ABILENE -- Four of last week's top 10 teams in the American Football Coaches' Association NCAA Division II poll lost last Saturday, causing a severe shakeup in this week's poll, which was released Monday.
The Nos. 3, 4, 5 and 9 teams in last week's poll all lost on Saturday, and all dropped at least 10 spots in the latest poll with Wayne State (Mich.) taking the biggest tumble, dropping all the way from No. 5 to No. 19 after a 7-0 loss to previously unranked Ashland (Ohio).
ACU was ranked No. 9 in last week's poll, but dropped to No. 20 in this week's poll after a 16-13 loss to previous No. 24 Texas A&M-Kingsville. The Javelinas, meanwhile, made the biggest jump in the poll, vaulting from No. 24 to No. 14 on the strength of that win over the Wildcats.
Last week's third-ranked team, Northwest Missouri State, dropped to No. 13 this week after a 31-21 loss to unranked Central Missouri, and Midwestern State (No. 4 in last week's poll) fell to No. 16 after a 20-17 loss at unranked Tarleton State.
Defending national champion Pittsburg State (Kan.) is still ranked No. 1 after improving to 2-0 on the season with a 34-19 win over Central Oklahoma. Minnesota-Duluth remained at No. 2 in the poll after a 38-16 win over Winona State (Minn.) and Colorado State-Pueblo moved from No. 6 to No. 3 after a 41-24 win over Northwestern Oklahoma State.
Grand Valley State (Mich.) moved up three spots from No. 7 to No. 4 after an 83-46 win over Notre Dame (Ohio) and Winston-Salem State (N.C.) rounds out the top five, moving up three spots from No. 8 after a 30-22 win over Concord (W.Va.).
Rounding out the top 10 are California (Pa.) at No. 6, New Haven (Conn.) at No. 7, Missouri Western State at No. 8, Washburn (Kan.) at No. 9 and Saginaw Valley State (Mich.) at No. 10.
The Wildcats will be back in action Saturday at 4 p.m. when it takes on Tarleton State in the second annual Lone Star Football Festival from Cowboys Stadium in Irving.
OTHER ACU NEWS
• The injury bug continues to hit the Wildcats hard. Having already lost both receiver
Andrew Richards (left knee) and linebacker
Chris Summers (right knee) to season-ending knee injuries, the Wildcats suffered a few more serious injuries in Saturday's loss against the Javelinas.
Strongside linebacker
Blake Rudd – who started in Saturday's Kingsville game – is out for the season after suffering a broken leg. His backup, sophomore
Cy Wilson, is out at least five weeks with a broken bone in his right wrist.
Also, safety / linebacker
Lynn Grady is questionable for Saturday's game against the Texans after separating his right shoulder twice during the loss to the Javelinas. He came back in and played after each separation.
• Sophomore
Jonathan Parker is the probable starter at tight end for the Wildcats in Saturday's game against Tarleton State. Parker had been splitting time between fullback and tight end, but head coach
Ken Collums said Monday that he will likely move Parker into the backfield on a full-time basis. That will leave the starting tight end spot up for grabs between sophomore transfer
Noah Cheshier and redshirt freshman
Jamie Walker. Those two will battle throughout this week in practice to determine the starter for the game against the Texans.
