SAN ANTONIO -- Mitchell Gale saved his best for last.
In the final game of his brilliant ACU career, the senior quarterback from Alva, Okla., threw for 408 yards and two touchdowns as the Wildcats (7-4) outlasted pesky Incarnate Word, 24-12, at Tom Benson Stadium.
In so doing, Gale became the all-time leading passer in program and Lone Star Conference history, finishing with 12,109 career yards - 97 more than the quarterback who played the four years before he arrived at ACU, Billy Malone. The completion that put him over the top was a 28-yard strike to sophomore DeMarcus Thompson in the third quarter.
More impressive, it made Gale and Malone only the third set of college quarterbacks in NCAA history to post back-to-back careers of at least 12,000 passing yards each, and the first such duo from Division II.
Players from the other two schools with such sustained excellence are Case Keenum (19,217 yards from 2007-11) and Kevin Kolb (12,964 yards from 2003-06) of the University of Houston and Colt Brennan (14,193 yards from 2005-07) and Timmy Chang (17,072 yards from 2001-04) of the University of Hawaii. Brennan was a Heisman Trophy finalist and won the Sammy Baugh Award as the nation's top passer.
"The thing I'm feeling more than anything is gratitude," Gale said after the game. "I'm so thankful to have been at ACU and to have had the chance to be around people like Coach (Ken) Collums who've helped me become a better football player and more important to help me grow spiritually and as a man."
Gale's record-breaking night included the first and third longest of his 97 career touchdown passes. The first, an 87-yarder to
Charcandrick West early in the second quarter, was a broken play that saw Gale avoid the Cardinals' rush and heave the ball forward to West who scampered down the right sideline untouched.
The other touchdown was a bullet that junior wide receiver
Darian Hogg caught on a crossing route and took down the left sideline for 80 yards.
ACU's final game in NCAA Division II and as a member of the Lone Star Conference could scarcely have started better. Wildcat freshman Travis Tarver, who didn't arrive at the stadium until shortly before the game because of a family funeral, immediately made his presence felt by recovering a fumble on the opening kickoff at the Incarnate Word 12. But the Wildcats would only gain two yards and settle for a 27-yard field goal by
Ryan Owens.
Incarnate Word (2-9) moved the ball consistently couldn't finish drives with touchdowns, settling for four Saul Meza field goals to account for all 12 of their points.
Gale's big plays overshadowed an uneven offensive performance in the first half. But after Incarnate Word cut the Wildcats' lead to 17-12 in the fourth quarter, Gale engineered an eight play, 62-yard drive that ended with West's 5-yard touchdown run. West finished with 181 all-purpose yards - 72 yards rushing and 109 yards receiving.
The entire ACU team wore red sweatbands around their ankles in honor of Rex Fleming, the 10-year-old son of ACU sports information director
Lance Fleming who has battled a brain tumor for the last two years. "I wanted them when they got tired and looked down," Collums said, "to see that sweatband and think of Rex."
The Wildcats' final 7-4 mark on the season gave them the ACU football program its 25th season of at least seven wins, including seven straight (2006-12).
