Football | 10/1/2015 2:36:00 PM
Gameday CentralCONWAY, Ark. – ACU head football coach
Ken Collums returns to the stadium where he played and later coached Saturday night when his Wildcats invade First Security Field at Estes Stadium to take on the Central Arkansas Bears.
Kickoff between the Wildcats and Bears is set for 6 p.m. The game be heard locally on 98.1 FM The Ticket with "The Voice of the Wildcats"
Grant Boone calling the play-by-play action.
Collums, a native of Vernon, played at Central Arkansas from 1991-94, leading the Bears to the NAIA Division I national championship as a freshman in 1991 and taking them back to the playoffs in 1992. He then coached there as an assistant from 1995-97 before taking a job at ACU as the quarterbacks' coach under then-head coach Jack Kiser from 1997-98.
He returned to UCA in 2000 and served as the quarterbacks' coach his first two seasons before being elevated to offensive coordinator by then-head coach Clint Conque in 2002. He left UCA for ACU following the 2004 season, joining the staff of then-head coach (and brother-in-law) Chris Thomsen as the offensive coordinator. He was named ACU's 19
th head coach in December 2011.
During his four-year playing career, Collums led the Bears to a combined record of 32-14-1, including a mark of 14-3-1 at Estes Stadium. In his 11 years as part of the UCA program, Collums helped the Bears compile an overall record of 84-50-2 and a record of 38-19-1 in home games.
The Wildcats improved to 2-1 overall and 2-0 in the Southland Conference last Saturday with a 35-32 win over Stephen F. Austin in Abilene. The Wildcats rallied from a 32-27 deficit to score with 5:59 to play and convert a 2-point pass from
Parker McKenzie to
Byron Proctor to take a three-point lead. SFA had one last-gasp drive and fourth-down throw into the end zone, but the Wildcats knocked the ball down to seal the win.
Sophomore running back
De'Andre Brown ran for 132 yards and three touchdowns on just 16 carries, while senior wide receiver
Cedric Gilbert caught seven passes for 153 yards and two touchdowns and earned Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week honors. Sophomore middle linebacker
Sam Denmark earned Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week honors with a career-high 18 tackles, and junior punter
Austin Kilcullen earned Southland Conference Special Teams Player of the Week honors after averaging 46.5 yards per punt on four kicks.
Central Arkansas (1-2 overall, 1-0 in the Southland) picked up its first win of a season with a 49-21 victory over Northwestern State. Hayden Hildebrand came on in relief of injured starting quarterback Taylor Reed to complete 12 of 16 passes for 201 yards and three touchdowns.
