New Orleans — The Colonels of Nicholls State made the short trip to Yulman Stadium Saturday night to take-on Tulane, but were not able to knock-off their second-straight FBS opponent. The Green Wave cruised to the 42-17 win over the Colonels to improve to 17-0 all-time against FCS opponents.
Tulane’s defense made some key stops in the red zone early-on, holding the Colonels to just a field goal for the first 29 and a half minutes of the game.
“We gave up a lot of yards between the 20s,” said Tulane head football coach Willie Fritz. “We did a good job especially in the first half of making them kick field goals. I think they missed one, maybe two.”
The Green Wave offense then did their part to stretch a sizable lead. Corey Dauphine’s second score of the day was a 69-yard touchdown run to start the second quarter, making it a 14-3 Tulane lead. He led the Green Wave with 152 yards on 6 carries and 3 touchdowns. Then Jonathan Banks added a 5-yard keeper makes it a 21-3 Tulane lead.
“I was just looking for any kind of crease that I could find and just hit it full speed,” Dauphine said. “That was really my biggest thing.”
Nicholls capitalized off a Banks fumble and a short field late in the second quarter, and turned that into points. Chase Fourcade connected with Gabe Fuselier for the 7-yard touchdown reception, 23 seconds before the half. An 11-point halftime lead for the Green Wave grew again in the third, after Tulane capitalized on a Nicholls turnover. Brother Martin’s Rod Teamer made an interception to get the Green Wave the ball back, then Tulane went 95-yards on 14 plays, eating-up nearly 8 minutes of game clock on the ensuing drive. Banks found Darnell Mooney on a 12-yard score to cap-off that drive, and Tulane pushed their lead to 28-10 into the 4th. Mooney finished with 111 yards on 6 catches.
“I thought we had some opportunities in the first half that we let slip away,” said Nicholls head football coach Tim Rebowe. “I thought our guys were playing hard. They fought hard. It did get away from us in the back end.”
