The 2019 Nicholls State Colonels football team represented

Nicholls State University Nicholls State University is a public university in Thibodaux, Louisiana. Founded in 1948, Nicholls is part of the University of Louisiana System. Originally named Francis T. Nicholls Junior College, the university is named for Francis T. Nicho ...

as a member of the

Southland Conference The Southland Conference, abbreviated as SLC, is a collegiate athletic conference which operates in the South Central United States (specifically Texas and Louisiana). It participates in the NCAA's Division I for all sports; for football, it ...

during the

2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season The 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season, part of college football in the United States, was organized by the National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) at the Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) level. The FCS Champion ...

. Led by fifth-year head coach

Tim Rebowe Timothy J. Rebowe (born February 25, 1963) is an American football coach. He is head football coach at Nicholls State University, a position he has held since the 2015 season. Early life and playing career Rebowe from Norco, Louisiana is an alumn ...

, the Colonels compiled an overall record of 9–5 with a mark of 7–2 in conference play, sharing the Southland title with

Central Arkansas Central Arkansas, also known as the Little Rock metro, designated by the United States Office of Management and Budget as the Little Rock-North Little Rock-Conway Metropolitan Statistical Area, is the most populous metro area in the U.S. state o ...

. Nicholls State received the Southland's automatic bid to the

NCAA Division I Football Championship The NCAA Division I Football Championship is an annual post-season college football game, played since 2006, used to determine a national champion of the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision (FCS). From 1978 to 2005, the game was k ...

, beating

North Dakota North Dakota () is a U.S. state in the Upper Midwest, named after the indigenous Dakota Sioux. North Dakota is bordered by the Canadian provinces of Saskatchewan and Manitoba to the north and by the U.S. states of Minnesota to the east, S ...

in the first round before losing to the evenutal national champion,

North Dakota State North Dakota State University (NDSU, formally North Dakota State University of Agriculture and Applied Sciences) is a public land-grant research university in Fargo, North Dakota. It was founded as North Dakota Agricultural College in 1890 as th ...

, in the second round. The team played home games at John L. Guidry Stadium in

Thibodaux, Louisiana Thibodaux ( ) is a city in, and the parish seat of, Lafourche Parish, Louisiana, United States, along the banks of Bayou Lafourche in the northwestern part of the parish. The population was 15,948 at the 2020 census. Thibodaux is a principal c ...

Previous season

The Colones finished the 2018 season with a 9–4 overall record, and a 7–2 record in Southland play to win a share of the Southland Conference championship. They received the Southland's automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where they defeated San Diego in the first round, before losing in the second round to Eastern Washington.

Preseason

Preseason poll

The Southland Conference released their preseason poll on July 18, 2019. The Colonels were picked to finish in first place.

Preseason All–Southland Teams

The Colonels placed eleven players on the preseason all–Southland teams. Offense ''1st team'' Chase Fourcade – QB

Dai'Jean Dixon Dai'Jean Dixon (born October 16, 1998) is an American football wide receiver who is a free agent. He played college football at Nicholls. High school career Dixon attended Edna Karr High School in New Orleans. In January, 2016, Dixon was ...

– WR P.J. Burkhalter – OL Winston Jones – P ''2nd team'' Dontrell Taylor – RB Jair Joseph – OL Defense ''1st team'' Sully Laiche – DL Evan Veron – LB Allen Pittman – LB Darren Evans – DB ''2nd team'' Khristian Mims – DB

Roster

Schedule

Game summaries

at Kansas State

Kansas State scored touchdowns on their first four possessions and were successful 10 of 12 attempts on third down in 80 offensive plays. Kansas State also managed the clock, being on offense for more than 41 minutes. For Nicholls, this was largely different compared to last year's opener when they defeated the

Kansas Jayhawks The Kansas Jayhawks, commonly referred to as simply KU or Kansas, are the athletic teams that represent the University of Kansas. KU is one of three schools in the state of Kansas that participate in NCAA Division I. The Jayhawks are also a mem ...

. The Colonel's Kendall Bussey and Julien Gums both produced second-half touchdown runs to put their team on the board, but it wasn't nearly enough. Despite the loss, Nicholls managed to move up in the FCS coaches poll, going from #11 to #10. They also jumped two spots to #10 in the FCS STATS Poll.

at Prairie View A&M

at Stephen F. Austin

at Texas State

Central Arkansas

Northwestern State

at Sam Houston State

Abilene Christian

at Incarnate Word

Houston Baptist

McNeese State

at Southeastern Louisiana

North Dakota—NCAA Division I First Round

The Colonels received an automatic bid (due to winning their conference) for the

postseason The playoffs, play-offs, postseason or finals of a sports league are a competition played after the regular season by the top competitors to determine the league champion or a similar accolade. Depending on the league, the playoffs may be eithe ...

tournament, with a first-round pairing against

at North Dakota State—NCAA Division I Second Round

Ranking movements

References

{{2019 NCAA Division I FCS playoff navbox Nicholls Nicholls Colonels football seasons Southland Conference football champion seasons Nicholls

Nicholls Colonels football The Nicholls Colonels football program is the intercollegiate American football team for Nicholls State University located in Thibodaux, Louisiana, Thibodaux, Louisiana, United States. The team competes in the Division I FCS, NCAA Division I Foo ...