James, defense power Wildcats to 17-10 win over Sam

ACU led 7-3 at halftime, trailed 10-7 midway through the third quarter and then regained a 14-10 lead with 5:29 left in the third quarter on a 13-yard touchdown pass from Luke Anthony to Cody Ennis. Oscar Hernandez tacked on the final points of the game with a 41-yard field goal with 12:13 left in the game to give the Wildcats a 17-10 lead.

Armed with the lead, the Wildcats turned the game over to their running game and defense. For the second straight season James ran for more than 100 yards against the Bearkats (142 last season) and backup quarterback Sema'J Davis played a huge role as he ran the ball nine times for 81 yards. The Wildcats had four different ball carriers as they tried to make up for the absence of leading rusher Billy McCrary, who suffered an injury last week against Northwestern State.

Aside from James -- who had 54 yards on 12 bruising second-half carries to go along with all five of his receptions for 37 yards -- Davis had 81 yards, Tyrese White had 16 yards on five carries and Anthony had 18 positive rushing yards, finishing with minus-7 total rushing yard when accounting for the three times he was sacked.

In all, the Wildcats ran the ball 48 times for 189 yards against the Bearkats' defense, which went a long way toward putting up the 28 first downs and 34 minutes, 46 seconds of possession time they accrued. ACU also converted 6 of 18 third-down plays against the Bearkats, who entered the game giving up just 26 percent on third down this season.

The Wildcats gave up 375 yards of offense to the Bearkats, but 142 of those came on two passes, one for 88 on a pass from Ty Brock to Nathan Stewart and another a 54-yard pass from Brock to Dewaylon Ingram. Outside of those two plays, the Bearkats had just 233 yards on 63 plays and put up just 13 first downs. ACU came up with multiple huge third down and fourth down stops in the second half, including twice turning the Bearkats away on fourth down in the red zone.

Sophomore linebacker Jack Gibbens sealed the game with an interception at the Sam Houston State 31 with 2:15 left in the game. ACU was able to run out the clock on the game and the victory, its first over the Bearkats since Nov. 5, 1983, when both were members of theLone Star Conference. ACU had lost five straight games to Sam Houston State, including all four meetings since the Wildcats re-joined the Southland Conference in 2014.
 

PLAYS THAT MATTERED

• 1Q – On Sam Houston State's opening possession of the game, ACU's Corey Smith rushed Bearkats' quarterback Ty Brock into an incompletion on fourth down, giving the ball to the Wildcats at their own 38-yard line.
• 1Q – On third-and-12 on ACU's first drive, quarterback Luke Anthony found Josh Fink for 15 yards and a first down to keep the drive alive.
• 1Q – On fourth-and-4 on the same drive, Anthony hit Tracy James for four yards down to the Sam Houston State 24-yard line.
• 1Q – On third-and-1 on the Wildcats' first drive, James ran for two yards down to the Sam Houston State 13 for a first down.
• 1Q – Three plays after the James first-down run, Anthony hit Cody Ennis for five yards on third-and-5 down to the 3-yard line to set up first-and-goal.
• 1Q – Three plays after the pass to Ennis, James scored from 1 yard out to give the Wildcats an early 7-0 lead.
• 1Q – On Sam Houston State's ensuing drive, Brock hit Nathan Stewart from 43 yards out for an apparent game-tying touchdown. However, the play was wipec out by a holding penalty on Trinstan Wendt, pushing the ball back to the Sam Houston 47. Two plays later, Brock was sacked by John Picone, forcing a punt by the Bearkats.
• 1Q – On Sam Houston State's final drive of the first quarter, Brock was sacked on the first play by Cole Burgess, fumbling the ball away in the process. Kameron Hill pounced on it for the Wildcats, giving the ball back to the offense at the Sam Houston State 46.
• 2Q – On ACU's ensuing drive, the Wildcats moved to the Sam Houston 31-yard line before Luke Anthony was intercepted by Adrian Contreras at the 22-yard line, snuffing out a potential Wildcat scoring drive.
• 2Q – After the interception, Sam Houston State moved to the ACU 12-yard line where it faced third-and-7. Brock was sacked by Jack Gibbens and the Bearkats settled for a 40-yard field goal from Tre Honshtein to cut the ACU lead to 7-3 with 9:47 left in the first half.
• 2Q – On the Wildcats' ensuing possession, ACU faced third-and-11 from the Sam Houston 24 when Anthony found Fink for what appeared to be a 24-yard touchdown pass and a 14-3 lead. However, the TD pass was wiped out by a holding penalty on Jon Crisp and the Wildcats were forced to punt two plays later.
• 2Q – After an exchange of punts, Sam Houston took over on its 30-yard line with 4:31 left in the half and moved briskly down to the ACU 7-yard line where it faced fourth-and-3. The Bearkats decided to forego the field goal and went for the first down. However. Bolu Onifade blew up the play, breaking up a pass intended for Dee Bowens with a punishing open-field hit that turned the ball back over to the Wildcats, who ran out the final 97 seconds of the first half.
• 3Q – On ACU's first drive of the second half, the Wildcats drove to the Sam Houston State 18 trying to extend a 7-3 lead before Anthony fumbled on third-and-9. The Bearkats recovered at the 24-yard line, snuffing out a potential scoring drive.
• 3Q – After an exchange of punts, Sam Houston State took its first lead of the game when Brock found Nathan Stewart for an 88-yard touchdown, the sixth-longest touchdown pass in Bearkat football history. With 9:34 left in the third quarter, Sam Houston led 10-7.
• 3Q – On ACU's ensuing drive, the Wildcsats converted two third downs into first downs and then on second-and-3 from the Sam Houston State 13, Anthony hit Cody Ennis for 13 yards and a touchdown to give ACU a 14-10 lead with 5:29 left in the third quarter.
• 3Q – On the first Sam Houston State offensive play after the Ennis touchdown, Brock hit Dewaylon Ingram for 54 yards to the ACU 17-yard line, putting the Wildcats' lead into immediate danger. Three plays after the pass, ACU stopped Kyran Jackson for no gain on third-and-1 from the 8-yard line, but Picone was flagged for delay of game after kicking the ball away, giving the Bearkats a first down at the 4-yard line.
• 3Q – The Wildcats' defense stood up, however, forcing Sam Houston State into a fourth-and-goal and the Bearkats went for it. But for the third time in the game the ACU defense stopped the Bearkats on fourth-and-goal as Brock fired high and incomplete after being pressured by Jeremiah Chambers.
• 3Q – The Wildcats took over their own 2-yard line and quickly moved out of the shadow of their own end zone on the strength of a 12-yard pass from Anthony to James, a 10-yard pass from Anthony to D.J. Fuller, a 12-yard run by Davis and a 13-yard pass from Anthony to Ennis to get the ball out to the Sam Houston State 48-yard line.
• 4Q – The Wildcat capped the 14-play drive with a career-long 41-yard field goal by Oscar Hernandez that increased ACU's lead to 17-10 with 12:13 left in the game.
• 4Q – The Wildcats snuffed out Sam Houston State's final chance at a game-tying score with 2:15 left in the contest when sophomore linebacker Jack Gibbens intercepted a Brock pass. The Wildcats picked up one first down and then took three knees out of the Victory Formation to end the game.

THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Sam Houston State entered the game with the league's best third-down defense, allowing just 27 percent of third-down plays to be converted into first downs (36 of 134) on the season. However, on ACU's opening drive, the Wildcats converted 3 of 4 third-down plays into first downs on a drive that resulted in a 1-yard touchdown run by Tracy James. ACU was 1 for 1 on fourth downs on the drive. ACU didn't convert another third-down play into a first down the rest of the half, finishing the first half 3 for 8 on third down.
• The Wildcats have now won four straight games for the first time at the NCAA Division I level, and for the first time as a program since the 2011 team – ACU's final NCAA Division II playoff team – won four straight over Angelo State (Sept. 24), Western Oregon (Oct. 1), Eastern New Mexico (Oct. 8) and West Texas A&M (Oct. 15).
• The Wildcats' fifth win in Southland Conference is a program single-season record, surpassing the previous record of four wins in 2014 when the Wildcats finished 4-4 in conference play.

STAT CORNER

• Anthony's third-quarter touchdown pass to Ennis was his 22^nd of the season and 33^rd of his career, which is 10^th on ACU's all-time list, passing ther 32 thrown by Stan Stephens from 1987-89.
• Anthony's 25 completions in the game give him 296 on the season, setting a new single-season record, passing the mark of 276 by Mitchell Gale in both 2010 and 2011.
• Anthony now has 445 attempts this season and needs just 14 next week against Central Arkansas to break Gale's single-season record of 458 in 2011.

QUOTABLE

• "Really proud of our defense for the way they played. They made stop after stop and really stood up when it counted. Proud of our entire team for believing and believing in each other."
       --- ACU head coach Adam Dorrel

UP NEXT
The Wildcats close out the regular season next Saturday when they host Central Arkansas in a 2 p.m. game at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium.