Cardinals Open Southland Play, Close Three-Game Road Swing
It has been a grueling stretch for the Lamar University Cardinals having spent the entire month of September away from Provost Umphrey Stadium but before LU (2-1/0-0 SLC) can return home they have one more test remaining and it is the Southland Conference opener. The Cardinals enter the week looking to close out the early-season stretch of road games with a winning record but to do that Big Red will have to travel to Thibodaux, La. to face the Nicholls Colonels. Nicholls enters the week currently tied for second in the Southland standings (2-2/1-0 SLC) but is coming off a tough loss at Sam Houston Saturday. It has been an extremely tough non-conference slate for the Colonels who have stepped up to play two FBS opponents. Nicholls opened their Southland schedule two weeks ago with an impressive 31-28 victory over UT Rio Grande Valley. Saturday’s game is set for a 3 p.m. kick off from Guidry Stadium. It will be broadcast live on Newstalk 560 KLVI and streamed live on ESPN+.
LU vs. the Colonels
The Cardinals are two games over .500 all-time in the series against Nicholls, 9-7 (.563) and have won consecutive games in the series, but Lamar has struggled to a 2-5 (.286) mark in Thibodaux. Lamar heads to Thibodaux looking for their first road win in the series since 2014. The Colonels have won six of the previous 10 meetings.
LU in SLC Openers
The Cardinals are 13-24 (.351) all-time in Southland Conference openers – and 2-1 under head coach Pete Rossomando – and 4-10 (.286) since bringing back the program. Saturday’s game will be just the third time that LU has opened conference play against Nicholls (and the second straight). Prior to 2025, the only other conference opener between the two schools came in February 2021 when the fall season was pushed to the spring due to COVID. Nicholls won that meeting, while Lamar recorded a seven-point victory last season.
Historic for LU, Commonplace for the Head Coach
A win Saturday at Nicholls would give Lamar a 3-1 start to the year. Dating back to the first season, then a junior college institution (1923), Lamar has opened a season with a 3-1 record just 22 times. Two of those coming in the past two seasons, but prior to Rossomando’s arrival Lamar’s previous 3-1 start came in 2014. Among those 22 seasons where LU started 3-1, 16 were prior to 1975.
The Rossomando Effect
Since the arrival of head coach Pete Rossomando, the Lamar University football program has made historic strides. LU is coming off an NCAA FCS Playoff appearance in 2025 and is currently in the midst of its best run of success (in terms of consecutive winning seasons) since the mid 1960s. Entering his fourth season with the Cardinals, Rossomando had already won more games in
three seasons than every other LU coach had in their first four (except for Cardinal Hall of Honor inductee Vernon Glass). Rossomando tied Glass’ win total just three games into his fourth season.
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