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STEPHENVILLE – The ACU Wildcats haven't had to respond to a regular-season loss since 2007 when they dropped an Oct. 20 Homecoming contest, 41-31, to Lone Star Conference South Division rival West Texas A&M.
The week after that loss, the Wildcats saved their season with a 70-63 victory over then-No. 8 Tarleton State in a game at Memorial Stadium in Stephenville.
That win was the first of three straight since-vacated victories over Tarleton State, Texas A&M-Kingsville
and Midwestern State that propelled the Wildcats to their second straight NCAA Division II playoff berth.
The storyline for this week's contest between the No. 9 Wildcats and the No. 11 Tarleton State Texans
is very similar to the one from two years ago.
Last Saturday the Wildcats dropped a 32-21 Homecoming game to West Texas A&M at Shotwell Stadium.
This week's ACU opponent? Tarleton State in Stephenville at 6 p.m..
The game's implications for the Wildcats? How about trying to save their season and get back on track
for a fourth straight trip to the NCAA Division II playoffs?
Last week's Wildcat loss dropped them from No. 1 to No. 9 in the nation and snapped a program-record 17-game regular-season winning streak (20 straight if the three vacated victories at the end of the 2007 season are counted).
More importantly, though, was that the loss dropped ACU from No. 1 to No. 4 in the all-important NCAA Division II Super Region Four rankings.
Saturday's game is the first of three straight games against teams ranked in the region's top 10 (Tarleton State is No. 10), and wins against at least two of those should secure a playoff berth for the Wildcats. Wins in all three games would probably give the Wildcats one of the top two seeds and a first-round bye. Anything less than two victories in those three games would likely leave the Wildcats out of the playoffs for the first time since the 2005 season.
First things first for the Wildcats, however, and that means a date Saturday night against a Tarleton State team that knows its post-season fate hinges on winning each of its final three games. Ranked No. 10 in the latest region rankings, the Texans will have almost no chance at a playoff berth without winning each of their final three games.
However, ACU has won each of its last three trips to Stephenville: 31-14 in 2004, 18-7 in 2005 and 70-63 in 2007. The Wildcats, in fact, have won four of the last five in this rivalry after the Texans had won six straight from 1998-2003. And Tarleton's only victory since 2004 was a 37-36 win in 2006 in Abilene.
The teams enter Saturday's contest as remarkably similar outfits. ACU is ranked No. 1 in the league in total defense (266.2 yards per game allowed) with Tarleton State ranked No. 2 in the league in (269.9 yards allowed). Tarleton State is No. 2 in scoring defense (15.0 points allowed per game) with ACU No. 3 (17.1 points allowed). ACU and Tarleton are also ranked Nos. 1 and 2, respectively, in the league in rushing offense.
Two areas to watch that might separate the teams: sacks and penalties. ACU is second in the league in sacks with 24, while the Texans have jut 13 in eight games. The Wildcats, however, have allowed 18 sacks this season (four last week against West Texas A&M), while the Texans have allowed just 10 sacks.
The Texans, however, are the league's most-penalized team with 86 penalties for 126 yards in eight games (103.2 yards in penalties per game). ACU, meanwhile, has been penalized 59 times (fifth-lowest number in the league) for just 463 yards (second-lowest in the league), which works out to 57.9 yards per game.
