Football | 8/31/2016 6:33:00 PM
GAMEDAY CENTRAL
COLORADO SPRINGS, Colo. – The ACU Wildcats begin their 95th season of college football Saturday against the best opponent the program has ever faced in the Falcons of Air Force.
Kickoff from Falcon Stadium is set for 12:05 p.m. (1:05 p.m. Abilene) time and the game can be heard on 98.1 FM locally or at 98theticket.com or with the iHeart Radio app. The game can be viewed at
http://campusinsiders.com/network/mw/live.
The Wildcats enter Saturday's game coming off a 3-8 campaign in 2015, the program's first losing season since 2005. ACU head coach
Ken Collums, who is entering his fifth season at the helm, will enter the season with a new starting quarterback in redshirt sophomore
Dallas Sealey, who won the job in spring drills.
Sealey will have the luxury of handing the ball off to junior running back
De'Andre Brown, who returns for his third season as the starter. Outside of senior
Carl Whitley, the Wildcats' receiving corps is unproven, although fans should watch for junior college transfer
D.J. Fuller to make an impact on this year's offense.
Defensively, ACU returns all-Southland Conference performers in weakside linebacker
Sam Denmark and cornerback
Jabari Butler. The sophomore cornerback was the league's Freshman of the Year in 2015.
The 2016 season marks the Wildcats' final season of the program's four-year transition from NCAA Division II affiliation to NCAA Division I membership.
Air Force returns a slew of players from a team that finished 8-6 and lost to California in the Armed Forces Bowl in 2015. The Falcons are 370-310-12 all-time in 60 seasons, including 206-123-3 at home.
The Falcons, in fact, are 42-14 at Falcon Stadium under head coach Troy Calhoun, who is entering his 10th season at the helm in 2016. Air Force is a combined 12-0 the last two seasons and has suffered just one losing season at home in Calhoun's tenure.
Air Force – operating the triple option offense – has been one of the best running teams in the country, finishing in the top nine in the country in rushing in 28 of the last 30 seasons. The Falcons were fourth in NCAA Division I (FBS) football last season in rushing offense at 319.4 yards per game.
The Falcons' offense will be led by senior running back Jacobi Owens, who is on the Maxwell List (Player of the Year) and Doak Walker (best running back) watch lists entering the season. Owens led the team with 1,096 yards on 205 carries last season.
Defensively the Falcons return a bevy of players from a squad that allowed just 25.5 points and 354.9 yards per game last season. Air Force sacked opposing quarterbacks 37 times last season and gave up a meager 210 yards per game through the air.
Leading the secondary is senior safety Weston Steelhammer, who is on the Thorpe Award (top defensive back), Lott Impact Trophy (all-around defensive back), Bronko Nagurski (outstanding defensive player) and Senior Bowl (participant) watch lists entering the 2016 season.
