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ABILENE -- The ACU Wildcats will get the NCAA Division I football era started Saturday night when they host Concordia (Ala.) College in a non-conference game at Shotwell Stadium. Kickoff is set for 7 p.m.
The game can be heard on The Ticket 98.1 FM in Abilene and on KBXD 1480 AM in the Dallas/Fort Worth metroplex. The game can also be viewed live online at acusports.com. A replay of the game will be shown Tuesday at 7 p.m. on This TV in the Abilene cable market.
The Wildcats are entering their second season under head coach
Ken Collums and so in their first (and only) season as an NCAA Division I FCS independent program. Next season, the Wildcat football program will join every other ACU program in the Southland Conference. Because of prior scheduling conflicts, ACU's football program is the only one of ACU's 16 intercollegiate sports not participating in Southland Conference play in 2013-14.
For the first time since 2009, the ACU Wildcats enter a football season without a returning starter at the most important position on the field: quarterback.
That season, redshirt freshman Mitchell Gale seized the job six weeks into the campaign and was the Wildcats' quarterback for the final eight games of the 2009 season and the next three seasons. He led the Wildcats to 30 wins, three appearances in the NCAA Division II playoffs and left ACU as the program's all-time leader in virtually every career passing category except touchdown passes.
So for a program accustomed to putting up big offensive numbers, going into its first season as an NCAA Division I program without an experienced signal-caller will make the historic 2013 season even more difficult.
The Wildcats enter the season with senior
John David Baker as the starting quarterback. Baker has been the backup the last two seasons and seen limited action.
With Baker, the Wildcats will likely be more of a run-heavy team with seniors
Charcandrick West (98 carries, 437 yards, 6 touchdowns) and
Darrell Cantu-Harkless (39-196-2) likely carrying the load in the backfield. Baker – who was a solid run-pass threat in high school – would likely be a big part of the running game as well.
The Wildcats, however, also return a solid receiving corps, led by Division II all-America
Taylor Gabriel, who caught 52 passes for 684 yards and seven touchdowns as a junior in 2012. Also returning are Cantu-Harkless (56-651-2), senior
Darian Hogg (37-578-5) and junior DeMarcus Thompson (34-451-2). West is also a solid receiving threat out of the backfield (18-234-3 in 2012).
The offensive line has been shuffled since the end of the 2012 season with tackles
Blake Spears (6-6, 300) and
Will Latu (6-5, 315) flipping spots with the senior Spears now manning the left tackle slot and the senior Latu over at right tackle. Senior
Josh Perez (6-2, 290) returns at right guard with
Colton Carnes (6-2, 300) back at left guard.
Tyler McIntosh (6-0, 280) is the starter at center.
Defensively the Wildcats return junior
Nick Richardson at one defensive end spot, but the other three starters along the line will be new faces. The six linebackers at the three spots all saw time at their positions last year, and the secondary returns starters in cornerback
Caleb Withrow and safey
Angel Lopez.
