Wildcats set to open 2018 season Saturday at Baylor

GAME 1
ACU at BAYLOR
Saturday, Sept. 1 • 7 p.m. • McLane Stadium • Waco, Texas

MEDIA INFORMATION
TV: Fox Sports Southwest Plus (channel 39, Suddenlink in Abilene); Fox Sports Arizona; Fox Sports Arizona; Fox Sports Detroit; Fox Sports Midwest Plus; Fox Sports North Plus; Fox Sports Ohio; Fox Sports South; Fox Sports Southeast; Fox Sports Sun; Fox Sports West; Prime Ticket; Fox Sports Wisconsin; AT&T Sportsnet; MSG Plus
Satellite TV: DISH (447 SD, 9517 HD, 412-35 Hopper); DirecTV (676-1 SD and HD); Uverse (754 SD, 1754 HD)
Mobile: FoxSportsGo app
TV Talent: Brendan Burke (pxp), David Anderson (analyst) CT Steckel (sideline)
Radio: KTLT 98.1 FM The Ticket
Talent: Grant Boone (play by play), Jim Reese (analyst), Zach Carlyle (sideline)
Satellite Radio: Sirius 98/ XM 200/ Internet 954 (Baylor IMG network)
Twitter: @ACUSports
Game Notes: ACU I Baylor
 
MATCHUP
ABILENE CHRISTIAN
0-0, 0-0 Southland
Ranking: NR - AP, NR - Coaches
Head Coach: Adam Dorrel (NW Missouri St., '98)
Career Record: 78-17 (8th season)
ACU Record: 2-9 (2nd season)
vs. Baylor: 0-0

BAYLOR
0-0, 0-0 Big 12
Ranking: NR - AP, NR - Coaches
Head Coach: Matt Rhule (Penn State, '97)
Career Record: 29-34 (6th season)
BU Record: 1-11 (2nd season)
vs. ACU: 0-0

OPENING KICKOFF
• Saturday's game features two teams meeting on the gridiron for the first time. ... In the last seven years, the Wildcats and Bears have played each other in men's and women's basketball, men's and women's tennis, softball, women's soccer and volleyball. They've also competed in the same track and field and cross country meets and men's golf tournaments. ... The only two sports in which they haven't played against each other are football and baseball.

• Both head coaches – Adam Dorrel at ACU and Matt Rhule at Baylor – are in their second seasons at their respective universities, and both are trying to turn the fortunes in their programs. ... Dorrel and the Wildcats were 2-9 overall (2-7 in the Southland Conference) in 2017, while Rhule and the Bears finished 1-11 (1-8 in the Big 12 Conference).

• The last time the Wildcats played a team from Texas playing at the highest level of college football was almost 50 years ago when ACU lost a 20-0 decision to Texas Tech on Sept. 10, 1949, in Lubbock. ... Since then the only teams from Texas that ACU has played that have been playing at a higher level at the time they played are North Texas, UTEP, Stephen F. Austin, Texas State. However, none of those games were played when UNT, UTEP or Texas State were at the FBS level, and the ACU-SFA game was played in 1999 when ACU was an NCAA Division II affiliate and SFA was affiliated with NCAA Division I-AA (current FCS).

• ACU will open the season on the road for the fifth straight season and will be trying to snap a four-game losing streak in season-openers. ... The last time the Wildcats won their seson-opener was 2013 when they whipped Concordia (Ala.), 84-6, on Aug. 31, 2013, in the program's first game as an independent NCAA Division I FCS institution. ... Since then the Wildcats have lost to Georgia State (38-37 in the Georgia Dome in 2014), Fresno State (34-13 in 2015), Air Force (37-21 in 2016) and New Mexico (38-14 in 2017). ... ACU is 45-47-4 all-time in season-openers with four straight losses. ... Prior to those three straight losses, the Wildcats had won six straight openers dating back to the 2008 season when the Wildcats beat Northwest Missouri State in both 2008 (44-27 in Maryville, Mo.) and 2009 (19-14 in Abilene). ... The offensive coordinator for both of those Northwest Missouri State teams was current ACU head coach Adam Dorrel.

• ACU has played Texas A&M-Commerce 13 times in season-opener, the most games against any opponent in season-opening games in program history. ... The Lions lead the series against the Wildcats, 7-6, in openers, although ACU leads the overall series against its old NCAA Division II rival, 40-27-1. ... The season-openers don't get any easier in the years following the 2018 season as the Wildcats are scheduled to open the 2019 season at North Texas, followed by SMU (2021), Kansas State (2022) and Texas Tech (2024 and 2026).

• ACU will be playing its 97th season of college football in 2018. The Wildcats enter the season with an all-time record of 488-420-32 (.536 winning percentage). ACU should be playing its 100th season of football, but it didn't field a team from 1943-45 because of World War II. ... On the field, the Wildcats have 499 all-time wins, but lost a 1974 win over Central Arkansas to a forfeit for the use of an ineligible player, and lost 10 wins in 2007 as punishment by the NCAA for rules violations.

• ACU returns 14 starters from the 2017 squad that finished 2-9 overall and 2-7 in the Southland Conference. Six starters return on offense, led by sophomore quarterback Luke Anthony and junior running back Tracy James. Anthony took over as the starter with three games left in the season and had a 345-yard passing effort in his first career start, a 26-23 overtime loss at Northwestern State on Nov. 4. James will look to build on a solid sophomore season that saw him rush for 638 yards and two scores, including a 142-yard effort in ACU's narrow 44-35 home loss to then-No. 4-ranked Sam Houston State.     The offensive line returns starters Bill Weber at center, as well as Kade Parmelly and Dakota Laws. Defensively the Wildcats return five starters and 21 lettermen from a unit that finished fifth in the league in total defense, allowing 392.4 yards per game. ACU led the league in pass defense, allowing just 196.7 yards per game.     Returning in that secondary is perhaps the league's best safety combination in Brandon Richmond (honorable mention all-Southland Conference in 2017), Bolu Onifade, Erik Huhn and Jamar Mack.

• The Wildcats lost the program's all-time leading tackler Sam Denmark to graduation, but return Jeremiah Chambers at the linebacker position. He will move from the outside to Denmark's spot at middle linebacker.

• The ACU offense will benefit greatly from the return of wide receiver D.J. Fuller, who missed the 2017 season because of academic eligibility issues. Fuller, however, has those issues in order and should be the deep threat the Wildcats missed in 2017. As a junior in 2016, he caught 51 passes for 749 yards and six touchdowns, finishing fourth in the league in receptions per game (5.1) and fifth in yards per game (74.9).

• The Wildcats return 40 lettermen from last season – 17  on offense, 21 on defense, and two specialists. The most experienced position groups on the roster are defensive line (nine returning lettermen), secondary (six returning lettermen), offensive line (six returning lettermen), and wide receiver (four returning lettermen). The Wildcats lost the services of 25 lettermen from the 2017 season.

• The Wildcats will host five teams in their second season at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium, including four Southland Conference opponents. Two of those four conference games will be against teams that reached the NCAA Division I FCS playoffs in 2017: Nicholls for Homecoming on Oct. 13 and defending league champion Central Arkansas in the regular-season finale on Nov. 17. The Wildcats' other three home games will be a non-conference game on Sept. 8 against old Lone Star Conference rival and NCAA Division II member Angelo State, as well as conference games against Incarnate Word (Sept. 29) and Northwestern State (Nov. 3). The game against Angelo State will be the 50th game between the two programs with Angelo holding a 28-20-1 series advantage. The Wildcats and Rams haven't met on the field since 2012 – ACU's last as a Division II program – when the Rams won 28-23 in San Angelo, snapping ACU's six-game winning streak in the series.

SCOUTING BAYLOR
• Baylor is 76-36-4 all-time in season openers, including a 12-10 mark in the Big 12 era (since 1996).
• Head coach Matt Rhule is 2-3 in his career in season openers.
• According to SB Nation, Baylor returns 93 percent  (2nd nationally) of its offensive production from 2017.
• Denzel Mims racked up 1,087 receiving yards in 2017 to give Baylor a 1,000 yard receiver for the seventh straight season. BU is the only program in FBS to accomplish the feat from 2011-17.
• Baylor has 14 graduates on its 2018 roster, the most in the Big 12 and fifth-largest total nationally.
• QB Charlie Brewer returns for his sophomore season after throwing for 1,562 yards with 11 touchdowns, posting a BU frosh record 68.1 completion percentage & earning Big 12 Co-Offensive Freshman of the Year.
• BU returns 39 players that started at least one game in 2017, including 21 on defense and 18 on offense.
• Baylor running backs had 58 receptions in 2017, after catching only 40 passes from 2013-16 combined, and 52 of those catches return in 2018.
• Baylor's 27 first-time starters in 2017, including 11 true freshmen, were each the third largest totals in FBS.
• The Bears tied for the national lead with seven plays of 70 or more yards in 2017, including four by senior wide receiver Chris Platt in only four games.
• The Baylor coaching staff owns 23 combined years of NFL experience, sixth-best in college football.
• BU had 19 lettermen on NFL rosters during the 2018 preseason, including 13 different teams.
• Baylor is 69-14 since 2008 when scoring 30 or more points in a game.
• BU offensive linemen Blake Blackmar and Pat Lawrence have started 25 & 24 straight games, respectfully.
• Under Matt Rhule, Baylor football has signed 37 players from the state of Texas over the last recruiting cycles, more than any Big 12 or Power 5 team in the country.
• Baylor is playing its 117th season of football. BU holds a 589-568-44 (.509) record all-time.
• Baylor has scored in a school-record 137 straight games — the previous school record was 89 games from Dec. 31, 1979 - Oct. 23, 1987.

UP NEXT
• The Wildcats will open the home portion of the 2018 schedule next Saturday (Sept. 8) when they host old Lone Star Conference rival Angelo State in a non-conference game at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium. ACU will honor the late Wally Bullington with a pre-game ceremony.