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Photo by: Jeremy Enlow
Wildcats welcome 93 players on reporting day
8/2/2014 10:36:00 PM | Football
ABILENE – ACU head football coach Ken Collums and his staff welcomed the 2014 ACU Wildcats to campus Saturday afternoon as 93 players reported for summer workouts.
The Wildcats went through team meetings and a conditioning run late Saturday evening. They will re-convene on the Wally Bullington Practice Facility turf Sunday at 4 p.m. for the first practice. ACU's first day in pads will be Thursday when the Wildcats practice twice, once at 9 a.m. and the other at 4 p.m.
"I'm always relieved to see the veterans when they get here because it just makes me feel better to see those guys," Collums said. "I'll sleep better after just having seen those guys walk through the door. And then I'm always excited to see the freshmen and first-year guys when they get here. This group of freshmen has a chance to be really special."
The Wildcats return 45 letterwinners (19 offense, 24 defense, 2 specialists) and 13 starters (three offense, eight defense and two specialists). The Wildcats will field one of their most inexperienced offensive units since Collums became the offensive coordinator in 2005, and it just happens to coincide with the team playing the toughest regular-season schedule in program history.
Sophomore Parker McKenzie will go into camp as the starter at quarterback, making it two straight seasons in which the Wildcats have started camp without a quarterback who has ever started a game at the collegiate level.
However, if it works out as well as it did last year with John David Baker setting a school record for touchdowns accounted for with 40, the Wildcats will be in business. McKenzie's hold on the starting job became more solid when last year's backup, Malcolm Ruben, decided over the summer to transfer after he lost the battle for the starting job to McKenzie. Redshirt freshman Kade Munden will enter fall camp as the backup with another redshirt freshman, Will Weathers, third on the depth chart.
ACU signed two freshmen quarterbacks in Dallas Sealey and Cody Ennis, who could challenge for either the starting or backup jobs in their first seasons as Wildcats.
For the first time since the 2009 season, the ACU Wildcats return a more experienced defensive lineup than their counterparts on the offensive side of the ball. That season was the last time the Wildcats allowed less than 300 yards per game, and they recorded 43 sacks and held eight of their 13 opponents to 15 points or less.
Senior defensive end Nick Richardson returns for his final season and enters the 2014 campaign needs 11.0 sacks to pass to Reuben Mason as the program's all-time leader in sacks.
The Wildcats also return experienced defensive players like Rob Boyd (end), Damon Williams (tackle), Josh Bloom (tackle), Brandon Dornak (end), linebackers Justin Stephens, Blake Rudd, Lynn Grady, Chris Summers, and Chuck Oputa, and defensive backs Justin Stewart, Angel Lopez, Tyler Chapa, Keith Barnett, Quentin Bryant and D.J. Arnold.
Not only did Ruben decide not to return to the Wildcats, but defensive back Will Harlos, linebacker Vicente Cantu-Harkless and fullback Cy Wilson also decided not to return to the team. ACU did sign a high school wide receiver over the summer in Byron Proctor from San Antonio Alamo Heights, and added a potential impact wide receiver from Tyler Junior College in Jonathan Epps. And late last week, quarterback Mike Richardson of Marble Falls – who went through spring drills at Texas Tech – decided to join the Wildcats.
ACU also added a pair of defensive tackles in Rishaaad Wimbley and Josh Finley. Wimbley comes to ACU from SMU where he played on the defensive line and at running back, while Finley joins the Wildcats from Butler County College (Kan.).
ACU will open the 2014 campaign on Wednesday, Aug. 27, at 7 p.m. (6 p.m. central time) against Georgia State in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The game is slated to be broadcast to a nationwide television audience on ESPNU. The game is the second game of the college football season (Sam Houston State at Eastern Washington on Saturday, Aug. 23, is the first), but the first game to feature a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) program (Georgia State, which is in its first season at the FBS level).
OTHER NOTES
Camp dates: Sunday, Aug. 3 through Saturday, Aug. 23
First game: Wednesday, Aug. 27, at Georgia State (Atlanta, Ga.)
Summer transfers / high school signees:
DS Hayden Brodowsky (transfer from Antelope Valley CC)
WR Jonathan Epps (transfer from Tyler Junior College)
DT Josh Finley (transfer from Butler Community College)
WR Byron Proctor (San Antonio Alamo Heights HS)
QB Mike Richardson (transfer from Texas Tech)
DT Rishaad Wimbley (transfer from SMU)
Players not returning:
LB Vicente Cantu-Harkless
DB Will Harlos
QB Malcolm Ruben
FB Cy Wilson
Number / position changes:
Josh Hailey from defensive end to offensive line
Lynn Grady from defensive back to linebacker
LB Chris Summers from #2 to #49
LB Blake Rudd from #13 to #45
LB Chuck Oputa from #45 to #52
LB Lynn Grady from #32 to #7
DL Josh Bloom from #93 to #95
DE Brandon Dornak from #99 to #94
The Wildcats went through team meetings and a conditioning run late Saturday evening. They will re-convene on the Wally Bullington Practice Facility turf Sunday at 4 p.m. for the first practice. ACU's first day in pads will be Thursday when the Wildcats practice twice, once at 9 a.m. and the other at 4 p.m.
"I'm always relieved to see the veterans when they get here because it just makes me feel better to see those guys," Collums said. "I'll sleep better after just having seen those guys walk through the door. And then I'm always excited to see the freshmen and first-year guys when they get here. This group of freshmen has a chance to be really special."
The Wildcats return 45 letterwinners (19 offense, 24 defense, 2 specialists) and 13 starters (three offense, eight defense and two specialists). The Wildcats will field one of their most inexperienced offensive units since Collums became the offensive coordinator in 2005, and it just happens to coincide with the team playing the toughest regular-season schedule in program history.
Sophomore Parker McKenzie will go into camp as the starter at quarterback, making it two straight seasons in which the Wildcats have started camp without a quarterback who has ever started a game at the collegiate level.
However, if it works out as well as it did last year with John David Baker setting a school record for touchdowns accounted for with 40, the Wildcats will be in business. McKenzie's hold on the starting job became more solid when last year's backup, Malcolm Ruben, decided over the summer to transfer after he lost the battle for the starting job to McKenzie. Redshirt freshman Kade Munden will enter fall camp as the backup with another redshirt freshman, Will Weathers, third on the depth chart.
ACU signed two freshmen quarterbacks in Dallas Sealey and Cody Ennis, who could challenge for either the starting or backup jobs in their first seasons as Wildcats.
For the first time since the 2009 season, the ACU Wildcats return a more experienced defensive lineup than their counterparts on the offensive side of the ball. That season was the last time the Wildcats allowed less than 300 yards per game, and they recorded 43 sacks and held eight of their 13 opponents to 15 points or less.
Senior defensive end Nick Richardson returns for his final season and enters the 2014 campaign needs 11.0 sacks to pass to Reuben Mason as the program's all-time leader in sacks.
The Wildcats also return experienced defensive players like Rob Boyd (end), Damon Williams (tackle), Josh Bloom (tackle), Brandon Dornak (end), linebackers Justin Stephens, Blake Rudd, Lynn Grady, Chris Summers, and Chuck Oputa, and defensive backs Justin Stewart, Angel Lopez, Tyler Chapa, Keith Barnett, Quentin Bryant and D.J. Arnold.
Not only did Ruben decide not to return to the Wildcats, but defensive back Will Harlos, linebacker Vicente Cantu-Harkless and fullback Cy Wilson also decided not to return to the team. ACU did sign a high school wide receiver over the summer in Byron Proctor from San Antonio Alamo Heights, and added a potential impact wide receiver from Tyler Junior College in Jonathan Epps. And late last week, quarterback Mike Richardson of Marble Falls – who went through spring drills at Texas Tech – decided to join the Wildcats.
ACU also added a pair of defensive tackles in Rishaaad Wimbley and Josh Finley. Wimbley comes to ACU from SMU where he played on the defensive line and at running back, while Finley joins the Wildcats from Butler County College (Kan.).
ACU will open the 2014 campaign on Wednesday, Aug. 27, at 7 p.m. (6 p.m. central time) against Georgia State in the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. The game is slated to be broadcast to a nationwide television audience on ESPNU. The game is the second game of the college football season (Sam Houston State at Eastern Washington on Saturday, Aug. 23, is the first), but the first game to feature a Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) program (Georgia State, which is in its first season at the FBS level).
OTHER NOTES
Camp dates: Sunday, Aug. 3 through Saturday, Aug. 23
First game: Wednesday, Aug. 27, at Georgia State (Atlanta, Ga.)
Summer transfers / high school signees:
DS Hayden Brodowsky (transfer from Antelope Valley CC)
WR Jonathan Epps (transfer from Tyler Junior College)
DT Josh Finley (transfer from Butler Community College)
WR Byron Proctor (San Antonio Alamo Heights HS)
QB Mike Richardson (transfer from Texas Tech)
DT Rishaad Wimbley (transfer from SMU)
Players not returning:
LB Vicente Cantu-Harkless
DB Will Harlos
QB Malcolm Ruben
FB Cy Wilson
Number / position changes:
Josh Hailey from defensive end to offensive line
Lynn Grady from defensive back to linebacker
LB Chris Summers from #2 to #49
LB Blake Rudd from #13 to #45
LB Chuck Oputa from #45 to #52
LB Lynn Grady from #32 to #7
DL Josh Bloom from #93 to #95
DE Brandon Dornak from #99 to #94
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