Cardinals not staring at Colonels of old
Published 4:08 pm Friday, September 29, 2017
BEAUMONT — From 2011-14, Nicholls State posted a combine 6-40 record.
The Colonels have won 10 games since, only to lose 16, but Tim Rebowe has built the program into one that’s not an easy out.
This year’s Texas A&M team and last year’s Georgia and South Alabama groups can confirm. After losing by a combined three points in those 2016 games, Nicholls came within 10 points of the Aggies this year.
“[Rebowe has] progressed that team quite a bit since he’s taken over, and I think he’s right on track,” Lamar coach Mike Schultz said, mistakenly saying “Tebow” for Rebowe. “It’s going to be an extremely tough football game for us.”
That’s the respect the Colonels (2-2, 1-1 Southland) have earned from Schultz, whose Cardinals (1-3, 0-2) are off to another slow start.
Lamar has not beaten Nicholls since a sound 63-21 thumping in Thibodaux, Louisiana, three years ago. That’s how bad it’s been for the Cardinals, who are 11-17 since 2015.
They’ll be home for the first time in three weeks with an opportunity to jump back in the Southland Conference race, but they haven’t won a league game at Provost Umphrey Stadium since last Oct. 15 against Northwestern State (two straight losses since). Nicholls State, which was ranked No. 23 last week, is looking to regain some of its luster from last week’s 66-17 loss at No. 3 Sam Houston State.
“Nicholls State may be the best football team we’ve played, excluding North Texas, to this point,” Schultz said. “I think they got into a hornet’s nest at Sam Houston State. I think things got out of kilter in a hurry.”
Both teams could use a much faster start to a game.
Lamar got behind 21-7 at Southeastern Louisiana last Saturday and has been outscored 58-31 by opponents in the first 15 minutes this season. The Cards missed a field goal, punted after an interception, fumbled and punted before scoring their first down.
Quarterback Darrel Colbert is trying to overcome a three-interception game, despite throwing for 272 yards.
“We’ve had a talk about the turnovers,” Schultz said. “We’ve had, what, three interceptions? That’s got to stop, or, we’ll have to make a change. Right now, we can’t live with three turnovers at that position. The great thing about Darrel Colbert [is that] Darrel Colbert knows that. He’s a veteran-experienced quarterback. The first thing he’ll tell you is, ‘Hey, I can’t do that.’ So, we’ve got to get that corrected. I think Darrel’s got the mindset and mentality to get that done.”
Lamar finds some offensive inspiration in junior college transfer Isaiah Howard, a near-1,000 yard receiver as a senior in high school who caught three passes for 67 yards and a TD in his first game since returning from preseason camp injury.
“Isaiah did step up for us,” Schultz said. “He broke his hand during camp and had some screws in it. He was out for several weeks. That got him a little bit behind on the learning curve. He’s still in the process of getting caught up in that area, but when you miss two or three weeks of camp, that really hurt him as far as learning.
“I think we will see him improve. This is just the tip of the iceberg with him. He’s a big, physical receiver we’ve got to continue to grow and get better.”
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I.C. Murrell: 549-8541. Twitter: @ICMurrellPANews