Script all too familiar in Colonels’ loss to Tulane as Nicholls falls to 0-3

NEW ORLEANS – You will have to forgive Nicholls football coach Tim Rebowe if he seems to have read the same script before.

His team commits an early punting game miscue to give the opponent an early touchdown lead. Several more offensive mistakes added to the opponent’s lead with the Colonel defense continually playing on a short field. With the team struggling to put points on the board, his squad scores late in the second quarter to seemingly build some momentum going into halftime, only to give up a score right before the break. In the second half, the opponent adds to its lead.

It happened again Saturday night as the Colonels fell to Tulane 36-7 at Yulman Stadium to drop to 0-3 on the season.

Less than five minutes into the game, an errant snap by the Nicholls deep snapper forced punter Kylan Dupre to run down the ball and get off a 10-yard kick that was returned by Shi’Keem Laister for a touchdown and a 7-0 Green Wave lead.

“I was very, very disappointed,” a dejected Rebowe said after the game. “We thought we had that fixed. If you told me he was going to snap it his (the punter’s) head, in two weeks it hadn’t happened because we made a change.

“I’m very, very disappointed the get behind the eight ball like that early.”

All three games for the Colonels to open the season have featured a punting game error that led to a score.

Also, before Saturday night was over, the Colonels would toss four interceptions.

“You can’t turn the ball over against anybody and expect to beat them. We throw four picks. I don’t care who you play against, you turn the ball over and you get the guys a short field, you are going to get beat,” said Rebowe.

After a Valentino Ambrosio 32-yard field goal gave Tulane a 10-0 lead, former Nicholls defender Jarius Monroe came up with the first of four Green Wave interceptions, setting up a 40-yard touchdown pass from Michael Pratt to Lawrence Keys III to make it 17-0 with 12 seconds remaining in the opening quarter.

The second interception by Nicholls quarterback Patrick McQuaide was returned to the Colonel 15-yard line by Lance Robinson. Three plays later, Pratt and Keys hooked up for another touchdown and a 24-0 Tulane lead at the 9:08 mark of the second quarter.

“We’ve got to (make) smarter decisions throwing the ball. I thought protection-wise, we were fine. They came at us in certain situations, which we knew they would,” Rebowe said.

The only score in the game for Nicholls came on a 13-yard touchdown pass from McQuaide to Neno Lemay to make it 24-7 at the 3:28 mark of the second half.

Nicholls surrendered a 45-yard Valentino field goal with 38 seconds left in the first half to trail 27-7 at halftime.

Tulane scored twice in the second half.

One of the scores came after a quick turnover exchange in the third quarter. Pratt, playing for the first time since an injury in the season opener and sporting a knee brace, came up with several scrambles before scoring on a 1-yard sneak.

“That’s what he does,” Rebowe said of Pratt. “We knew what he was doing last year, stepping up and running the football. He can do that. He has a big-time arm. He made some throws tonight that not many guys can make. You’ve got to tip your hat to him. He came back and didn’t look like he had too much rust on him.

The final score could have seemed even more one-sided had it not been for a pair of end zone interceptions by Nicholls defensive back Markeyvrick Eddie in the second half.

“It was the same call, and I believe they ran the same play. They tried me every time. I left one (interception) out there. I was supposed to have three, but good thing I got those two,” Eddie said.

“He was in the right place,” Rebowe said of Eddie. “It’s just typical. If you do what you’re asked to do, and you play your technique, and you do it the right way, you will be in the right place and good things will happen to you.”

Pratt finished 18 of 23 passing for 190 yards and two touchdowns. He also rushed for 33 yards and a touchdown.

Arnold Barnes paced the Green Wave with 71 yards rushing.

The Colonels actually contained the Tulane ground game, allowing a total of 150 yards, but 65 came on one run by Barnes.

“We have up that big run. We got out of gap position. One big play looks like they can run the football. I thought we did a good job of stopping the run,” Rebowe said.

McQuaide ended 27 of 39 passing for 273 yards, with one touchdown and four interceptions.

Nicholls was limited to 62 yards on the ground, 56 of it coming for Collin Guggenheim.

“I think we are still working out the kinks of our offense. We’re trying to find our groove and where we fit in. We played a gauntlet of a schedule the first three games and we played some ranked opponents, that’s really good competition. We did struggle today but I really do like what we look like going forward,” said Guggenheim.