Game Notes: ACU vs. Cal-Davis
The 0-1 Wildcats take on the nation's No. 11 team
SETTING THE SCENE: The Wildcats hit the road for the first time this season, taking on the 11th-ranked Aggies of California-Davis. ACU last played in California in 1992 when they lost to Cal State-Sacramento, 57-9, in the season's second week.
The Wildcats opened the 2002 season last Saturday with a 31-17 loss to then-No. 15 Central Arkansas at Shotwell Stadium. ACU fell behind 28-7 at halftime, but dominated the second half, outscoring the Bears 10-3 and holding UCA to just 101 yards of total offense.
The only serious injury for the Wildcats in the game occurred early in the second quarter when starting quarterback Colby Freeman went down with a left knee injury. An MRI subsequently found that Freeman suffered a first-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament. He is listed as questionable for Saturday's game against the Aggies.
The Wildcats haven't won a road game against a non-Lone Star Conference opponent since beating Prairie View A&M, 30-14, on Sept. 6, 1996. Since that date, ACU is 9-21 on the road, including 0-1 against non-LSC foes (51-34 loss to Stephen F. Austin in 1999 season opener).
RADIO: KULL 92.5 FM. David Bacon (play-by-play), Chuck Statler (color) and Steve Landtroop (sideline). ACU games are no longer carried over the internet.
SCOUTING THE WILDCAT OFFENSE: The Wildcats posted solid offensive numbers in last week's season-opener against Central Arkansas, rushing for 122 yards and throwing for 208 yards for 330 yards total. However, the Wildcats fumbled five times (losing two) and backup quarterback Greg Wiggins threw one interception to give ACU three turnovers in the game. ... Senior running back Eric Polk was the offensive workhorse, carrying the ball 24 times for 129 yards in the game, giving him 1,340 yards for his career, which leaves him about 375 yards away from moving into the all-time top 10 career rushing chart. Polk has already carried the ball 281 times in 11 games, an average of 25 carries per game. If he continues that average throughout the rest of the 2002 season, he will end his career with roughly 510 carries, which would be good for fourth on ACU's all-time list. ... Starting quarterback Colby Freeman went down with a left knee injury early in the second quarter, although an MRI later revealed that Freeman had suffered only a first-degree sprain of the medial collateral ligament. Freeman's status for Saturday's game at Cal-Davis, however, is questionable. He practiced Tuesday, but ACU head coach Gary Gaines still isn't sure if Freeman will play or not against the Aggies. At the time he left the game, Freeman had completed 1 of 2 passes for 0 yards, and rushed twice for minus-12 yards. ... Wiggins played well in Freeman's absence, completing 15 of 24 passes for 208 yards, including a 53-yard pass to Dillon Cobb, who fumbled at the end of the play. Wiggins and Freeman combined to complete 16 passes to 10 different receivers, although none had more than Sneezy Beltran's three catches. Cobb's two catches went for a total of 85 yards. ... The only serious injury other than Freeman's occurred last Thursday to starting senior guard Buddy Dowden, who broke a bone in his left foot in practice. Dowden, who was replaced in the starting lineup by Cody Stewart, is out 4-6 weeks.
SCOUTING THE WILDCAT DEFENSE: The Wildcats allowed 441 yards of offense and 31 points in last Saturday's 31-17 loss to Central Arkansas. Those numbers might not sound great, but they are a marked improvement for a team that last year allowed 41 points and 435 yards per game. Then consider this: in the game's final 30 minutes, ACU allowed Central Arkansas just eight first downs, 101 yards of offense and three points. ... Despite the solid final 30 minutes of football, the ACU coaching staff is looking at a few changes in the defensive secondary, which allowed 342 passing yards on 30 of 48 passing. Senior transfer Steven Riddley was the starter at free safety last week, but he will move to the rover position, making room for David Jones to move from cornerback to free safety. Kendrick Walker, who was a backup cornerback last week, moves into a starting spot this week against the Aggies. Senior Kurt Poe will still be on the field when the Wildcats use their nickel package in obvious passing situations. Poe led the Wildcats in tackles last weekend with 10 tackles (four solo), including two for nine yards in losses. Jones and middle linebacker Cliff Compton each finished with eight tackles. ... The Wildcats held the Bears to just 99 yards on the ground on 26 carries for an average of just 3.8 yards per carry. Defensive tackles Michael Walker, Devian Mims and freshman Rahgene Cherry each finished with just one tackle, but Cherry batted down a pass, and all three had solid outings. ... The last time ACU held an opponent to 100 yards or less on the ground was on Sept. 25, 1999, when the Wildcats limited Southwestern Oklahoma State to 91 yards in a 28-18 home win over the Bulldogs.
SCOUTING THE WILDCAT SPECIAL TEAMS: Junior transfer wide receiver DaRay Sims got the Wildcats' season off to a bang when he returned the Wildcats' first kickoff 95 yards for a touchdown. The touchdown return marked the first time since Dennis Hagaman's 93-yard return against North Texas State in 1963 that a Wildcat returned a game-opening kickoff for a touchdown. He was named Lone Star Conference South Division Special Teams Player of the Week for his efforts. ... Sophomore placekicker Eben Nelson ran his streak of consecutive successful PATs to 29 with two more against Central Arkansas. Nelson hasn't missed a PAT since missing his second PAT in the season-opener last year at Central Arkansas. That was his only PAT miss last season. He still has a long way to go to match the LSC record for consecutive PATs, which is 76 by Angelo State's Bryan Thompson from 1987-1990. ... Freshman punter Chase Fishback had a solid effort in his first game. He punted just three times for 118 yards, an average of 39.3 yards per punt, including a long punt of 42 yards.
INJURY UPDATE
DE Nick Gray (broken right foot), out, 4-6 weeks; DT Stephen Woodard (ankle), questionable, day-to-day; QB Colby Freeman (left knee), questionable, day-to-day; OL Buddy Dowden (broken foot), out, 4-6 weeks.
Q&A WITH HEAD COACH GARY GAINES
Now that you've had a chance to digest the UCA loss, what are your impressions of how your team played?
"We played with some effort, and that's always encouraging, so it wasn't all negative. The first-half turnovers and penalties hurt us, though."
You seemed to settle in a little bit in the second half of last week's game. Is the way you played in the final 30 minutes a good sign for you?
"I think it is. The improvement is pretty vivid when you look at it on the video. That should shed some light on our players that you have to play the whole game, and not just one half. We just dug ourselves too big of a hole in the first half."
Does it hurt you or Cal-Davis more going into this game not knowing who your starting quarterback will be?
"It really doesn't, and that's because we have one game plan, and we will do the same things with both quarterbacks, regardless of who is in the game."
Talk about Cal-Davis and some of the problems they present.
"I thought the better team lost last week in their game at Grand Valley State (the No. 1 GVSU Lakers won the game, 24-17). Cal-Davis had an awesome defensive display, holding a team of that offensive calibre to just 260 yards of offense. Cal-Davis gave them 14 points with turnovers, and they still had a chance to tie the game in the final seconds. If those two teams played 10 times, I believe Cal-Davis would win most of those. They are very good defensively, and their offense began to come around in the second half. They'll be a difficult opponent, there's no question about that."
THIS WEEK'S KEY TO THE GAME
ACU secondary vs. Cal-Davis passing game: The Aggies played three quarterbacks in last week's loss at Grand Valley State, although Kenny Kearns had the best numbers (16-25-2, 147 yards, 1 TD). ACU head coach Gary Gaines isn't sure which of the three will play, but rest assured that whichever quarterback is in the game, the Wildcat secondary will receive a stern test from the Aggies, who have first team all-America wide receiver Mike Oliva back in the fold. Oliva caught five passes for just 51 yards last week, but he had five catches for 127 yards and one touchdown last year against ACU.
