ABILENE -- The start of the
Ken Collums Era couldn't have gone much better than it did Saturday night when the ACU Wildcats opened thei 2012 campaign with a 51-0 pasting of McMurry at Shotwell Stadium.
Despite not scoring for the first 22 minutes, 40 seconds of the game, the Wildcats poured it on the War Hawks in the second and third quarters to take control of the game and then run roughshod over a team playing its first season as an NCAA Division II team. For the Wildcats, the game marked the beginning of their 40th and finl season in the Lone Star Conference. ACU announced recently that will move up to NCAA Division I affiliation and join the Southland Conference starting in 2013-14.
Aside form a few hiccups early on the offensive side of the ball, including an interception in the end zone thrown by Mitchell Gale in the second quarter, the Wildcats' season debut can't be counted as anything other than a success.
The Wildcats also debuted a new defensive coaching staff and philosophy, and that new 4-3 scheme did the job as they limited McMurry to just 12 rushing yards and racked up 10 sacks, including a school record-tying six by sophomore defensive end
Nick Richardson.
The only negative part of the night for the Wildcats was the apparent knee injury suffered in the first half by starting outside linebacker
Chris Summers. He will undergo an MRI early this week to determine the extent of the injury and determine how much time he will miss.
Here are some other notes and quotes from Saturday night's game:
* The Wildcats' 51 points were the most they've scored in a season-opener since opening the 1971 season with a 53-10 win over McMurry.
* Saturday night's game against the War Hawks was the first between the two teams since 1971, although they are less than 10 miles apart inside the city of Abilene.
* ACU's win was its fifth straight season-opening victory and sixth in the last seven seasons.
* Sophomore defensive end
Nick Richardson tied the ACU single-game record for sacks in a game with 6, quailing the mark set in 1997 by James Henderson in a game against Texas A&M-Commerce. Richardson finished one sack short of the NCAA Division II single-game mark of seven set by Catawba's Ron Ellington vs. Mars Hill on Oct. 1, 2005.
* ACU finished the game with 10.0 sacks, six by Richardson and one each for
Ryan Smith,
Brandon Dornak,
Justin Stephens and
Kolby Rowe.
* ACU had just 21 rushing touchdowns in 11 games in 2011, but finished the win over McMurry with six rushing touchdowns (two by Threat, one by
Charcandrick West, two by redshirt freshman Travis Tarver and one for Gabriel).
* Mitchell Gale threw a 9-yard TD pass to Gabriel in the second quarter, the 24th straight game in which Gale has thrown a touchdown pass. Gale has thrown a touchdown pass in 29 of his 32 career starts. The Wildcats are 24-8 in Gale's 32 starts.
* ACU is now 58-46-2 against non-Lone Star Conference opponents since joining the league in 1973. ... Saturday night's 51-point effort marks the 20th time since 2006 that the Wildcats have scored at least 50 points in a game. ACU is 19-1 in those games.
* ACU's 51-0 win marks the first shutout pitched by a Wildcat defense since a 21-0 win over Eastern New Mexico on Sept. 30, 2006.It's the first time ACU has shut out an opponent at Shotwell Stadium since Sept. 23, 2006, when the Wildcats beat Southwestern Oklahoma State, 31-0.
* ACU is now 44-43-4 all-time in 91 season-opening games.
Ken Collums Post-Game Quotes:
* On the offense's early struggles: "They (McMurry's defense) did a good job of mixing up their personnel and that gave us some issues. But I thought we did a good job of weathering the storm.
We started moving the ball near the end of the first quarter, so we knew we would be fine."
On the play of the defense and Nick Richardson: "I was a little bit concerned going into the game because we didn't tackle at all in fall camp. What we were able to do out there (Saturday) is even more impressive when you consider that we didn't take onyone to the ground throughout camp. As far as Nick Richardson goes, you don't have to be a very smart guy to move him from linebacker to a rush end spot. I told a lot of people that he would be applying immense pressure on the quarterback with us blitzing, and he did just that."
On the overall play of his team: "We won this game on the practice field because we put in quality reps throughout the week. I don't care who the game was against because there were still some things we didn't do very well. But I saw enough to still make me think we could be in line to have a special season."
On his first game as the head coach: "It was a great experience, and I loved the fact that it was 51-0 instead of games like 51-49. I've got great coaches and I trust them in every situation. I wasn't nervous, but I wanted to make the right calls in the right situations."
On next week's game against Texas A&M-Kingsville in the LSC opener: "This win was awesome and we need to enjoy it. Now, like I told the guys in the locker room, next week is a different animal because they actually have pass rushers and a running back that can score from anywhere on the field. But our guys will be ready. I'll put so much pressure on them in practice field that they'll be ready to go next Saturday.
