Nicholls at North Dakota State
Nicholls come out of the playoff gates, continuing the hot streak they had coming in, now the winners of five straight games. Quarterback Chase Fourcade was ultra efficient, throwing for 165 yards on 14-16 passing and a score to Dai’Jean Dixon, who caught 122 of those yards. Running backs Julien Gums and Dontrell Taylor ran for 172 and 95 yards, respectively. The defense was swarming all day long, forcing two fumbles and intercepting North Dakota once. This was a tremendous effort that needs to be magnified even more this coming week.
And here comes the stampede. The Bison come charging into the playoffs having won 33 straight. The #2 overall offense (502.6 ypg), #1 scoring offense (41.7 ppg), #1 overall defense (274.1 ypg) and #1 scoring defense (12.7 ppg). There’s really a lack of superlatives to throw at this team, because they don’t live up to just how good this team is. Quarterback Trey Lance, a freshman, should be a no doubt FCS Freshman of the Year and may be the best player at the level. Some of that is what’s around him, but going an entire season with 23 touchdown passes and NO interceptions - they’re video game-like stats.
It’s really hard to find an angle where Nicholls can exploit a weakness, because NDSU really doesn’t have one. On top of that, they’ve had a week of rest and get to play at home from here on out. That’s maybe the only real positive Nicholls can draw from, they have to travel north, but get to play indoors.
Prediction: North Dakota State 41, Nicholls 14
