ABILENE ? The ACU Wildcats heard all week how hard it would be for them to beat West Texas A&M twice in one season.
They heard from West Texas A&M that Saturday's playoff game would be different than the encounter in October in which the Wildcats walked out of Canyon with a 52-35. Too many injuries to key players, the Buffs contended, and their return would make all the difference in the playoff contest.
The one thing the Buffs probably didn't count on was the ACU offense putting on the greatest single-game performance in the 77-year history of the Lone Star Conference, and one of the greatest in NCAA Division II history.
The Wildcats posted a school-record 810 yards of total offense and scored touchdowns on 13 of 15 possessions on their way to a remarkable 93-68 win over the Buffaloes in front of 11,797 fans at Shotwell Stadium. The win sends the second-ranked Wildcats (11-0) into the NCAA Division II quarterfinals for the first time in program history. ACU will host Northwest Missouri State at noon Saturday in a rematch of the season-opener that the Wildcats won, 44-27, in Maryville, Mo.
"That's one of the wildest games I've ever been associated with, maybe the wildest," ACU coach Chris Thomsen said. "We've had a few wild ones in the last couple of years. Our guys just kept coming and kept playing the next play. That's what we tell them all the time and that's all you can do in a game like that. That was a great performance by our guys.
"Everyone told us how hard it was going to be to beat a really good team twice in one season, and it was," he said. "But our guys never lost faith or stopped believing in themselves."
As usual, the player that made it all go for the Wildcats was senior running back Bernard Scott, who outdid himself with 292 yards and six touchdowns rushing and another 61 yards and one touchdown on the ground. His seven touchdowns are NCAA playoff-game, LSC and ACU single-game records, as are the 42 points he scored.
Voting for the Harlon Hill Trophy ? given annually to the top player in NCAA Division II football ? continues through next Saturday, but Scott might have sealed his victory with his performance Saturday. At least he sealed it in the mind of his head coach.
“In my mind, he sealed that thing a long time ago,” Thomsen said. “But my mind doesn't count in that. But he's the Harlon Hill winner in my mind.”
West Texas A&M head coach Don Carthel doesn't have a vote, either, but he was left very impressed with Scott in general and ACU's offense in particular.
"Well, it was about like arena football out there today," he said. "Hats off to Billy Malone, Bernard Scott, Gates, Knox ... they all played really, really well. Their offensive line was tremendous. Our defense had played really well all year, especially in the last four weeks, and I didn't think there was any they would outscore us in a game like this.
"But they did it today the same way they've done it all year long," Carthel said. "They're really, really good. They're really talented and they're well-coached. They have a great scheme and they do a tremendous job with formations. They're hard to defend, especially when you throw the talent level out there that they have. They're the best team we've seen, without a doubt. And if they continue to play like this there won't be anybody that will beat them. These guys are really, really good when they're executing."
Scott wasn't alone in his offensive heroics as quarterback Billy Malone completed 16 of 25 passes for 383 yards and six touchdowns. Johnny Knox caught five passes for 125 yards and the offensive line paved the way for all of it with near-flawless protection for Malone and tremendous run-blocking.
“Those guys up front did a great job of giving me space to run and holes to run through,” Scott said. “We're able to do a lot of things offensively because of what those guys do up front.”
The Wildcats weren't alone, however, in putting up gawdy offensive numbers. West Texas A&M racked up 68 points and 721 yards of offense on their own. Quarterback Keith Null ? in his final game as a Buffalo ? was phenomenal, throwing for 595 yards and seven touchdowns, both of which are NCAA playoff, LSC and WTAM single-game records.
Senior receiver Charly Martin was near-unstoppable, catching 14 passes for 323 yards and five touchdowns, the last of which was a 52-yard touchdown pass with three seconds left in the game that made him WT's all-time leading receiver.
With 161 points scored (which is an NCAA Division II record for combined points), the game very could have come down to three plays late in the second quarter and early in the third quarter.
With ACU clinging to a 35-31 lead late in the half, the Wildcats were backed up to its own 9-yard line with 1:38 left in the half and in danger of having to punt into a strong south wind, potentially leaving the Buffs a short field. However, on third-and-10, Malone escaped pressure and scrambled for 31 yards and a first down to the Wildcat 40-yard line. Instead of running out of bounds at around the 35, Malone turned back to the middle of the field to pick up a few extra yards before being brought down from behind by T.J. Nickleberry.
"That was probably pretty dumb on my part to turn back to the middle of the field," Malone said. "If I had known I had a guy behind me, I probably wouldn't have done that. The play we had called was open, but I just couldn't see it. I just kind of stumbled out of there and had a lot of open field in front of me."
Two plays later the Wildcats faced another huge play in the game after two Malone passes went incomplete. But on third-and-10, Scott went 17 yards on sweep right to pick up a key first down to the WT 43. On the next play, Malone hit a wide-open Jonathan Ferguson for a 43-yard touchdown pass to make it 42-31 with 59 seconds left in the half.
WT added a field goal right before the end of the first half, and then its defense came out and stuffed the Wildcats on ACU's opening drive of the half, forcing a punt. But Ray Johnson fumbled Sean McGlothlin's punt at the WT 44-yard line, giving the ball right back to the Wildcats.
The Wildcats made the Buffs pay for the game's only turnover just four plays later when Malone hit Knox in the right corner of the end zone, pushing the Wildcat lead to 50-34 with 10:28 left in the third quarter.
After that, it was the Scott show as he scored each of the next four touchdowns for the Wildcats, reaching the end zone on a 2-yard run, a 39-yard pass from Malone and back-to-back 44-yard runs. After his last touchdown of the day, the Wildcats led 79-54 with 21 seconds left in the third quarter.
Malone finished off the scoring in the fourth quarter with a six-yard scoring pass to Kendrick Holloway with 10:13 left in the game and a 10-yard touchdown pass to Ryan Keeling with 4:11 to play.
That sealed the Wildcats' first trip to the quarterfinals in program history and set up the rematch with the Bearcats, this time in Abilene.
“We know how tough next Saturday will be, and what Northwest will bring with them,” Thomsen said. “We have a tremendous amount of respect for Northwest Missouri State and what they've accomplished. It's going to take a tremendous effort by our entire team to win that game next week.”
RECORDS SET / BROKEN IN ACU-WEST TEXAS A&M PLAYOFF GAME
NCAA Division II Playoffs / Second Round
Nov. 22, 2008 / Shotwell Stadium
Abilene, Texas
ACU RECORDS
Team
Single-Game
Points scored ? 93 vs. West Texas A&M (old record: 81 vs. Daniel Baker, 1920)
Total Yards ? 810 vs. West Texas A&M (old record: 740 vs. Howard Payne, 1952)
PATs -- 13, Abilene Christian vs. West Texas A&M (old record: 11 by West Texas A&M vs. N.M. Highlands, 2005)
PAT Attempts ? 13, Abilene Christian vs. West Texas A&M (old record: 11 by West Texas A&M vs. N.M. Highlands, 2005)
Individual
Single Game
Touchdowns ? 7, Bernard Scott (5 rush, 2 receiving)
Points scored ? 42, Bernard Scott
PATs ? 11, Matt Adams
PAT Attempts ? 11, Matt Adams vs. West Texas A&M
Individual
Career
Touchdown receptionS ? 28, Johnny Knox (old record: 27, Arthur Culpepper, 1983-86)
LSC RECORDS
Team
Single-Game
Points scored ? 93 vs. West Texas A&M (old record: 90 by West Texas A&M vs. New Mexico Highlands, 2005)
Total Yards ? 810 vs. West Texas A&M (old record: 792 by Stephen F. Austin vs. McMurry, 1969)
PATs -- 13, Abilene Christian vs. West Texas A&M (old record: 11 by West Texas A&M vs. N.M. Highlands, 2005)
PAT Attempts ? 13, Abilene Christian vs. West Texas A&M (old record: 11 by West Texas A&M vs. N.M. Highlands, 2005)
Individual
Single Game
Touchdowns ? 7, Bernard Scott (5 rush, 2 receiving)
Points scored ? 42, Bernard Scott
PATs ? 11, Matt Adams
PAT Attempts ? 11, Matt Adams vs. West Texas A&M
Passing Yards ? 595 by Keith Null, West Texas A&M vs. Abilene Christian, Nov. 22, 2008 (old record: 564 by Jim Reese, Abilene Christian vs. Angelo State, 1976)
Touchdown Passes Thrown ? 7 by Keith Null by West Texas A&M vs. Abilene Christian, Nov. 22, 2008 (
Receiving Yards ? 323 by Charly Martin vs. Abilene Christian, Nov. 22, 2008 (old record: 272 by Keith Miller, West Texas A&M vs. Texas A&M-Commerce, 1990)
Receiving Touchdowns ? 5 by Charly Martin, West Texas A&M vs. Abilene Christian (old record: 4 by several players)
Single-Season
Passing Yards ? 5,097 by Keith Null, West Texas A&M, 2008 (old record: 4,134 by Keith Null, West Texas A&M, 2007)
Receiving Yards ? 1,867 yards by Charly Martin, West Texas A&M, 2008 (old record: 1,469 yards by Dee Dee Carter, Central Oklahoma, 2001)
NCAA RECORDS
Team
Single-Game
Most combined points in regulation ? 161, Abilene Christian (93) vs. West Texas A&M (68) (old record: 136, North Park, Ill. (104) vs. North Central Ill. (32), Oct. 12, 1968)
Most combined yards ? 1,531, Abilene Christian (810) vs. West Texas A&M (721) (old record: 1,369 by Abilene Christian (653) vs. Chadron State, Neb. (716), Nov. 23, 2007)
Average Yards Per Play ? 14.5, Abilene Christian vs. West Texas A&M, 56 plays for 810 yards (old record: 12.1, Hanover vs. Franklin, Oct. 30, 1948 / 75 plays for 910 yards)
Combined Touchdowns ? 22, Abilene Christian (13) vs. West Texas A&M (9) (old record: 21, Abilene Christian (10) vs. Chadron State, Neb. (11), Nov. 23, 2007)
Yards Per Rush ? 13.8, Abilene Christian vs. West Texas A&M (31 rushes for 427 yards) (old record: 11.2 per rush, Wofford vs. Charleston Southern, Nov. 12, 1990 / 53 for 595)
NCAA DIVISION II PLAYOFF GAME RECORDS
Team
Single-Game
Points scored ? 93, Abilene Christian (93) vs. West Texas A&M (68), Nov. 22, 2008
First Downs By Passing ? 25, West Texas A&M vs. Abilene Christian, Nov. 22, 2008 (old record: 25 by Cal-Davis vs. New Haven, Dec. 6, 1997)
Net Yards Passing ? 595, West Texas A&M vs. Abilene Christian, Nov. 22, 2008 (old record: 545 by Central Arkansas vs. Presbyterian, Nov. 19, 2005)
Net Yards Rushing and Passing ? 810, Abilene Christian vs. West Texas A&M, Nov. 22, 2008 (old record: 716 by Chadron State, Neb., vs. Abilene Christian, Nov. 23, 2007)
Most combined points in regulation ? 161, Abilene Christian (93) vs. West Texas A&M (68) (old record: 136, North Park, Ill. (104) vs. North Central Ill. (32), Oct. 12, 1968)
Most combined yards ? 1,531, Abilene Christian (810) vs. West Texas A&M (721) (old record: 1,369 by Abilene Christian (653) vs. Chadron State, Neb. (716), Nov. 23, 2007)
Individual
Single-Game
Rushing Touchdowns ? 5 by Bernard Scott, Abilene Christian vs. West Texas A&M, Nov. 22, 2008 (old record: 5 by several players)
Net Yards Passing ? 595 by Keith Null, West Texas A&M vs. Abilene Christian, Nov. 22, 2008 (old record: 504 by Marc Eddy, Bentley vs. Edinboro, Nov. 13, 2004)
Touchdown Passes ? 7 by Keith Null, West Texas A&M vs. Abilene Christian, Nov. 22, 2008 (old record: 6 by several players, including Billy Malone, Abilene Christian vs. West Texas A&M, Nov. 22, 2008)
Net Yards Rushing and Passing ? 582 by Keith Null, West Texas A&M vs. Abilene Christian, Nov. 22, 2008 (old record: 559 by Chad Friehauf, Colorado School of Mines vs. Midwestern State, Nov. 13, 2004)
Receptions ? 14 by Charly Martin, West Texas A&M vs. Abilene Christian (old record: 14 by Don Hutt, Boise State vs. Louisiana Tech, Dec. 8, 1973; Dallas Mall, Bentley vs. Grand Valley State, Nov. 22, 2003)
Net Yards Receiving ? 323 by Charly Martin, West Texas A&M vs. Abilene Christian (old record: 270 by David Kircus, Grand Valley State vs. Valdosta State, Dec. 14, 2002)
Touchdown Receptions -- 5 by Charly Martin vs. Abilene Christian, Nov. 22, 2008 (old record: 4 by several players)
Points Scored ? 42 by Bernard Scott, Abilene Christian vs. West Texas A&M, Nov. 22, 2008 (old record: 36 by Bernard Scott, Abilene Christian vs. Chadron State, Neb., Nov. 23, 2007)
Touchdowns Scored ? 7 by Bernard Scott, Abilene Christian vs. West Texas A&M, Nov. 22, 2008 (old record: 6 by Bernard Scott, Abilene Christian vs. Chadron State, Neb., Nov. 23, 2007)
Extra Points ? 11 by Matt Adams, Abilene Christian vs. West Texas A&M, Nov. 22, 2008 (old record: 10 by several players)
