No. 23 ranked Nicholls State will host the Wildcats this week, hoping to keep its undefeated record alive against a team that is 1-2 on the road this season.
Going into the game, Nicholls has a 4-2 overall record and 3-1 conference record. They boast a 3-0 record at home after beating McNeese 37-35 in its season opener, Prairie View A&M 44-13 in week three and Northwestern State 14-10 last week.
The Wildcats hold a 2-4 record overall and a 2-2 Southland record. ACU will also be facing a top-25 team for the second week in a row after its 13-7 loss to McNeese in the previous week.
“We get a chance to play another top-25 team, and our guys are excited about that,” said head coach Adam Dorrel. “For a group of guys that haven’t had a lot of success in their careers, it’s great to see them put that chip on their shoulder knowing we’re the underdog.”
The Wildcat offense has gained 1914 yards offensively after six games and junior quarterback Dallas Sealey has thrown for 1292 of those yards, along with rushing for another 73.
Senior wide receiver Troy Grant has taken in the most yards from Sealey with 304 on the season, and sophomore wide receiver DeShun Qualls has also impressed with 257.
Defensively, the Wildcats have given up 2204 yards, and rank fourth in the conference in average yards per game at 367.3.
Sophomore safety Bolu Onifade reamins the team leader in tackles at 46, and his partnering safety junior Brandon Richmond sits behind him with 41.
For Nicholls, sophomore quarterback Chase Fourcade leads the offense having thrown for 1073 yards and eight touchdowns. Out of the backfield, sophomore running back Kyran Irvan leads the team and ranks third in the conference in rushing with 416 yards. Junior wide receiver Damion Jeanpiere Jr. has also been impressive for Nicholls sitting at third in the conference in receiving yards with 539.
Dorrel said the offense has to execute to win this week.
“We always talk about staying on schedule, getting four plus yards on first down, but we didn’t do that at all Saturday night, so we’re really focusing on first downs.” Dorrel said.
Kickoff will be at 3 p.m. Saturday, and coverage of the game can be heard on 98.1 FM. This is the first-ever meeting between the two teams.
