Battle for the Paddle

The Battle for the Paddle is an American college football rivalry game played between the Texas State Bobcats and the Nicholls Colonels. The rivalry began between the two schools as an in-conference rivalry, first in the Gulf Star Conference and then the Southland Conference. The name for the rivalry originated as a result of a game postponement during the 1998 season. Prior to the game, heavy rains flooded San Marcos, Texas and the field at Texas State.^[1] Athletic directors and coaches from both schools decided to postpone the game and coined the annual contest the "Battle for the Paddle," joking that fans and athletes needed to use a boat and paddle to get to the game. The game eventually took place on November 28, 1998, with Texas State prevailing 28–27 to win the Paddle Trophy.^[2]

Battle for the Paddle

Nicholls Colonels Texas State Bobcats
Sport	Football
First meeting	October 4, 1980 Nicholls State, 24–21
Latest meeting	September 28, 2019 Texas State, 24–3
Next meeting	September 20, 2025
Trophy	Paddle Trophy
Statistics
Meetings total	31
All-time series	Texas State leads, 16–15
Largest victory	Nicholls State, 63–37 (1993)
Longest win streak	3 games, three times by Nicholls, and twice by Texas State
Current win streak	Texas State, 2 (2011–present)

250km
155miles

Texas State

Nicholls

   

Locations of Nicholls and Texas State

Nicholls head coach and offensive guru Charlie Stubbs brought controversy to the rivalry in 2011, when he refused to bring the Paddle Trophy to San Marcos due to Texas State having a scholarship advantage as an FCS transitional school, stating "we ain't bringing the damn thing."^[3] Texas State won the Battle for the Paddle 38–12.^[4] Since Texas State's ascension to the FBS, the teams do not meet as frequently. The two teams met in 2019, with Texas State winning 24–3. The next scheduled meeting will be in 2025.^[5]

Texas State leads series 16–15.

Game results

^[6]

Nicholls victories

Texas State victories

No. Date Location Winner Score 1 October 4, 1980 Thibodaux, LA Nicholls State 24–21 2 September 18, 1982 San Marcos, TX Southwest Texas State 14–7 3 November 10, 1984 San Marcos, TX Nicholls State 30–14 4 October 26, 1985 Thibodaux, LA Nicholls State 20–12 5 October 25, 1986 San Marcos, TX Nicholls State 35–21 6 October 24, 1987 Thibodaux, LA Southwest Texas State 31–16 7 October 29, 1988 San Marcos, TX Nicholls State 13–10 8 October 21, 1989 Thibodaux, LA Nicholls State 22–21 9 September 29, 1990 San Marcos, TX Southwest Texas State 33–30 10 September 28, 1991 Thibodaux, LA Southwest Texas State 19–10 11 October 3, 1992 San Marcos, TX Southwest Texas State 38–13 12 October 23, 1993 Thibodaux, LA Nicholls State 63–37 13 October 22, 1994 San Marcos, TX Southwest Texas State 27–26 14 October 21, 1995 Thibodaux, LA Southwest Texas State 35–25 15 September 21, 1996 San Marcos, TX Nicholls State 49–36 16 October 11, 1997 Thibodaux, LA Nicholls State 29–28 No. Date Location Winner Score 17 November 28, 1998 San Marcos, TX Southwest Texas State 28–27 18 October 9, 1999 Thibodaux, LA Southwest Texas State 16–0 19 October 7, 2000 San Marcos, TX Southwest Texas State 25–0 20 October 27, 2001 Thibodaux, LA Nicholls State 33–14 21 October 19, 2002 San Marcos, TX Nicholls State 24–21 22 November 6, 2003 Thibodaux, LA Texas State 13–0-forfeit 23 November 13, 2004 San Marcos, TX Texas State 35–12 24 October 29, 2005 Thibodaux, LA Nicholls State 32–29 25 November 4, 2006 San Marcos, TX Nicholls State 21–19 26 November 10, 2007 Thibodaux, LA Nicholls State 52–28 27 November 15, 2008 San Marcos, TX Texas State 34–10 28 October 17, 2009 Thibodaux, LA Texas State 34–28 29 October 16, 2010 San Marcos, TX Nicholls State 47–45 30 October 1, 2011 San Marcos, TX Texas State 38–12 31 September 28, 2019 San Marcos, TX Texas State 24–3 Series: Texas State leads 16–15

See also

• List of NCAA college football rivalry games