Wildcats back home in search of third straight victory

MEDIA INFORMATION
Streaming: Stretch Internet ($9.95)
TV Talent: Grant Boone (play-by-play), Jim Reese (analyst), Zach Carlyle or Seth Wilson (sideline)
Radio: KTLT 98.1 FM The Ticket (98.1 FM)
Radio Talent: Grant Boone (play-by-play), Jim Reese (analyst), Zach Carlyle or Seth Wilson (sideline)
Twitter: @ACUSports
Game Notes: Northwestern State I ACU  

MATCHUP
ABILENE CHRISTIAN
4-4, 3-3 Southland
Ranking: NR - STATS, NR - Coaches
Head Coach: Adam Dorrel (NW Missouri St., '98)
Career Record: 82-21 (8th season)
ACU Record: 6-13 (2nd season)
Dorrel vs. Northwestern State: 0-1

NORTHWESTERN STATE
3-5, 2-4 Southland
Ranking: NR / NR
Head Coach: Brad Laird (Northwestern State, 1996)
Career Record: 3-5 (1st season)
NW State Record: 3-5 (1st season)
Laird vs. ACU: 0-0

OPENING KICKOFF

• The Wildcats march into the game against the Demons with a 4-4 overall mark and 3-3 record in the Southland Conference after back-to-back wins over 11th-ranked Nicholls (28-12 on Oct. 13) and a huge road win over Southeastern Louisiana (48-27 on Oct. 20). ACU was open last week, allowing some players who have missed some time to get healed and, possibly, be ready to go Saturday against Northwestern State.

• A win Saturday against the Demons would push the Wildcats above .500 on the season (5-4) this late in the season for the first time since 2013 when ACU was 5-4 after a 34-29 loss at New Mexico State on Oct. 26 in Las Cruces, N.M.

• Going into the final three games of the season, the Wildcats have a chance at several firsts in its era as an NCAA Division I football program:
     • first winning season (ACU would need to win two of its final three games to finish at least 6-5);
     • first season with seven wins (ACU would need to win each of its final three games of the season to finish 7-4);
     • an outside shot at the league title and the league's automatic berth into the FCS playoffs. ACU would need to win out to finish 6-3, while Incarnate Word would have to lose each of its final two league games to finish 4-4, and ACU would have to get some other help from teams above it in terms of losses by McNeese, Nicholls, Sam Houston State, Central Arkansas and surprising Lamar, which is tied with ACU at 3-3 in the league.

• If ACU wins out, it could finish tied for the top spot with Nicholls or Sam Houston State, but ACU already has a win over Nicholls in hand and would have a win over the Bearkats in the bag, and that would give ACU a co-championship and the automatic bid to the playoffs. But those championship and playoff scenarios are too complicated to contemplate with three games left to play, including one Saturday against the league's top passing offense and one of its best wide receivers.

A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS

• The Demons march into Abilene with an offense that averages 318.6 yards per game through the air, the best figure in the league by eight yards over Incarnate Word (310.2 ypg). Kaleb Fletcher will get the start at quarterback for the Demons, who are the only program at the NCAA Division I level to have four quarterbacks throw a touchdown pass this season.

• Fletcher has completed 63 percent of his passes in two games this season, throwing 440 yards and four TD in those games. LSU transfer wide receiver Jazz Ferguson is among the best in the league at the position having caught 48 passes for 852 yards and eight TDs through eight games in 2018. The defense ranks 11th in the league, giving up an average of 493.5 yards per game.

• ACU is second in the league in total offense (469.1 ypg) and fourth in scoring offense (32.2 ppg), while the defense is fourth in total defense (allowing 394.1 ypg), scoring defense (27.9 ppg) and sacks (24).

• Junior linebacker Jeremiah Chambers paces the defense and is third in the league in total tackles (83) and tackles per game (10.4).

• ACU sophomore quarterback Luke Anthony is third in the league in passing yards (2,294) and yards per game (286.8), but is second in touchdown passes (18) behind the 21 thrown by Houston Baptist's Bailey Zappe.

WHAT TO WATCH FOR

• ACU sophomore QB Luke Anthony has moved into the top 10 in single-season completions with his 240 completions through eight games in 2018. ... His 240 completions are fifth in single-season history, just seven behind the fourth-place total of 247 put up by John David Baker in 2013. ... Anthony needs just 37 more completions this season to set the single-season record, which is currently 276 by Mitchell Gale in both 2010 and 2011. ... Anthony is third in FCS football in completions per game at 29.8. ... Anthony needs just 18 attempts to move into 10th place on the single-season chart in that category. ... He enters Saturday's game with 360 attempts this season, just 18 behind the 378 posted by Rex Lamberti in 1986. ... In addition, his 43 completions at McNeese on Oct. 6 are the fourth-most by a QB at the FCS level in 2018 and the 61 attempts in that game is the fifth-highest single-game at the FCS level in 2018.

• Transfer RB Billy McCrary – who ran for 222 yards two weeks ago in the win over Southeastern Louisiana – is second in the league in rushing yards (691) and yards per game (86.4 ypg) and needs 309 yards in the Wildcats' final three regular season games to become the first Wildcat to rush for at least 1,000 yards in a season at the NCAA Division I level, and the first to crack the 1,000-yard barrier since Bernard Scott ran for 2,156 yards in 2008. ... McCrary is 32nd at the FCS level in totalrushing yards and 34th in rushing yards per game. ... His 222-yard game at Southeastern Louisiana is the 15th-best single-game performance at the FCS level in 2018. ... McCrary has scored nine TDs this season (seven on the ground and two through the air), 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, his seven rushing touchdowns are tied for the fourth-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 is on the verge of moving into the top 10 in career receptions as he enters Saturday's game with 111 catches for 1,343 yards and nine touchdowns. ... Fink needs 10 catches to pass Demarcus Thompson (120 catches from 2011-14) for 10th on ACU's all-time receptions list.

• Junior MLB Jeremiah Chambers is 14th at the FCS level in solo tackles (46) and 12th in total tackles with 83. ... Chambers is 29th in the country in tackles for loss (11.0).

• ACU's 212 Defense is 13th in the country in sacks with 24 (15 in the last three games combined), 15th in the country in tackles for (61 after collecting just 59 all last season) and 29th in rushing defense (allowing just 132.3 yards per game game on the ground. ... The Wildcats have allowed just 11 rushing touchdowns on the season, the third-lowest total in the league and tied for 29th-lowest total at the FCS level.

• Sophomore DE Kameron Hill leads the Wildcats with 5.0 sacks on the season, which is tied for 49th in the country. ... All five of Hill's sacks this season have come in the last three games. ... He needs one-half sack to tie last year's team later (Bryson Gates with 5.5) and one more full sack to record the most sacks by a Wildcat since Nick Richardson had nine sacks in 2014, ACU's first season back as a full member of the Southland Conference.

• Freshman placekicker Taylor Williamson's 49-yard field goal against Houston Baptist on Sept. 15 is tied for the 18th-longest made field goal at the FCS level this year. ... ACU placekicker Oscar Hernandez made a pair of field goals last week against Southeastern Louisiana, snapping a streak of four straight misses by Williamson and Hernandez combined dating back to the Stephen F. Austin game on Sept. 22. ... ACU didn't attempt a field goal against either McNeese or Nicholls. ... The two field goals that Hernandez made against Southeastern Louisiana – a 33-yarder with 3:07 left in the first quarter and a 32-yarder with 1:59 left in the second quarter – were the first two field goals he's made since hitting a pair of field goals from 37 and 39 yards in the second and fourth quarters, respectively, against Angelo State back on Sept. 8. ... He is tied for 13th at the FCS level in PATs made (33) and tied for 18th in attempts (33). ... He is one of just nine placekickers at the FCS level who have made all of their PATs this season (minimum 30 attempts).