STEPHENVILLE -- ACU's offensive struggles in 2009 reached its low point Saturday night as the ninth-ranked Wildcats saw their NCAA Division II playoff hopes took a serious blow with a 13-6 loss to 11th-ranked Tarleton State at Memorial Stadium.
The Wildcats' second straight loss drops them to 7-2 overall and 2-2 in the Lone Star Conference South Division, while the Texans kept their playoff hopes alive, improving to 8-1 and 3-1.
ACU entered the contest ranked No. 4 in NCAA Division II Super Region Four, but will probably drop out of the top six when Monday's rankings are released. Tarleton went into the game ranked No. 10 and will make a move up the rankings on Monday.
The Wildcats now know that they must win their final two games just to have a chance to reach the playoffs for the fourth straight year. That final two-game stretch begins Saturday at 2 p.m. when they host Texas A&M-Kingsville in a must-win contest at Shotwell Stadium. ACU will then travel to Wichita Falls on Nov. 7 to take on Midwestern State in the regular-season finale.
ACU's defense played well enough to win the ballgame, holding the Texans to just 188 yards of total offense and one score while forcing 11 punts.
But it was one play in the game's final five minutes that pushed the Texans into the lead for good.
After ACU's offense went three-and-out for the fifth straight time in the second half, the Texans put up their first and only offensive touchdown with 4:32 to play when Scott Grantham hit Jahmeel Hobson from 75 yards out for a score to make it 13-6.
ACU would get the ball back twice more, but could not get the ball into the end zone as the Wildcats lost consecutive games for the first time since the end of the 2006 season when they lost to Midwestern State in the regular-season finale and West Texas A&M in the first round of the playoffs.
The six points mark the lowest offensive output by an ACU offense of the Chris Thomsen Era and it's the first time the Wildcats have failed to score a touchdown since a 31-0 loss at Angelo State on Oct. 13, 2001.
The Wildcats moved the ball effectively in the first half, but couldn't punch the ball into the end zone.
In the first quarter, the Wildcats started at their own 30 and moved briskly to the Tarleton State 9-yard line with a first-and-goal. But after two plays netted zero yards, ACU redshirt freshman quarterback
Mitchell Gale made his first mistake of the night when he was intercepted in the end zone by Marcus Phillips.
ACU got its first big break early in the second quarter when Devin Guinn fumbled a punt and
Derek Odelusi recovered it for the Wildcats at the Texans' 8-yard line.
But three
Daryl Richardson runs moved the ball to the 3-yard line where the Wildcats were forced to settle for a
Morgan Lineberry 20-yard field goal, making it 3-0 with 8:32 left in the first half.
After the Wildcats forced another punt the Wildcats went on a 14-play, 55-yard drive that moved the ball from their own 42 to the Texan 4-yard line with a first-and-goal. But ACU only moved one more yard and Lineberry came on for another 20-yard field goal as ACU grabbed a 6-0 lead with 50 seconds left in the first half.
Neither team could do anything in the second half as the defenses completely took over the game.
But Tarleton began to turn the tide early in the fourth quarter.
ACU was forced to punt on the second play of the fourth quarter, and after a
Mark Sprague 48-yard punt, Guinn returned it 57 yards for a touchdown to make it a 6-6 game with 14:14 left in the game.
However, before the PAT, Tarleton was flagged for unsportsmanlike conduct, moving the PAT try back to the 18-yard line.
Fred Thompson then plowed through the line to block Garrett Lindholm's attempt, leaving the game tied 6-6.
But the offenses for both teams continued to struggle as neither could mount anything resembling a drive.
With 5:16 to play the Texans started on their own 20 and Grantham hit Guinn for five yards before hitting Hobson in stride for a 75-yard scoring strike, providing Tarleton with about its only offensive highlight.
Despite giving up the long touchdown pass, ACU's defense was stellar, allowing just 188 yards of total offense with 75 of those yards coming on the one pass to Hobson.
Gale was sacked seven times by the Texans, and the TSU defense recorded 14 tackles for loss. Richardson -- the league's leading rusher -- was held to just 58 yards, and Gale was 16 of 41 for 192 yards and two interceptions.
