Rebowe wants Colonels to heed potential message from Houston Christian coach

Tim Rebowe wants his Colonels to heed a potential message from Houston Christian University coach Braxton Harris.

“I think that’s going to be the big message to his team is that they already came to Louisiana and won one tough game on the road, and they come here and do it again,” Rebowe said.

The Nicholls coach was referring to HCU’s 34-19 win at Southeastern Louisiana two weeks ago.

The Huskies will take on Nicholls at 3 p.m. Saturday in the Colonels’ homecoming game.

HCU’s win over the Lions was an eye-opener, but it comes with a caveat. SLU, among the preseason Southland Conference favorites, is winless on the season at 0-5 overall, including 0-1 in the league.

Meanwhile, the Huskies lost last week 21-19 to Lamar to fall to 1-1 in the SLC and 2-3 overall.

Nicholls is coming off its first win of the season following losses to the likes of Sacramento State, TCU, and Tulane, with a 31-10 triumph at McNeese State in the Colonels’ Southland opener.

The Huskies, by contrast, have not faced the same type of pre-conference slate as Nicholls. HCU has beaten the likes of Arkansas Baptist and Southeastern Louisiana, while losing to Western Kentucky, Tennessee-Martin, and Lamar.

“Their first game was a good win for them against a lesser opponent,” Rebowe said of HCU’s 66-0 win over Arkansas Baptist. “I don’t know what happened in the UT-Martin game (a 66-7 loss). It just got away from them and just snowballed.

“Their schedule did prepare them for our conference, where we knew it would be a wide-open conference and anybody can beat anybody. They proved it that first week (of conference play). They definitely got the attention of everybody when they went to Hammond and won.

Featuring a multiple offense, the Huskies are led by 6-foot-4, 240-pound senior quarterback Colby Suits, a transfer from the University of Louisiana at Monroe.

“They are a quarterback-driven offense,” Rebowe said. “He does a really good job. He’s a transfer. He has some confidence. He’s a big guy. He can throw it. He knows what to do with it and he’s got a couple of weapons. He had a really good one out wide. He has two running backs that are both (almost) over 300 yards.”

HCU’s leading rusher is 6-foot, 180-pound junior Darryle Evans. A product of Hahnville High, Evans has rushed for 342 yards on 50 carries, averaging 6.8 yards per attempt.

“There was a time when we were recruiting him a little bit. We just didn’t have any spots. We weren’t really recruiting a running back at that time, so he ended up going out of state,” said Rebowe. “He’s a good kid. He’s a good, hard runner. I can remember people saying a lot of good things about him. He’s obviously off to a good start.

“You know he will have family here and come home and wants to do well in this state.”

Fellow running back Champ Dozier has rushed for 294 yards on 57 carries.

The Nicholls coach said he likes the way his defense is playing against the run.

“I think it’s going to be another big test for them. They know they’ve got to get hats on the ball and just effort and pursuit, we have to make sure of that,” Rebowe said.

While the Huskies have split the carries among a pair of running backs, such is not the same at receiver.

Karl Reynolds, a 6-foot-2, 175-pound senior, has hauled in 20 catches for 337 yards and four touchdowns. A.J. Wilson is a distant second on the receiving chart for the Huskies with eight catches for 171 yards.

“He’s a big target for them,” Rebowe said of Reynolds. “When the quarterback gets in a little trouble, they know who they are going to. They will scheme him up a little bit to try and get him open.

“We have to do a good job in the back end. I think the way we can combat that a little bit is we have to get some pressure on the quarterback. We can’t have him sit back there and throwing it all day.”

On the other side of the ball, HCU runs a base defense, according to Rebowe.

“They’re not a huge blitzing team. They are not really going to come after you. They will pick their spots. They play some man and zone,” Rebowe said.

HCU’s top defender is 6-foot-4, 248-pound senior edge rusher Jalyx Hunt. Hunt has four sacks on the season to go along with 27 tackles.

“He stands out. He jumps at you. He is one of the guys right now that protection-wise, we will have to know and be able to account for him,” said Rebowe.

Hunt has one interception, which he ran back for a touchdown. The interception came in the first quarter of the Huskies’ season opener and the HCU defense has yet to pick off another pass.

“Let’s hope we can knock on wood and keep that going. We are on a pretty decent streak right now of getting some turnovers where last year it wasn’t like that. Hopefully, we can do like last week and protect the football.,” Rebowe said.

Junior linebacker Rodney Dansby is HCU’s leader in tackles with 47.

“It seems like he’s been there a long time. He’s been a good player for them for a long time. He’s very, very active. I think they have a couple of other linebackers to go with him and one really good in the secondary,” said Rebowe.

The really good one in the secondary is sophomore safety Caleb Flagg, who is third on the team in tackles with 30.

“Caleb Flagg’s the guy we have to make sure we know where he is. He’s very, very active in their run game,” Rebowe pointed out.

Going into the SLC opener a week ago, Rebowe said a team that is able to steal a road game and then head home could have an early edge on the rest of the league.

“As a coach, you are always telling the players one game at a time. But also in the back of your mind, you see the schedule and you know where you have to try and get to,” the Nicholls coach said. “We wanted to get through that first part of the schedule and try to get us back home. We did that and with a big opportunity in front of us. But you can’t just show up on Saturday.

“Our guys are doing a good job right now of preparing. They had a good practice. They understand what’s at stake. Nobody will just lay down for you.”