ACU back on the road looking for second straight win

MEDIA INFORMATION
Streaming: Southland Digital Network
TV Talent: Dylan Domangue (play-by-play), Richie Solares (analyst)
Radio: KTLT 98.1 FM The Ticket
Radio Talent: Grant Boone (play-by-play), Jim Reese (analyst), Seth Wilson (sideline)
Twitter: @ACUSports
Game Notes: ACU I SE Louisiana
 
MATCHUP
ABILENE CHRISTIAN
3-4, 2-3 Southland
Ranking: NR - STATS, NR - Coaches
Head Coach: Adam Dorrel (NW Missouri St., '98)
Career Record: 81-21 (8th season)
ACU Record: 5-13 (2nd season)
vs. SE Louisiana: 0-1

SOUTHEASTERN LOUISIANA
3-4, 3-2 Southland
Ranking: NR / NR
Head Coach: Frank Scelfo (Louisiana-Monroe, 1981)
Career Record: 3-4 (1^st season)
Nicholls Record: 3-4 (1^stseason)
vs. ACU: 0-0

OPENING KICKOFF
 
• The ACU Wildcats are back in action Saturday night in Louisiana one week after one of the most significant wins of the program's NCAA Division I era. ACU improved to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the Southland Conference last Saturday after with a 28-12 win over then-N0. 11 Nicholls in the annual Homecoming contest at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium.
 
• The win for the Wildcats was the program's first win over a team ranked in the top-15 since it moved to NCAA Division I affiliation in 2013. It was also ACU's first win over a team in the top 25 since a 37-35 win over then-No. 24 Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 15, 2014, in Nacogdoches.
 
• The win over the Colonels was ACU's first win over a team ranked in the Top 25 in Abilene in the program's Division I era, and was the first home win over a Top 25 team since a 22-16 overtime win over then-No. 13 West Alabama on Nov. 3, 2012, when the Wildcats still played at the NCAA Division II level. The win was also ACU's first win over a ranked team at its second-year home, Wildcat Stadium.
 
SERIES
 
• The Lions lead the all-time series against ACU, 3-2, including 2-1 since ACU re-joined the Southland Conference prior to the start of the 2013 season. The Wildcats didn't play Southeastern in either 2013 or 2014, but resumed the series in 2015. The teams split a pair of meetings in 1971 and 1972 with ACU winning the first game, 28-7, in Hammond, La., on Nov. 6, 1971, and Southeastern winning at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene, 14-10, on Sept. 23, 1972.
 
• ACU's only win in the series since it resumed was on Nov. 14, 2015, when the Wildcats knocked off the Lions, 21-17. Southeastern has won two straight in the series, including last year's 56-21 win over the Wildcats when the Lions turned a tenuous 21-13 halftime lead into a 56-21 blowout victory by outscoring ACU 35-8 in the second half behind a powerful rushing attack that chewed up 443 yards and five touchdowns.
 
A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
 
• Saturday's game features two of the offenses in the league with the Wildcats ranking first in the Southland in total first downs, second in total offense per game (448.7 yards per game), fourth in rushing offense (159.3 ypg), fifth ijn passing offense (289.4 ypg) and sixth in scoring offense (30.0 points per game). Southeastern, meanwhile, is third in the league in total first downs, fourth in passing offense (306.0 ypg), sixth in total offense (421.7 ypg), seventh in scoring offense (29.4 ppg) and ninth in rushing offense (115.7 ypg).
 
• Two of the top quarterbacks in the league will also be on display as ACU sophomore Luke Anthony faces off against Southeastern junior Chason Virgil. Anthony is third in the league in passing yards per game (285.6 ypg), while Virgil is second (297.3 ypg). Virgil has thrown for a league-high 2,081 yards and 13 touchdowns (third) in the league. Anthony leads the conference in TD passes (15) and is second in passing yards behind Virgil with 1,999.
 
• The Wildcats lead all of FCS football in fourth-down defense as they have not allowed a fourth-down conversion yet this season (0 for 6). Southeastern, meanwhile, ranks 10th in the nation in fourth-down conversion offense as the Lions have been converted 11 of 15 fourth-down plays into first downs this season (73.3 percent).
 
GAME NOTES
 
• ACU sophomore QB Luke Anthony is second in the country in completions per game (30.0), although he only completed 20 of 33 throws last Saturday against Nicholls for a season-low 209 yards. ... His 15 passing touchdowns are second in the Southland and seventh at the FCS level, and his 1,999 passing yards is fourth in the country at the FCS level.
 
• Transfer RB Billy McCrary has scored eight TDs this season – six rushing and two on receptions – which is the most scored by a Wildcat since RB Herschel Sims scored nine TDs in 2015. All of Sims' TD's that year were on the ground. In fact, McCrary's six rushing touchdowns are the fifth-most scored by an ACU player since the program made the move to NCAA Division I affiliation prior to the 2013 season. ... Former RB Charcandrick West had 14 rushing touchdowns in 2013, followed by De'Andre Brown and Sims with nine apiece in 2014 and 2015, respectively, and Dallas Sealey with seven in 2016.
 
• Junior WR Josh Fink had three catches for 33 yards and one score last week against Nicholls, and those numbers helped him establish new personal single-season highs. His previous best season in catches was 40 as a freshman in 2016, but those three catches vs. Nicholls give him 43 this season. He entered the Nicholls game with 480 receiving yards on the season (two behind his previous single-season best of 482 set in in his freshman campaign of 2016), and he now has 513 receiving yards this season. And his TD catch in the fourth quarter that sealed the game gives him four TD receptions this season, breaking his personal record of three, also set in the 2016 season. ... For his career, Fink has caught 110 passes for 1,330 yards and nine touchdowns. He needs 11 catches to pass Demarcus Thompson (120 catches from 2011-14) for 10th on ACU's all-time receptions list.
 
• Junior MLB Jeremiah Chambers has back-to-back games of 16 and 14 tackles and earlier this week was voted the league's Defensive Player of the Week and was also an honorable mention selection as the STATS FCS National Defensive Player of the Week. ... Chambers leads the Southland in total tackles (77) and solo tackles (43), numbers that rank eighth and ninth, respectively, at the FCS level. ... Chambers also has 10.5 tackles for loss on the season, which ranks tied for fourth in the league and 21st in the country.
 
• Junior DE Corey Smith leads the team in sacks with five, which ranks tied for fifth in the conference. ... Sophomore DE Kameron Hill is second on the team and 14th in the league with four sacks on the season after recording two in last week's win over Nicholls. ... Each of those players are closing in on the most sacks in a season by a Wildcat since Nick Richardson recorded nine in 2014 (ACU's first season playing a full Southland Conference schedule). ... Richardson had 11.0 sacks in 2013 and 9.5 as a sophomore in 2011.
 
• The Wildcats have recorded 11 sacks in their last two games: six two weeks ago at McNeese and five last week at home against Nicholls to improve to fourth in the league in sacks with 20. ... Those 20 sacks through seven games are one more than the Wildcats had all of 2017 and the most recorded by an ACU defense since the 2014 group finished with 26. ... ACU ranks 19th in the nation in sacks per game (2.9) and 22nd in the country in tackles for loss per game (7.6 per game).
 
• The 11 sacks in the last two games by the ACU defense are the most in back-to-back games against NCAA Division I (FCS) opponents since the program re-classified to NCAA Division I. ... The previous high was seven vs. Central Arkansas (5 on Nov. 1, 2014) and Northwestern State (2 on Nov. 8, 2014). ... ACU had a combined seven in back-to-back games against New Mexico Highlands (4 on Sept. 14, 2013) and Illinois State (3 on Sept. 21, 2013), but Highlands wasn't an NCAA Division I (FCS) foe.
 
UP NEXT
• The Wildcats are off next Saturday (Oct. 27) and won't play again until Saturday, Nov. 3, when they host Northwestern State (La.) in a 2 p.m. game at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium.