Dallas Sealey Post-Game l
Ken Collums Post-Game
ABILENE – University of Northern Colorado quarterback Kyle Sloter stepped in as a first-quarter injury replacement to throw for six touchdowns and run for another to lead the Bears to a wild 55-52 non-conference win over Abilene Christian University in Shotwell Stadium.
ACU (0-2) rallied late in the third quarter and early in the fourth with two TDs and a field goal to take a 52-48 lead, but the Bears (2-0) regained it with a 59-yard scoring pass from Sloter to Alex Wesley.
Wildcat quarterback
Dallas Sealey nearly matched Sloter's theatrics, throwing for 313 yards and one score, while rushing for four others in a game featuring 1,254 yards of offense between the two teams. Sloter completed 25 of 32 passes for 408 yards, thanks to a nearly flawless first half in which he was 16 of 19 for 244 yards and four TDs. UNC was led on the ground by Trae Riek's 136 yards of rushing and ACU by
Adrian Duncan's 101 yards.
The Wildcats hit the road next Saturday to face Houston Baptist University and open Southland Conference play. UNC plays Colorado State University on the road as well.
SCORING DRIVES
Q1: ACU 7, UNC 0 – ACU's first play from scrimmage was a 17-yard pass from
Dallas Sealey to freshman wide receiver
Josh Fink. Four plays later, Sealey's fourth-and-1 quarterback sneak at midfield turned into a 49-yard TD run when the sophomore bounced off a crowd at the line of scrimmage and sprinted into the clear. Redshirt freshman
Brendan Conn's point-after kick was good at 13:46 of the first quarter. (Drive: 5 plays, 75 yards, 1:14)
Q1: ACU 7, UNC 7 – Kyle Sloter threaded a pass to redshirt junior wide receiver Hakeem Deggs in the left corner of the end zone for the Bears' quick answer to ACU's opening scoring drive. Big plays in the drive included a 25-yard pass from Sloter to Trae Riek and Riek's 26-yard run. Riek Jamie Falloon's point-after kick was good at 12:43 of the first quarter. (Drive: 4 plays, 52 yards, 0:53)
Q1: UNC 14, ACU 7 – Riek ran 3 yards for a TD following Sloter's 16-yard pass to Alex Wesley and 23-yard pass to Stephen Miller. A personal foul penalty on ACU's
LaMarcus Allen aided the Bears' along the way. Falloon's point-after kick was good at 9:33 of the first quarter. (Drive: 6 plays, 67 yards, 2:34)
Q1: UNC 21, ACU 7 – Sloter tossed his second scoring pass of the night, a 22-yarder to Miller to cap UNC's third straight TD. Falloon's point-after kick was good at 3:25 of the first quarter. (Drive: 9 plays, 81 yards, 3:59)
Q2: UNC 28, ACU 7 – Sloter's third TD pass was a 37-yarder to Alex Wesley, hitting the redshirt sophomore wide receiver in stride over the middle. The Bears' great field position was set up when the Wildcats had to punt from the end zone. Junior wide receiver Ellis Onic II fielded, fumbled and recovered
Austin Kilcullen's 43-yard punt, and UNC scored on the next play. Falloon's point-after kick was good at 13:58 of the second quarter. (Drive: 1 play, 37 yards, 0:06)
Q2: UNC 28, ACU 14 – ACU answered quickly when junior wide receiver
D.J. Fuller returned the subsequent kickoff 36 yards, then caught a 27-yard pass from Sealey for the Wildcats' second TD. Sandwiched between the two was a 34-yard pass play between Sealey and freshman wide receiver
Justin Miller. Conn's point-after kick was good at 13:30 of the second quarter. (Drive: 2 plays, 61 yards, 0:21)
Q2: UNC 28, ACU 21 – Sealey's second quarterback sneak of the night – a 1-yarder – was much shorter than the first (49 yards). Miller's 27-yard pass from Sealey was the drive's big play. Conn's point-after kick was good at 5:05 of the second quarter. (Drive: 10 plays, 73 yards, 2:33)
Q2: ACU 28,
UNC 28 – Sealey's third scoring run of the game was a 2-yarder to cap another quick drive. He completed three passes for 47 yards along the way. Conn's point-after kick was good at 5:05 of the second quarter. (Drive: 6 plays, 58 yards, 1:10)
Q2: UNC 35, ACU 28 – Riek's second TD of the game was a 20-yard pass from Sloter with 12 seconds left in the first half. A roughing-the-kicker penalty on ACU's Miller and a pass interference call on
Richard Griffin III aided the Bears mightily in the drive. Conn's point-after kick was good at 5:05 of the second quarter. (Drive: 6 plays, 61 yards, 1:12)
Q3: UNC 42, ACU 28 – Sloter ran 22 yards untouched around the right side on the Bears' first drive of the second half. Riek's 20-yard run on second-and-6 and Sloter's 25-yard pass to tight end Mike McCauley powered the drive. Falloon's point-after kick was good at 5:05 of the second quarter. (Drive: 6 plays, 81 yards, 2:22)
Q3: UNC 42, ACU 35 – The Wildcats wasted little time answering the Bears, when senior
Adrian Duncan broke a tackle at the line and sprinted 46 yards for the score. Conn's point-after kick was good at 12:19 of the third quarter. (Drive: 1 play, 46 yards, 0:09)
Q3: UNC 48, ACU 35 –McCauley caught Sloter's fifth scoring pass of the game, a 9-yarder. Falloon's point-after kick was blocked by
Josh Bloom at 8:59 of the third quarter. (Drive: 8 play, 70 yards, 3:15)
Q3: UNC 48, ACU 42 – Sealey ran for his fourth TD of the night, a 1-yarder after connecting with junior wide receiver
Troy Grant on a 50-yard pass play to set up the Wildcats for another score. Conn's point-after kick was good at 6:27 of the third quarter. (Drive: 8 plays, 75 yards, 2:32)
Q3: ACU 49, UNC 48 – The Wildcats took the lead for the first time since the opening quarter when freshman
Tracy James ran 2 yards for a score. ACU set up the play by converting a fourth-and-one at the UNC 4 following an interception by junior linebacker
Sam Denmark. Conn's point-after kick was good at 1:51 of the third quarter. (Drive: 9 plays, 38 yards, 3:18)
Q4: ACU 52, UNC 48 –
Nik Grau's 21-yard field goal at 11:22 of the fourth quarter extended ACU's lead. The kick was made possible when sophomore cornerback
Jabari Butler recovered a Riek fumble at the Bears' 9-yard line. (Drive: 9 plays, 38 yards, 3:18)
Q4: UNC 55, ACU 52 – Sloter's sixth TD pass of the game, a 59-yarder to Wesley, restored the Bears' lead and created the winning margin. Falloon's point-after kick was good at 10:09 of the fourth quarter. (Drive: 3 plays, 75 yards, 1:13)
KEY PLAY OF THE GAME
Sloter's sixth touchdown pass of the game, a 59-yarder to Alex Wesley, proved more than the Wildcats could overcome in the fourth quarter.
WILDCAT PLAYERS OF THE GAME
Offense
Sophomore quarterback
Dallas Sealey was nearly as spectacular as Kyle Sloter, his counterpart on the Bears. He completed 25 of 38 passes for 313 yards and one TD, and rushed 16 times for 97 yards and four other scores. Sealey averaged 25 yards on his first two quarterback sneaks for TDs; a 49-yarder and 1-yarder in the first half. He became the first Wildcat quarterback to run for four TDs in a game at Shotwell Stadium.
Defense
While the Wildcats couldn't keep UNC off the scoreboard, junior linebacker
Sam Denmark was a force all over the field. He totaled 17 tackles (seven solo), and his third-quarter interception of Sloter deep in Bear territory gave ACU the field position it needed to take a 49-48 lead.
QUOTABLE
ACU head coach Ken Collums
" That was a pretty wild game. I would imagine as a fan that it was both exciting and frustrating to watch. We fought hard to get back into the game, and I'm proud of the way we battled. But we have to do better, and we can't afford to fall behind like we did tonight (28-7).
ACU Quarterback Dallas Sealey
"We didn't really see anything on film that made us think the (quarterback) run would be as big a weapon as it was. That just kind of worked itself out during the game. Both offenses were executing at a high level and it showed."
NOTABLE
• The teams combined for 1,254 yards of offense (689 by Northern Colorado and 565 by the Wildcats)
• The 689 yards of offense by the Bears are the fourth-most ever allowed by the Wildcats, and are the second-most ever allowed by an ACU team at Shotwell Stadium behind the 721 yards West Texas A&M posted in ACU's 93-68 NCAA Division II playoff win over the Buffaloes on Nov. 22, 2008.
• The 107 combined scored in the game is the second-highest-scoring game played by the Wildcats since that 93-68 game with the only game topping that being the 65-45 win over Prairie View A&M to end the 2013 season.
• ACU lost for just the second time in program history (94-plus seasons) when scoring more than 50 points. The other game? A 76-73 triple-overtime loss at Chadron State (Neb.) in an NCAA Division II playoff game on Nov. 24, 2007. The Wildcats led that game 49-20 going to the fourth quarter.
• The Wildcats lost for the sixth straight time to the Bears, who now trail the series against ACU 10-6-1. ACU's last win over the Bears came on Sept. 6, 1986, in Abilene.
NEXT GAME
ACU's road game next Saturday with Houston Baptist University kicks off at 7 p.m. at Husky Stadium.
The ACU Alumni Association hosts a Pre-Game Party from 5-6:30 p.m. just inside the main entrance to campus (7502 Fondren Road, Houston, Texas 77074). Northern Colorado plays at Colorado State University in Fort Collins.
