Year 2 of Dorrel Era begins at Baylor, vs. old LSC foe

2018 ACU Football Schedule

ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats will play a Big 12 opponent on the football field for the first time in history in 2018, and the next week welcome an old rival to Wildcat Stadium in the season's home-opener as the 2018 football slate was unveiled Tuesday.
 
The Wildcats will open their second season under head coach Adam Dorrel on Sept. 1, 2018, when they go to Waco to take on the Baylor Bears of second-year head coach Matt Rhule. ACU and Baylor have never met on the football field, but will do so that day when the Wildcats and Bears hook it up at McLane Stadium.
 
The last time the Wildcats played an institution that is currently in the Big 12 Conference was Sept. 10, 1949, when ACU lost to Texas Tech, 20-0, in Lubbock. ACU, however, is scheduled to play Kansas State in 2022 and Texas Tech in 2024 and 2026 among its future non-conference opponents.
 
Dorrel said he is excited by the challenge of facing the Bears, although he knows the opener will be an uphill battle.
 
"That's an exciting game for our staff and players, and it's something we've been selling when we're out recruiting," said Dorrel, whose team was 2-9 in 2017, but lost two Southland Conference games by one score apiece and lost at home to then-No. 4 Sam Houston State, 44-35, after leading late in the fourth quarter. "Baylor is in a similar situation to us in that its coaching staff is in its second year and its players are probably just now comfortable with what the expectations are inside that program. Rhule wants his team to play the way his teams at Temple played: run the ball on offense, play great defense and be the more physical team on both sides of the ball. Plus, they have a huge number of returning players."
 
The Bears were 1-11 last year in Rhule's first season with their only win coming in a 38-9 win at Kansas on Nov. 4. The Bears finished the year on a three-game losing streak and will have lost 17 of their last 19 games entering the game against the Wildcats. One of those losses came in last year's season-opener when FCS member Liberty beat the Bears, 48-45, in Waco.
 
After taking on the Bears in the season-opener, the Wildcats will host old Lone Star Conference rival Angelo State on Sept. 8 in the home-opener at Wildcat Stadium. The game will be the 50th between the former conference foes, who last played Sept. 22, 2012, when the Rams took a 28-23 win in San Angelo in ACU's last season as an NCAA Division II affiliate and member of the LSC.
 
The Rams hold a 28-20-1 advantage in the series, although the Wildcats won nine of the last 11 games played between the teams (2002-12), including a 2009 win in San Angelo that propelled them to No. 1 in the country for the only time in their Division II history.
 
Dorrel will become the 12th straight ACU head coach to lead a team against the Rams  (dating back to Les Wheeler and continuing through Wally Bullington, Dewitt Jones, Ted Sitton, John Payne, Ronnie Peacock, Dr. Bob Strader, Jack Kiser, Gary Gaines, Chris Thomsen and Ken Collums), and while he's not that familiar with the rivalry, he is familiar with ASU head coach Will Wagner.
 
Wagner – who graduated from Hardin-Simmons University in 1996 after an All-America career as a defensive back for the Cowboys – coached at Northwest Missouri State from 1998-2010, serving most of those years on the same staff as Dorrel. Wagner was a GA from 1998-99 before becoming the defensive backs coach from 2000-06 and finally assistant head coach from 2007-10 before becoming the ASU head coach in 2011. In his seven seasons at Angelo State, Wagner is 42-35 overall and 24-28 in the LSC.
 
Last season the Rams were 6-5 overall and 4-4 in the LSC, which produced the NCAA Division II national champions in Texas A&M-Commerce. Former ACU offensive lineman Hayden Wall is on the Rams' coaching staff as a graduate assistant.
 
"When we started looking to fill that open date, we weren't having a lot of luck finding a game," Dorrel said. "I'm excited about the game, and I think our fans will be, too. It's a renewal of an old rivalry, and Angelo State will bring a good football team in here. I've known Will and a lot of those guys on that coaching staff for a long time, so I know this will be a well-prepared team that will be jacked up to try and come into our stadium and get a win."
 
After that, the Wildcats open Southland Conference play with back-to-back road games at Houston Baptist (Sept. 15) and Stephen F. Austin (Sept. 22), beginning a stretch of nine conference games in 10 weeks with the open week coming Oct. 27.
 
After the two road games, the Wildcats return home to host Incarnate Word on Sept. 29 before going back on the road for a date against McNeese in Lake Charles, La., on Oct. 6. ACU is then back home on Oct. 13 for the Homecoming contest against Nicholls before going to Hammond, La., to take on Southeastern Louisiana on Oct. 20. Following the open date, ACU finishes the regular season at home against Northwestern State (Nov. 3), at Sam Houston State (Nov. 10) and at home against defending league champion Central Arkansas (Nov. 17).
 
Of note, UIW, Northwestern State and Central Arkansas will all have new head coaches as former Texas Tech offensive coordinator Eric Morris replaces Larry Kennan at UIW, Brad Laird takes over for Jay Thomas at NW State, and Nathan Brown takes over Steve Campbell at UCA. Both Kennan and Thomas were let go after the 2017 season, while Campbell accepted the head coaching job at South Alabama after four seasons and two NCAA Division I playoff appearances at UCA.
 
"Obviously this is one of the toughest leagues at the FCS level," Dorrel said. "There's no breather anywhere on that schedule, and there won't be one for anyone else in the league either. It's tough up and down the line, and then we get to finish with the two toughest teams in the league in Sam Houston State and UCA."
 
One thing that Dorrel and his staff hope will help their squad this season is that – with the help of generous donors – the Wildcats and travel party will be taking charter flights into and out of Lake Charles, La., and Hammond, La., this season. That trend will continue as the program is on pace to begin flying to each out-of-state conference game beginning in 2018.
 
Dorrel – who began pushing for that to happen last year – said he believes cutting down on travel time and time sitting on buses will help his team on the road, at home and in the classroom.
 
"This is a huge deal for our program and something we've really been selling on the recruiting trail," he said. "This gives us the ability to get on a plane and be back in Abilene just a few hours after we play instead of starting at bus rides that get us into town at 9 or 10 a.m. on Sunday. That puts our staff behind in preparation for the next opponent, and it also kills our guys in terms of the work they do in the classroom. Those guys do a lot of work in the classroom on Sunday and Monday, and this will allow them to be able to get back at a relatively decent hour, get some rest and get caught up in the classroom on our two off days. I can't thank enough the donors that made this possible for our program."