Lamar sports information

THIBODAUX, La. – For just the second time in program history, and the first time since 1983, the Lamar football team left Thibodaux, La., without a victory.

Nicholls State jumped out to a 21-3 first half lead and held on for a 35-10 victory. It was the third consecutive loss for the Cardinals, who fell to 3-6 on the season, and 3-4 in Southland Conference play.

It was a case of too many miscues for the LU offense Thursday night at Guidry Stadium. The Cardinals finished the game with two turnovers (one fumble and one interception), but were stung with numerous bad snaps, including two on consecutive plays, which forced the Cardinals to punt the ball away after starting a drive first-and-goal from the Nicholls’ 5-yard line.

“On the first drive of the game we put them in several third down situations but we couldn’t get off the field,” said LU head coach Ray Woodard. “It wasn’t that drive that bothered me the most but the missed tackles later in the game. Offensively, we were in the red zone five times and only came away with 10 points. It was a poorly played game on our part.”

The Cardinals could manage just 241 yards of total offense and were held to minus-14 yards rushing. Nicholls finished the game with 404 yards of offense including 235 on the ground. True freshman Adam Morse was 19-of-37 for 255 yards and a touchdown in his first career start for the Cards.

Big Red’s defense was led by senior Xavier Bethany. The Burton native recorded 10 tackles, including eight solo stops.

The Colonels cracked the scoreboard first as Chase Fourcade led the Colonels on a 13-play, 66-yard drive that ended with a 9-yard run from Fourcade for the score. The Colonels’ opening drive took more than 6 minutes off the clock. The 7-0 advantage stood until 11:55 of the second quarter, when Morse moved LU deep into Nicholls territory, but the drive stalled out on the 10-yard line. Senior Juan Carranco came in and booted a 27-yard field goal to pull LU within four points, 7-3.

Nicholls responded just over 2 minutes later when Fourcade hit Damion Jeanpiere on the far sideline. Jeanpiere spun away from one defender and took the ball 25 yards for the score. Nicholls appeared to be marching for another score before sophomore Davon Jernigan picked off a pass to thwart the drive. Unfortunately, the Cardinals gave the ball back on the very next play. The Colonels’ Mason Boudreaux cashed in on the mistake three plays later with a 4-yard run up the middle for the score.

The Cardinals could manage only 144 yards of total offense in the opening 30 minutes, and were held to minus-17 yards rushing. Nicholls had a very balanced attack in the opening half recording 219 yards of offense, including 103 on the ground.

The Cardinals finally caught a break late in the third quarter when Boudreaux fumbled on his own 30, which was recovered by Jernigan, who returned it down to the 5-yard line. Despite the great field position the Cardinals could not convert. Consecutive bad snaps forced the Big Red to punt the ball away on fourth-and-goal from their own 41-yard line.

The miscues would prove costly as Kyran Irvin carried the ball 78 yards down to the LU 2 on the very next play. The Colonels then turned to Boudreaux, who punched it in from a yard out for the score. The touchdown gave Nicholls an insurmountable 28-3 advantage as Lamar didn’t threaten after that.

Each team tacked on one final score to close out the game, as Morse found sophomore Zae Giles from 13 yards to close the scoring with 3:14 remaining the clock. Giles finished the night with six catches for 66 yards and the score.

The Cardinals return to action Saturday, Nov. 12, when they host Incarnate Word on Senior Night. The game is slated to kick off at 6 p.m. at Provost Umphrey Stadium.