Nicholls State Colenels 2010 Review

2010 Record: 4-7 (3-4), 6th Southland
2010 Postseason: None
2010 Schedule/Results: @ San Diego State, L 47-0, @ Western Michigan, L 49-14, @ South Alabama, L 3-21, Bacone College, W 44-28, Sam Houston State, L 26-7, @ TExas State, W 47-45, Central Arkansas, L 31-7, @ McNeese State, L 24-14, Stephen F. Austin, L 48-13, @ Northwestern State, W 37-7, Southeastern Louisiana, W 27-25

REVIEW

     For starters, shoot the schedule maker. The Colonels did not have a prayer when they opened against consecutive FBS schools on the road, and then they did not pick up their first win until game 4 against an NAIA team in Bacone. They even lost to South Alabama, who was not even playing as an official member of the FCS, and lost. The only good news? Nicholls won their final two games, but against teams with losing records.
     To say that Nicholls State was lackng in the passing game is like saying Madoff was a crook. A little bit obvious. LaQuinton Caston was barely passable as a QB, but that's not much, considering that the Southland only had two credible QBs in the whole league, and one of those was debatable. Caston only passed for 1141 yards, but was bad for 9 picks on the season against just 8 TDs. He did manage to rush for 10 more scores, but only rushed for 299 yards on the season.
     Jesse Turner was not exaclty a world burner at RB either, with only 699 yards in what should have been a rush first offense. He did rush for 8 scores on the season which was ok, but that did not even amount to 1 per game in again, what should have been a rush first offense.
     Only two receivers had more than 20 receptions, and nobody had 30. With numbers like these, you don't need me to tell you that an 8th grade flag football team could have generated a better offense.
      Lucky for the offense, the defense was bad enough to take a lot of negative attention away from them. Only one member of the Colnele defense ranked in the Ssouthland top 20 in tackles, and that was DB Tarbarris Hicks at 9th with 78 on the season. Not getting it done.
     As for TFLs and actually making plays up front? The best that Nicholls State had was a guy who ranked 26th in the league, and the league only had 8 teams in 2010. Warren Lennox was the only player up front that could even imitate a playmaker with 4 sacks on the season. Horrid.
     Hicks was also a player in the secondary, however, and he did make some plays by breaking up 7 passes on the season, while Chika Madu was second in the conference with 12, which was quite impressive given the lack of pressure up front. Bobby Felder managed to lead the team with 4 picks on the season.
     Andrew Dolan was just bad at PK. He only hit on 6 of 12 FGs for the entire season in an 11 game schedule. Nicholls State will have to search far and wide to net someone who can guarantee them some points when they get close enough to score, because this is not getting it done. Patrick Dolan, was a stud at punter, and he got some serious work in 2010. Patrick averaged over 43 yards per punt on the season, good for being first in the conference. At least one Dolan was on it.

FINAL NOTES

There is no promise of this program improving in 2011 at all. It could actually get worse. There are no players on offense that can get it done, and outside of some special performances in the secondarym the defense needs to be scrapped and rebuilt. The Colonels cannot even depend on their kicker to get them points when the offense bogs down. When your most productive players are a corner and a punter, you are screwed, and so is Nicholls State.