THIBODAUX, La. — Nicholls spent much of Saturday afternoon trying to recover from a first quarter that got away from the Colonels almost immediately.
No. 15 Lamar scored four touchdowns in the opening 15 minutes, built a 42-10 halftime lead and went on to defeat Nicholls 49-18 at Manning Field at John L. Guidry Stadium.
The loss dropped Nicholls to 2-3 overall and 1-1 in Southland Conference play. Lamar improved to 3-1 overall and 1-0 in the league while earning its first victory in Thibodaux since 2014.
For Nicholls head coach Tommy Rybacki, the problem was not difficult to identify.
“We made way too many mistakes in the first half in all three phases of the game,” Rybacki said afterward.
Lamar wasted little time taking advantage.
Quarterback Aiden McCown connected with Blake Thomas for a 41-yard touchdown on the Cardinals’ opening possession. After Nicholls went three-and-out, McCown struck again, finding Davin Driskell for a 49-yard touchdown that gave Lamar a 14-0 lead less than six minutes into the game.
Nicholls answered with one of its better possessions of the afternoon.
Running back Shane Lee broke loose for 26 yards on fourth-and-2, helping the Colonels put together a 10-play, 65-yard drive. Quarterback Ean Rodrigue finished it with a 3-yard touchdown pass to Ellis Stewart, cutting Lamar’s lead to 14-7.
For a brief moment, the Colonels appeared to have weathered Lamar’s opening surge.
Eleven seconds later, the momentum was gone.
Caleb Holmes returned the ensuing kickoff 86 yards for a touchdown, immediately pushing Lamar’s advantage back to 21-7.
Rybacki pointed to that sequence as one of the most damaging moments of the game.
“We finally answered it, and then we gave up the big return,” Rybacki said. “We got to play much better in all three phases early in the game.”
Special teams hurt Nicholls again later in the quarter.
A mishandled punt attempt gave Lamar possession deep in Nicholls territory. The Cardinals quickly turned the short field into another touchdown and extended the lead to 28-7 before the first quarter had ended.
For Rybacki, those plays reinforced how quickly special teams can change a game.
“Special teams are a critical factor of the game, tonight’s game, every game, and we definitely have to play better,” Rybacki said.
Lamar continued to pull away in the second quarter.
Nicholls moved into Cardinals territory but came up short on fourth down. Lamar responded with another touchdown drive, then added another score before halftime to make it 42-7.
Kingston Phan gave the Colonels something positive heading into the locker room when he connected on a 43-yard field goal as time expired, but Nicholls still entered halftime facing a 32-point deficit.
One of the biggest differences came on third down.
Lamar repeatedly extended drives, while Nicholls struggled to get off the field in critical situations.
Rybacki said the Colonels put themselves in position to make stops but failed to finish.
“We’re able to get into third down a number of times in the first half, and we’re not able to get off the field,” Rybacki said, pointing both to plays made by Lamar and penalties that extended possessions.
That was particularly frustrating because Rybacki believed the Nicholls offense was capable of moving the football if given more opportunities.
“We felt like we could move the ball, but, you know, unfortunately, we weren’t able to do that,” he said.
Nicholls did settle down after halftime.
The Colonels held Lamar scoreless in the third quarter, and safety Skylar Husband came up with an interception to stop one Cardinals possession.
Early in the fourth, Nicholls put together its best drive of the second half.
Rodrigue found Jordan Smith for a 29-yard touchdown, with Smith going up for a leaping catch in the end zone. Rodrigue followed by connecting with Stewart on the two-point conversion to cut the deficit to 42-18.
Lamar answered again.
McCown broke through the middle for a 56-yard touchdown run, providing the final points of the afternoon and ending any realistic chance of a Nicholls comeback.
McCown accounted for four touchdowns, completing 13 of 19 passes for 232 yards and three scores while also rushing for 80 yards.
Driskell led Lamar’s receivers with four catches for 110 yards.
Rodrigue completed 18 of 31 passes for 191 yards and two touchdowns for Nicholls without throwing an interception. Smith caught six passes for 78 yards and a touchdown, while Greg Donaldson added five receptions for 75 yards.
Lee led the Colonels on the ground with 64 yards on nine carries.
Defensively, Kennon Loftin led Nicholls with 11 tackles. Kasai Jones added seven tackles and a pass breakup, while Husband finished with six tackles to go along with his interception.
The final statistics showed a game that was closer in several categories than the scoreboard suggested.
Lamar finished with 439 yards of total offense compared with 329 for Nicholls. The Cardinals held a 23-19 advantage in first downs, while possession time was nearly even.
The biggest difference was explosiveness.
Lamar produced several long scoring plays and repeatedly turned Nicholls mistakes into points. The Colonels, meanwhile, spent most of the afternoon trying to overcome the damage done during the opening half.
For a Nicholls program that takes pride in protecting its home field, the result stung.
“Extremely disappointed in the outcome of the game,” Rybacki said. “We take a ton of pride in playing at home. Our guys work incredibly hard to protect home field and to have that be an advantage for us, so this one hurts. It hurts a lot.”
But Rybacki was equally clear that one difficult afternoon does not define the Colonels’ season.
“Our season is not over,” he said. “We got a ton of work to do to improve this team and to keep it moving forward. We still have goals. We still have aspirations.”
Then came the message Nicholls will carry into the coming week.
“Today was a huge setback, but we know that we’ll be able to rebound from it and keep it moving forward.”
The Colonels will have their first opportunity to respond when they return to Southland Conference play on the road against Houston Christian.