Football | 10/25/2015 5:43:00 PM
Box Score SAN ANTONIO – The ACU Wildcats went into Sunday afternoon's game against Incarnate Word looking to break out of a slump that the program hasn't endured in 10 years.
Instead, the Cardinals extended the Wildcats' misery with a 25-20 win in a Southland Conference game at Benson Stadium. The loss is the Wildcats' fourth straight defeat as they fall to 2-5 overall and 2-4 in the conference. ACU hasn't lost four straight games since 2005 when it finished 4-6 in current head coach
Ken Collums' first season as the offensive coordinator.
The Cardinals, meanwhile, improve to 4-3 and 3-2 on the season. Incarnate Word won the game with a 15-yard touchdown run by Junior Sessions with 48 seconds to play, and then held the Wildcats out of the end zone on a last-gasp drive by ACU. Quarterback
Dallas Sealey's heave toward the end zone was intercepted on the game's final play to seal the Wildcats' fourth straight loss.
ACU's defense gave up 593 yards of offense to the Cardinals, who entered the game averaging just 328.3 yards per game. But UIW ran for 225 yards – powered by 174 yards and two touchdowns from Brittan – and quarterback Trent Brittain threw for 368 yards and one score to lead a Cardinal attack that had its way with the Wildcats.
The Cardinals converted 10 of 16 third-down attempts and its only fourth-down try, and, despite having a field goal and an extra point blocked and giving up touchdown plays of 70 and 75 yards to the Wildcats, still had a chance to win the game late in the fourth quarter.
After ACU's
Josh Bloom blocked a field goal attempt with 9:54 to play and the Wildcats leading 20-19, the Wildcats set out on a drive that they hoped would seal their first win since a Sept. 26 win over Stephen F. Austin. They got a big conversion on third and 8 when Sealey hit
Cedric Gilbert for 23 yards to the UIW 31, but the drive stalled shortly thereafter.
After a 6-yard run by
De'Andre Brown on first down and a 1-yard run on second down, he was stopped for no gain on third down. On fourth down, Sealey's pass was knocked down and almost intercepted by Darrius Montgomery, giving the ball back to the Cardinals with 3:25 to play.
On UIW's third play of the ensuing drive, Brittain escaped pressure and completed a 14-yard pass to Kody Edwards to convert a third-and-9 play into a first down at the UIW 39. Brittain and Edwards then hooked up for 19 yards before Brittain ran for 15 yards and then completed a pass to Clint Killough for 12 yards to get the Cardinals to the ACU 15-yard line.
With the clock ticking down, Sessions bounced outside scampered into the left front corner of the end zone for the go-ahead score. The 2-point pass attempt from Brittain to Cole Wick was incomplete, leaving the Wildcats with a five-point deficit.
Jonathan Epps got ACU good field position with a kickoff return to the 37-yard line and five yards was tacked on after UIW was offsides on the kickoff, giving the ball to the Wildcats at their own 42 with 41 seconds left. Epps caught a 9-yard pass on first down before Sealey threw incomplete to stop the clock. Brown ran for one yard to get a first down, but ACU only got one more play off – the interception thrown by Sealey on the final play – in the final 18 seconds.
Sealey – who entered the game on the final drive of the first half and then played the entire second half – finished 11 of 16 for 174 yards and one touchdown, a 75-yarder to
Carl Whitley to give ACU a 20-16 lead with 4:57 left in the first quarter. Brown carried the ball 17 times for 109 yards and one score, a 70-yard run out of the "Wildcat" formation on the first play of the third quarter.
The Wildcats put up 380 yards of offense, but through most of the first half still couldn't get its offense untracked. ACU had just 51 yards on its first 19 plays as the team's first-half woes continued. UIW led 10-0 in the first half before ACU drove 66 yards on 17 plays in the final 3:02 of the half to a 28-yard field goal from
Zach Lehr to cut the lead to 10-3 at halftime.
But it wasn't enough for the Wildcats, who must win their final four games of the season to avoid the program's first losing season since 2005.
"When you come out and play inconsistent football, this is what you get," Collums said. "We survived (Sunday) on some big plays and a couple of turnovers, but otherwise it wasn't very good. This is unacceptable and we've got to get it right."
