San Diego at Nicholls
San Diego wins the Pioneer League. You don’t say? This is becoming close to a death and taxes situation. Though, many of those Pioneer teams will be happy when quarterback Anthony Lawrence graduates after this season. Lawrence is the most efficient passer in the country. Of course, a lot of that damage was done against the Pioneer League, so take that for what it’s worth. The Terreros did schedule tougher than normal this season, playing road games at UC-Davis and Harvard. They did lose both though. It’s hard to gauge these non-scholarship conference defenses usually, but San Diego’s ranks #105. Uh-oh! If there was ever a red flag, that might be the one.
Nicholls was a sexy pick to exceed last season’s success and they did so early on, winning a season opener at FBS Kansas. There have been a few bumps in the road, but quarterback Chase Fourcade has been as good as advertised in preseason predictions. Defensive lineman Sully Laiche has 8.5 sacks already this season and you can bet the rest of the Colonels defense will be chomping at the bit to get after a pass happy offense.
During a four game win streak, Nicholls has not scored less than 41 points. Considering San Diego’s weak numbers against even weaker competition, this could be ugly. That’s been thought the last two years though and San Diego pulled First Round upsets. Don’t think third time will be as charming.
Prediction: Nicholls 55, San Diego 14
