Malone's 6 TD passes lead ACU to rout of No. 4 Buffs
10/20/2006 4:00:00 AM | Football
CANYON ? What was expected to be a shootout turned into a rout Thursday night as the 20th-ranked ACU Wildcats whipped No. 4 West Texas A&M, 49-33, in front of more 13,000 fans at Kimbrough Stadium and a national television audience.
ACU quarterback Billy Malone tied the ACU and Lone Star Conference record for touchdown passes in a game with six as he torched the
The Wildcats improved to 7-0 overall with the victory, the first time since 1950 that ACU has started the season 7-0. ACU is 6-0 and alone in first place in the LSC and moves to 3-0 and first place in the LSC South Division.
ACU ? which played in front of a large throng of Wildcat fans who made the drive from
The Wildcats fell into an early 15-0 hole, thanks in part to a fumble by Malone that was scooped up and returned 20 yards for a touchdown by Jared Brock, giving the Buffs a 15-0 lead with 5:12 left in the first quarter.
But ACU struck back on the arm of Malone, who on four consecutive ACU drives threw four straight TD passes. His first was a 67-yarder to Brock to make it 15-7, and then he followed it with a three-yard pass to Caleb Stone with 9:51 left in the first half to cut the Buff lead to 15-14.
Brock and Malone then hooked up again on ACU's next drive for a 3-yard TD score, capping a five-play, 35-yard drive that gave the Wildcats a 21-15 lead with 5:33 left in the first half. Following a 39-yard field goal by Luis Villagomez with 1:33 left, ACU wasted little time moving to another touchdown and a 28-21 halftime lead.
Malone hit Jerale Badon (six catches for 74 yards) for 20 yards on the first play of the drive, and then 15 yards were tacked onto the end of the play on a late-hit penalty on the Buffs. On the next play, Malone connected with Tyjuan Manning from 29 yards out to give the Wildcats a 10-point lead with 48 seconds left in the half. The Buffs, though, got a 27-yard field goal from Villagomez with three seconds left in the half to make it a 28-21 game at the break.
The second half belonged to the Wildcats as they opened the final 30 minutes with a defensive stop and then a touchdown drive to make it 35-21. On third-and-1 from the Buff 26-yard line, Taber Minner broke through the line and had clear sailing to the end zone to give the Wildcats a 14-point lead with 9:28 left in the third quarter.
The Buffs got a touchdown with 2:19 left in the third quarter to make it 35-27, but ACU answered with back-to-back touchdown passes from Malone to Brock (84 yards) and Chris Conklin (18 yards), giving the Wildcats a 49-27 lead with 4:38 to play in the game.
Malone directed an offensive unit that piled up 486 yards of offense, including the 388 through the air that set a new personal record.
The 84-yarder to Brock is the sixth-longest touchdown pass in school history.
