SAN ANTONIO, TEXAS – The University of the Incarnate Word football team returns home on Saturday for a 2 o'clock kick off against Southland Conference rival Nicholls at Benson Stadium.
The Cardinals (1-1, 0-1) have yet to get on track offensively with seven turnovers holding them back. Sophomore quarterback
Trent Brittain (Eastland/Eastland HS) is completing 50.9 percent of his passes for 312 yards, one touchdown and an interception. His top target has been senior tight end
Cole Wick (Hallettsville/Sacred Heart Catholic) who has 10 receptions for 135 yards in the first two games. Junior wide receiver
Jordan Hicks (Arlington/Juan Seguin HS) has seven grabs for 95 yards.
The UIW running game picked up over 200 yards in the season opener against Texas A&M-Kingsville, but were held to 12 yards at McNeese State last week. A key to this week's game will be if the running back trio of
Dorland Fields (Sweeny/Sweeny HS),
Broderick Reeves (Mexia/Mexia HS) and
Junior Sessions (Mesquite/Mesquite HS) can get going. Brittain leads the team with 86 yards rushing for the season.
The Colonels (0-1) opened their season with a 47-0 loss at Louisiana-Monroe. They gained 260 total yards of offense against ULM. Running back Michael Henry picked up 77 yards on 15 carries and he is coming off a 1,000-yard season. Quarterback Tuskani Figaro made his first appearance on the field since the 2013 season and went 10-of-17 for 101 yards through the air. He rushed for over 1,000 yards two years ago. Terry Lucas was the top receiver in week one with five grabs for 51 yards.
The UIW defense is allowing 337.5 yards per game to start the season and they are led by a trio of strong linebackers. Junior
Josh Zellars (Baytown/Baytown Lee HS) and senior
Myke Tavarres (Lake Oswego, OR/Lake Ridge HS) are tied for the team lead with 16 tackles apiece. Tavarres also has 3.5 tackles for loss and three pass breakups. Senior
Padyn Giebler (Ivan/Stephenville HS) has made 15 stops. Cornerback
Kobie Douglas (Plano/Plano HS) is one of the Southland Conference leaders with four pass breakups.
The Nicholls defense gave up 593 yards in their first game. B.T. Sanders leads the team with 12 tackles while Hezekiah White had nine tackles, 1.5 tackles for loss and a pass breakup.
The Cardinals defeated the Colonels last year, 38-20 in Thibodaux, LA. The game will be broadcast on CBS SportsRadio 860 AM with Gabe Farias and Shawn Morris on the call. The game can also be heard on
www.tsrnsports.com or on the TSRNSports mobile app. A live stream of the game will be shown on
http://portal.stretchinternet.com/uiw/ courtesy of UIWtv.
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