The Nicholls State team name is the Colonels. They are Division IAA, and this is the first time that that Nicholls State has played anyone in the Big 12. They have played only eight Division IA teams in their 34 year history. Their last win over a Division IA team came when they upset Arkansas State in November, 2001.
Nicholls State University is located in Thibodaux, Louisiana, which is about 20-25 miles southwest of New Orleans. The Colonels won the Southland Conference last year, finishing 6-4. It was their first conference title. Their head coach, Jay Thomas (shown below) is in his third year at Nicholls State, his first head coaching position.
Source: Nicholls State Sports Web Site
The Colonels are currently ranked 24th in the Sports Network Division IAA poll.
Nicholls State is 1-0, coming off a win over Division II Southern Arkansas, 35-0. They run a triple option/wishbone attack. During his weekly press conference, Bill Callahan had this to say about Nicholls State's offense:
A year ago they averaged 69 plays per game, and out of those, 64 were rushing attempts, on average.....Our concern is that they'll try to limit our possessions, try to chew up clock and they'll also try to go for it on fourth down. If you look at their attempts a year ago on fourth down, they went for it quite a bit of the time. They average about three fourth-down attempts a game......
Throwing the ball eight percent of the time is even less than you'd have expected from any recent history Nebraska team. They're not going to challenge our secondary with the exception of the strong safety. The worst that can happen is that Nebraska suffers any more serious injuries, as they did against Louisiana Tech.
Gametime is 12:30 pm
There will be no TV coverage. No, not even on Pay Per View. I've seen the ads on Fox Sports, too, but there will be no TV coverage.
You can listen to the game on these radio stations (bottom of the page), or over the Internet at Huskers.com.
Nicholls State Information
Nicholls State University Page
Did You Know?
Montana State moved to #11 in the Sports Network Division IAA poll after their win over Colorado.
It was Montana State's third straight win over Colorado, the other two coming in 1926 and 1927.
It was Montana State's first win over a Division IA opponent since 1984 when they beat Fresno State.
Montana State will get the chance to beat a Nebraska team this week when they take on Chadron State College.
Montana State played Nebraska in 1928 and 1930.