Gameday
ABILENE -- The ACU Wildcats will close out their 2013 home schedule Saturday when they take on the Cardinals of Incarnate Word, a former Lone Star Conference rival and future Southland Conference foe in the Wildcats' annual Homecoming contest.
The Wildcats are 51-33-1 overall in 85 Homecoming games. Saturday is also Senior Day since it's the Wildcats' final home game of the 2013 campaign.
The Wildcats haven't played at home since Sept. 14 when they beat New Mexico Highlands, 52-28, to improve to 3-0 on the season. Since then, the Wildcats have gone 1-3 on the road with three straight losses to Illinois State (31-17 on Sept. 21 in Normal, Ill.), Tarleton State (41-34 in double-overtime on Sept. 28 in Frisco) and Pittsburg State (28-20 on Oct. 5 in Pittsburg, Kan.).
ACU was able to snap that three-game losing streak with last week's 69-12 win over future Southland Conference foe Houston Baptist at BBVA Compass Stadium in Houston. Senior wide receiver Gabriel had a career night with seven receptions for a career-high 174 yards and three touchdowns, including a 71-yard catch-and-run that will go down in ACU history as one of the great plays in recent Wildcat history.
Gabriel enters today's game No. 2 on ACU's all-time receptions chart (180), No. 3 all-time in receiving yards (2,575) and No. 4 all-time in touchdown receptions (24).
Senior quarterback Baker is on his way to posting one of the great seasons in ACU history as he has thrown 23 touchdown passes against just two interceptions while completing 65.5 percent of his passes (144 of 220) for 1,921 yards. His 23 touchdown passes are the 10th-best single-season total in ACU history.
He threw for 273 yards and four touchdowns in last week's win over Houston Baptist, giving him at least two touchdown passes in six of ACU's seven games. He is directing an offense that has posted at least 52 points in four of the Wildcats' seven games this season and 336 total points, which is more than the Wildcats have scored in 82 of the program's 90-plus seasons. ACU, in fact, has scored the second-most points (336) of any NCAA Division I program in the country behind only the 341 points scored by Oregon.
