SAN ANTONIO – The University of the Incarnate Word football team dropped a 27-23 decision to No. 24/25 Nicholls on Saturday night at Benson Stadium. The game was UIW's Military Appreciation Game, sponsored by Frost Bank.
 
Jon Copeland led the Cardinals, going 34-of-55 for 381 yards and a touchdown. CJ Hardy led the receiving corps, amassing 102 yards on seven catches. Carson Mohr was a perfect 3-3 on field goals, marking a career best.
 
The Cardinals took the lead on the first drive of the game, going 73 yards in 13 plays and taking 4:00 off the clock. The stretch was highlighted by a 20-yard quarterback keeper from Copeland and a 33-yard pass from Copeland to Brady Rogers before Mohr kicked a 29-yard field goal for a 3-0 advantage with 11:00 left in the first quarter.
 
UIW had a short field on its next drive after Ce'Cori Tolds blocked a Nicholls punt to give the Cardinals the ball on the Colonel 27-yard line. Mohr capped the drive with a 40-yard field goal to give the Cardinals a 6-0 lead.
 
The 24th ranked Colonels evened the score with 4:44 left in the first quarter. Julien Gums finished a nine-play, 65-yard drive with a nine-yard touchdown rush. After a failed extra point, the score was knotted at 6-6.
 
Over the end of the first quarter and the start of the second, UIW used a six-play, 61-yard drive for a touchdown. On the first play of the second quarter, Copeland hit Hardy with a 38-yard pass to give UIW first and goal from the one-yard line. Copeland then found Ameer King in the end zone for a one-yard score and a 13-6 advantage.
 
Nicholls evened the score again (13-13) on the next drive when Chase Fourcade completed a 32-yard pass to KJ Franklin with 12:26 remaining in the half.
 
The teams traded possessions over the next few minutes until UIW capitalized with 6:37 left in the half. Copeland found Hardy for back-to-back first downs, first with a 19-yard pass and then with a 13-yard pass. Copeland then connected with Marquez Perez for 25 yards before Mohr hit his third field goal of the game – this time a 27-yarder – to put UIW up, 16-13.
 
The Colonels took their first lead of the game with 1:24 left in the half when Fourcade broke through the UIW defense and rushed for a 64-yard touchdown, putting Nicholls up, 20-16, at the break.
 
After a scoreless third quarter, the Cardinals re-gained the lead. First, Copeland found Jaelin Campbel for 12-yard and 19-yard completions. Copeland also connected with Mark Sullivan for 34 yards to give UIW first and goal from the one-yard line. From there, Kevin Brown used a one-yard rush into the end zone as the Cardinals took a 23-20 advantage with 7:49 left in the game.
 
Nicholls refused to go quietly and mounted a nine-play, 74-yard drive. Gums rushed for a one-yard score to put the Colonels ahead, 27-23, with 3:27 remaining in the game.
 
UIW had one drive left, using 14 plays to go 66 yards. On third and nine, Copeland found Hardy for a 15-yard gain and a first down. Later, on second and 16, Copeland hit Perry for a 27-yard gain. Ultimately, the Cardinals had third and 17 on the Nicholls 33 with less than 20 seconds remaining. Copeland connected with Rogers for a 14-yard gain, but time expired as Nicholls secured the 27-23 win.
 
HEAD COACH ERIC MORRIS
Opening statement…
"The narrative of this game is that on offense we were not good in the red zone. Big plays on defense. I thought our defense did a great job of containing them and we let them loose on some big things. They were close there at the end of the half, explosive at the end of the game. This team just has to learn to play better together. It seems like every time our defense gets a little momentum, we don't capitalize on offense, and then vise versa. We go down finally and we score down there, then three plays later, they're down in the red zone by big plays. Red zone has to be a huge emphasis. We're not very good at it right now. Give them credit. They had a good game plan and stopped us. We've got to find a way to win some of these games. I thought our kids played extremely hard, fought to the end, and came up 30 yards short."
 
On finishing…
"Extremely frustrated in how the games are going down the stretch. We're not finding a way to win them. We got a bunch of young guys out there playing, and I thought our young guys stepped up and made plays there towards the end. You've got a bunch of freshmen out there catching balls. I don't think that youth is our problem. I have to do a better job as the play caller at getting better in the red area, and we just have to tighten up some areas that are definitely flawed right now."