Nicholls Buries Mississippi Valley State Under Six Turnovers
Six turnovers. Three interceptions and three lost fumbles, and Mississippi Valley State finished with 228 total yards against Nicholls's 515. That is a 44-10 final, and it was never close enough to need a second look at the standings.
Nicholls scored first and never stopped. Ean Rodrigue hit Jordan Smith for 59 yards at 7:02 of the first quarter, then found Greg Donaldson for 74 at 4:51. Kingston Phan added a 42-yard field goal, Tamaj Hoffman ran in touchdowns of 13 and 7 yards in the second quarter, and Rodrigue and Smith connected again from 21 yards out with 0:30 left in the half. The extra point missed on that one, which is the only reason the halftime score was 37-0 and not 38-0. Damondrick Blackburn made it 44-0 with a 2-yard run in the third quarter.
Mississippi Valley State got on the board only after the game was settled. Tyrell Johnson returned an interception 95 yards for a touchdown with 10:58 left in the fourth, and Luka Sari kicked a 34-yard field goal at 8:14. (Yes, Rodrigue threw an interception and still had the best fantasy day of anyone, which tells you how the rest of it went.) Nicholls threw for 347 yards and ran for 168, and the visitors turned it over six times for their trouble.
Nicholls starts 1-0 and Mississippi Valley State 0-1. For fantasy owners, the Nicholls offense was a buffet: Rodrigue, Smith and Hoffman were the top three, with Donaldson close behind on 100 receiving yards. The visitors' best scorer, quarterback Josh Brown, had 8 points on 44 passing yards and three interceptions, and most of that came from his legs (62 yards rushing).