Photo by: Jeremy Enlow
Historic first season at FCS level shatters Wildcat football record book
12/3/2013 3:54:00 PM | Football
ABILENE – A little more than two weeks after the Wildcats' 2013 football season ended, it's still hard to wrap one's head around all of the mind-boggling single-season and career statistics that several offensive players posted in leading the Wildcats to a 6-5 record in their first season as an NCAA Division I FCS program.
After the season-ending 65-45 win at Prairie View A&M on Nov. 16, Wildcat fans have had time to reflect on a season that began with a 3-0 start, hit a rough patch with three straight losses, rebounded with a couple of wins before back-to-back losses left ACU at 5-5 and staring at the possibility of the program's first sub-.500 record since 2005.
But the Wildcats' offense put together one of its best performances of the season in the win over the Panthers to allow the Wildcats to finish at 6-5 and post the program's eighth straight winning season, tying a program record from 1938-48 (ACU didn't play from 1943-45 because of World War II). This eight-year streak of winning seasons is the longest in consecutive years in program history.
Aside from the individual numbers, there were other great moments that stood out during the season:
• Senior quarterback John David Baker set an ACU single-game record for touchdown passes with seven in the first start of his career on Aug. 31 against Concordia.
• The Wildcats scored the second-most points in a game in program history with an 84-6 win over Concordia in the season-opener.
• Senior wide receiver Taylor Gabriel had nine catches for 160 yards and three touchdowns in the Wildcats' 52-28 win over New Mexico Highlands on Sept. 14.
• The Wildcats rallied from deficits of 14 and 11 points on Sept. 28 and put themselves in position to win against Tarleton State at Toyota Stadium in Frisco only to see the Texans score a touchdown in overtime to win the game, 41-34.
• ACU played a game in the city limits of Houston for the first time in program history on Oct. 12 and the Wildcats wasted little time in putting their three-game losing streak behind them. ACU jumped out to a 41-12 halftime lead over future Southland Conference foe Houston Baptist and cruised home for a 69-12 win at BBVA Compass Stadium. Gabriel posted the best game of his career to that point with seven catches for 174 yards and three touchdowns, including an electrifying 71-yard catch and run for a touchdown just before halftime.
• In their first game against an FBS program since a loss to Hawaii in 1980, the Wildcats gave New Mexico State all it wanted in a 34-29 loss in Las Cruces, N.M., on Oct. 26. ACU led 22-21 at halftime, but found itself trailing 34-22 with less than 30 seconds to play. But ACU scored on a 5-yard pass from Baker to Charcandrick West to cut the lead to 34-29 with 19 seconds left to play. Then the craziest 19 seconds in ACU football history ensued. ACU recovered Thor Woerner's onside kick to give the Wildcats a chance. But the Wildcats were hit with a personal foul penalty that pushed them back to their own 31-yard line. A holding penalty on the first play pushed it back to the 21-yard line and left the Wildcats with only one play left. That was nearly all they needed. Baker heaved the ball as far as he could and it was tipped once by Darian Hogg to teammate Monte Green-Avery, who made the catch. Just as he was about to to be tackled he flipped back to his left where Gabriel caught it and sprinted down the sideline toward the end zone. But he was pushed out of bounds at the 6-yard line by Trashaun Nixon, leaving the Wildcats six yards short of one of the greatest endings in college football history. Gabriel had a career night, setting the ACU record for catches in a game with 15 for a career-best 188 yards.
• In the season-ending win over Prairie View A&M, Baker threw for 485 yards – the third-best single-game total in ACU history – and West ran for four touchdowns and a career-best 151 yards as the Wildcats won their first game as an NCAA Division I FCS program against an established FCS program. ACU (692 yards of total offense) and Prairie View (572 yards of total offense) combined to post 1,264 yards of offense and 110 points as two of the top offenses at the NCAA Division I FCS level moved up and down the field seemingly at will.
Here's a look at the numbers ACU players posted during the 2013 season:
TEAM
• The Wildcats' six wins give them 70 wins during their current eight-year streak of winning seasons (2006-present). That ranks first among all Southland Conference schools, and is fifth among all Texas college football programs behind only Mary Hardin-Baylor (92 going into this weekend's NCAA Division III playoff game), West Texas A&M (79 going into this weekend's NCAA Division II playoff game), TCU (77) and Texas (75 going into Saturday's game against Baylor).
• ACU's 501 points scored are the fourth-most in a season in program history behind 2007 (639 points), 2008 (628 points) and 2010 (520 points).
• ACU's 84 points scored against Concordia are the second-most points scored in a game in program history behind the 93 scored on Nov. 22, 2008, in ACU's 93-68 NCAA Division II playoff win over West Texas A&M.
• The Wildcats scored at least 60 points in four games during the season, hit the 50-point mark in one other game and the 40-point mark in another.
• The Wildcats posted a plus-17 turnover margin, one of the top marks in all of NCAA Division I football.
• For the fifth time since 2007, the Wildcats posted at least 5,300 yards of total offense as ACU finished with 5,359 total yards for an average of 487.2 yards per game.
• The Wildcat defense finished the season with 29 takeaways (14 interceptions and 15 fumble recoveries), one of the top takeaway numbers in NCAA Division I football.
JOHN DAVID BAKER, sr, Quarterback
• Baker finished his only season as the Wildcats' starter with 3,376 passing yards in 2013, which is the fourth-best single-season total in school history. His 247 completions are the fourth-most in a season in ACU history, and his 369 attempts are tied for the 10th-most in a season. His 35 touchdowns are the fourth-most in a season in ACU history, and his 35-to-5 touchdown-to-interception ratio is the second-best in program history behind the 38:3 ratio posted by Mitchell Gale in 2010.
• Baker's 3,632 yards of total offense are the fourth-most in a season in ACU history, as are the 468 total offensive plays he took part in during the season.
• Baker posted two of the top eight single-game yardage totals in ACU history in 2013. His 485-yard effort in the season finale at Prairie View A&M is the third-best single-game total in program history, while his 428-yard performance against New Mexico State is the eighth-best single-game performance in program history.
• Baker accounted for five touchdowns against Prairie View A&M (four passing and one rushing) to give him 40 touchdowns accounted for in 2013 (35 passing and five rushing), which is a new single-season school record.
• Baker set a school record in the season-opener with seven touchdown passes against Concordia, breaking the old record of six set originally by Clint Longley in 1973 and later tied by Billy Malone in 2006 and then again in 2008.
• In the Wildcats' 60-17 win over McMurry on Sept. 7, Baker ran for 102 yards and a touchdown to become the first Wildcat quarterback since Nov. 20, 1965, when Jacky Roland ran for 119 yards and one score on nine carries against Angelo State.
TAYLOR GABRIEL, sr, Wide Receiver
• Gabriel finished his career second in ACU history in catches (215), yards (3,027) and touchdown receptions (27). He is second in catches and yards behind Jerale Badon (235 for 3,311 yards) and is tied with Clyde Gates and Arthur Culpepper with 27 touchdown receptions, three behind all-time leader Johnny Knox (30 from 2007-08).
• Gabriel posted four 100-yard receiving games in 2013 to give him 12 for his career, which is tied with Badon (2004-07), Johnny Perkins (1974-76) and Ronnie Vinson (1969-71) for second all-time behind Gates, who had 13 such games from 2007-10.
• His 15 catches in the loss at New Mexico state set a new single-game ACU record, breaking the old mark of 14 set by Badon against Tarleton State in 2006. His 188 yards receiving in that game set a new career-best and is the 16th-best single-game performance in ACU history.
• Gabriel's 73 catches in 2013 are tied for with Badon (2007) for the second-most in a season in ACU history, and his 1,060 yards are the seventh-best single-season total in ACU history. His 10 touchdown receptions in 2013 tie his own mark in 2011, as well as that of Reggie McGowan (1986), Angel Alvarez (1993) and Cle Montgomery (1977) for the ninth-most in a season in program history.
• His 31 career touchdowns are tied with Knox for the sixth-most in program history, and his 186 career points are tied with Knox for the ninth-most in program history.
• Gabriel also finished his career with3,880 all-purpose yards, which is good for fourth on ACU's all-time list.
DARRELL CANTU-HARKLESS, sr, Wide Receiver/Running Back
• The Wildcats' "Mr. Versatility" during his four-year career, Cantu-Harkless finished third on ACU's all-purpose yardage list with 4,432 yards behind only Bernard Scott (5,712 yards from 2007-08) and Wilbert Montgomery (4,569 yards from 1973-76). They are the only Wildcats to ever rack up at least 4,000 career all-purpose yards.
• Cantu-Harkless touched the ball 396 times in his career (188 rushing attempts, 147 catches and 61 returns) and never lost a fumble.
• For his career, Cantu-Harkless averaged 11.2 yards every time he touched the ball in any situation. Offensively, he touched the ball 335 times in four seasons, averaging 9.2 yards of offensive per touch.
• Cantu-Harkless finished his career with six catches for 131 yards against Prairie View A&M, the fifth 100-yard receiving day of his career. He is the only player in ACU history to post as many as five 100-yard receiving games and also have one 100-yard rushing game.
• His 147 catches for seventh on ACU's all-time receptions list, and his 1,945 career receiving yards are 11th on the Wildcats' all-time list.
CHARCANDRICK WEST, sr, Running Back
• West finished his quietly productive career as the only player in ACU football history to finish with at least 2,000 rushing yards, 1,000 receiving yards and 750 kickoff return yards in a career.
• West finished with 2,058 rushing yards (10th on ACU's career list), 1,007 receiving y adds and 758 kickoff return yards (none in 2013).
• His 3,823 career all-purpose yards are fifth on ACU's all-time list.
• West finished his career with 35 touchdowns(fourth on the all-time touchdown list) and 210 career points scored. He is sixth on ACU's career points list.
• He finished his career with seven 100-yard rushing games, including four in 2013.
DARIAN HOGG, sr, Wide Receiver
• Hogg finished his career with 128 catches for 1,929 yards and 14 touchdowns.
• His 128 catches are the eighth-best career total in ACU history, and his 1,929 yards are ninth on the career list.
• Hogg is the only player in program history to post four touchdown receptions covering at least 80 yards. He had an 88-yard reception against Concordia in 2013 and an 87-yarder against New Mexico Highlands in 2013, an 85-yarder against Texas A&M-Commerce in 2012 and an 80-yarder against Incarnate Word in 2012.
• The 88-yard touchdown reception is tied for the fourth-longest play from scrimmage in ACU history and fourth-longest touchdown pass in ACU history.
AUSTIN KILCULLEN, fr, Punter
• Set a new ACU single-season punting average at 44.2 yards per punt on 40 punts, breaking the old record by the narrowest of margins. Brad Raphelt had the old record of 44.1 yards per punt set in 2001. Kilcullen had 11 punts of at least 50 yards, including a long punt of 64 yards. He had four touchbacks and dropped seven of his 40 punts inside the opponents' 20-yard line.
NIK GRAU, fr, Placekicker
• Hit 56 of 62 PATs during the season and had a streak of 31 straight made PATs. The 56 made PATs are the third-most in a season in program history and the 62 attempts are also the third-most in a season in program history.
• He also hit 10 of 11 field goals to tie him with Mark Turner (10 for 17 in 1986) for the 10th-most field goals made in a season in program history.
• He made 10 of 12 PATs in the season-opening win over Concordia, tied with Matt Adams (10 for 10 against Chadron State in 2007) for the most made PATs in a game in program history. His 12 attempts in that game are an ACU single-game record.
THOR WOERNER, sr, Linebacker
• Woerner had 70 tackles in 2013 and finished his career with 223 tackles, which is good for 16th on ACU's career list.
ANGEL LOPEZ, jr, Safety
• Lopez led the Wildcats in tackles with 109 and has 216 in three seasons going into his senior season in 2014. At his current pace he will finish in the top eight all-time in tackles at ACU.
NICK RICHARDSON, jr, Defensive End
• Richardson had 11 sacks in 2013 (among the leaders in NCAA Division I FCS football) and now has 23.5 sacks for 145 yards in losses in his career. He needs 10.5 sacks to tie Reuben Mason (34.0 sacks from 1976-78) for the all-time ACU record for sacks in a career. He is currently ninth in career sacks.
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