	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

No. 17 Incarnate Word[edit]

Incarnate Word at Nicholls

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 17 Cardinals 0 13 14 0 27 Colonels 10 10 0 3 23

Pregame line	Over/under
NSU-1.5	70.5

Statistics	Incarnate Word	Nicholls
First downs	13	31
Total yards	376	491
Rushing yards	268	220
Passing yards	108	271
Turnovers	3	2
Time of possession	17:52;	42:08

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Incarnate Word	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Nicholls	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

At No. 15 Southeastern Louisiana[edit]

Nicholls at Southeastern Louisiana

1 2 3 4 Total • Colonels 21 0 17 7 45 No. 15 Lions 14 14 0 14 42 Date: November 18, 2021 Location: Strawberry Stadium Hammond, LA Game start: 6:00 p.m. CST Elapsed time:  3:45 Game attendance:   6,057 Game weather: 59 °F (15 °C) • Weather: Cloudy • Wind: N13mph Referee:  Gary Leeper TV announcers (ESPN+):

Pregame line	Over/under
SEL-7.5	78

Statistics	Nicholls	Southeastern Louisiana
First downs	28	26
Total yards	556	496
Rushing yards	292	111
Passing yards	264	385
Turnovers	2	1
Time of possession	33:29	26:31

Team	Category	Player	Statistics
Nicholls	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving
Southeastern Louisiana	Passing
	Rushing
	Receiving

References[edit]