Colonels wrap up successful spring with scrimmage

Nicholls State junior quarterback LaQuintin Caston called last season’s spring practices a bit “foggy.”

Senior cornerback Bobby Felder agreed and said it was a time when the “team had its little training wheels on.”

This spring, it appears the fog has lifted and Nicholls appears ready to ride a two-wheel full speed ahead into the new season.

Improvement is the word of the day for the Colonels’ coaches and players as they wrapped up their second spring football season under head coach Charlie Stubbs Saturday morning with a scrimmage at John L. Guidry Stadium.

“I think the spring was very good,” Stubbs said. “I think today we saw some good plays on both sides of the ball, which I like as a head coach. But the biggest thing I see is some talent out there.”

The reason for the “fogginess” last season was because of the makeover the Colonels’ program went through when Stubbs took over last January.

The coach swapped the team’s offensive scheme from a triple option attack to a more wide-open, pass-oriented attack.

That transition took Nicholls the entire season to digest, and they struggled to a 4-7 season as a result.

But this spring, things are flowing quicker and the Colonels’ offense feels right at home running their coach’s offense.

“What a difference a year could make,” Caston said. “You hear that clich/ all of the time, but for us, it’s very true. Last year, we were learning the basics and setting the foundation. But this year, it’s kind of like we’re on the runway a little bit – just ready to take off with our offense.”

The way the Colonels will “take off” in their attempt to put points on the scoreboard will likely be with more than one quarterback seeing significant playing time.

Caston split time evenly with sophomore Landry Klann and redshirt freshman Beaux Hebert throughout the spring with none of the men seemingly holding any sort of leg-up in the race.

That’s just fine, according to Felder, who said all three Colonels will be able to help the team in their own way when called upon in the fall.

“LaQuintin, Beaux and Landry are all doing just a great job this year,” Felder said. “They can all run our offense and they have just a nice little battle going. I couldn’t even tell you myself who’s going to come out and end up being the starter, but I do know they can all help us if they need to.”

Quarterback isn’t the only position on the depth chart that’s unsettled in Thibodaux, that’s something Stubbs believes is a good thing.

The coach added that he’s looking forward to summer when his team’s signing class hits campus.

Stubbs played several true freshmen last year and said he would never refrain from playing a player just because he’s inexperienced.

That, he believes, will have the entire roster hungry as they move to their next season, because no matter how well a player played this spring, they could be replaced by an incoming freshman if they don’t have a good summer.

“They are going to come in here looking to play, so that’s great, because even last year, we had five true freshmen start for us,” Stubbs said. “The kids in here already know that I’m open to that if they’re the best player.”

One place where the incoming freshmen just might be the best player is along the offensive line. Nicholls has five incoming offensive linemen and also several defensive linemen among their incoming signing class. Beefing up those thin positions will be two-fold, according to Stubbs, who said it would give the team better players, but also more ability to practice in advance of the season.

“The linemen, that’s the reason why some of our scrimmages are shorter than we’d like. It’s because we’re thin on both sides of the ball up front,” Stubbs said. “Once we get this recruiting class in here, I really believe we’ll be able to scrimmage a little longer and keep the tempo going a little faster.”

So with the spring season now behind the Colonels, the next step in their preparation is the mean Louisiana heat of summer drills.

While Felder admitted that could sometimes be a hard thing to be motivated for, he believes the Colonels are ready for the challenge.

It’s a lot easier to see success when there’s no fog clouding your vision and you’re no longer using training wheels.

“We know as hard as we worked this spring, we need to work two times as hard this summer,” Felder said. “I can’t even talk about this Thibodaux weather. I know it’s going to be pretty hot out here. But that’s why we sign up and play the game. We know that’s what we need to do to make that next step.”