Wildcats back home to host UIW in Southland contest

MEDIA INFORMATION
Streaming: ESPN+
Radio: KTLT 98.1 FM The Ticket (98theticket.com)
TV Talent: Grant Boone (play-by-play), Glenn Smith (analyst)
Radio Talent: Zach Carlyle (play-by-play), Jim Reese (analyst)
Twitter: @ACUSports
Game Notes: ACU I Incarnate Word
Game Program: ACU vs. Incarnate Word
 
MATCHUP
ABILENE CHRISTIAN
2-2, 1-1 Southland
Ranking: NR - AP, NR - Coaches
Head Coach: Adam Dorrel (NW Missouri St., '98)
Career Record: 80-19 (8th season)
ACU Record: 4-11 (2nd season)
vs. Incarnate Word: 1-0

INCARNATE WORD
1-2, 1-0 Southland
Ranking: NR - AP, NR - Coaches
Head Coach: Eric Morris (Texas Tech, 2008)
Career Record: 1-2 (1^st season)
UIW Record: 1-2 (1^st season)
vs. ACU: 0-0

OPENING KICKOFF
• ACU is 7-2 all-time against UIW, including 4-0 in Abilene. The Wildcats have outscored the
Cardinals by a combined 174-49 in those four games in Abilene, including 52-27 in 2016, the last time Incarnate Word was in Abilene.
 
• ACU has the Southland Conference's No. 1-ranked offense, averaging 478.5 yards per game, while Incarnate Word checks in with the fourth-ranked offense in the league at 438.3 ypg. UIW has the league's second-ranked rushing offense (217.7 ypg) with ACU at No. 3 in the league (189.0 ypg). ACU is third in the league in passing offense (289.5 ypg) with UIW seventh in th eleague (220.7 ypg).
 
• Defensively, ACU is fourth in the league in total defense, allowing 399.0 ypg and fifth in scoring defense (29.0 ypg). UIW, meanwhile, is 11th in the league in total defense (allowing a league-worst 550.7 ypg) and 11th in scoring defense (42.3 ppg allowed).
 
• UIW senior running back Ra'Quanne Dickens leads the league in rushing at 156.3 ypg, and he's scored five touchdowns on the ground. UIW freshman QB Jon Copeland is sixth in the league in passing yards per game (220.0) and he has thrown three TD passes so far.
 
A LOOK AT THE NUMBERS
• Two of the league's top offenses will square off at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium Saturday night as borne out by the league's statistics through the first month of the season. ACU.
 
• ACU – which was limited to just 337 yards of total offense in last week's loss at Stephen F. Austin – still leads the Southland Conference in total offense at 478.5 yards per game, while Incarnate Word is fourth in total offense at 438.3 yards per game under first-year head coach Eric Morris, who previously spent five years as the offensive coordinator at his alma mater, Texas Tech.
 
• The Wildcats are third in scoring offense (31.8 ppg), third in rushing offense (189.0 ypg) and third in passing offense (289.5 ypg), while UIW is sixth in scoring offense (25.7 ppg), second in rushing offense (217.7) and seventh in passing offense (220.7 ypg).
 
• UIW senior running back Rq'Quanne Dickens leads the Southland Conference and is ninth at the FCS level in rushing yards (469) and ranks 20th at the NCAA Division I level.
 
• ACU's defense ranks fourth in the Southland Conference in total yards allowed (399.0 per game), including fifth in scoring defense (29.0 ppg), fifth in rushing defense (149.0 ypg) and seventh in pass defense (250.0 ypg).
 
• UIW's defense ranks 11th in the 11-team Southland Conference in both scoring defense (allowing 42.3 ppg), passing defense (351.0 ypg) and total defense (550.7 ypg). The Cardinals are ninth in the league against the run, allowing 199.7 ypg.

SCOUTING THE LUMBERJACKS
• Running back Ra'Quanne Dickens leads the FCS with 11.17 rush yards per carry. ... The Seminole, Florida, native is first in the conference and No. 9 in the nation with 469 rushing yards. ... He ranks No. 1 in the SLC and No. 4 nationally with 156.3 rushing yards per game. ... Dickens is second in the conference and No. 6 in the nation with an average of 179.67 all-purpose yards per game. .. He is also first in the conference and No. 17 nationally with five touchdowns. ... Dickens broke the UIW record for the longest touchdown run, and the longest run from scrimmage, when he ripped off a 90-yard touchdown run against New Mexico on Sept. 1, 2018. ... Dickens scored his fourth touchdown of the season with a 13-yard scamper in the first quarter. ... Dickens scored a 79-yard touchdown at the end of the second quarter. This was his third consecutive game with a touchdown of 50-or-more yards. ... Dickens finished with 220 yards rushing, his career high. It was the second most rushing yards in a single game in program history (Broderick Reeves, 244 yards vs McMurry on Nov. 2, 2013).
 
• Junior Kam Williams scored his first touchdown of the season with a 21-yard reception in the second quarter.
 
• Junior West Lambert led the team with 14 tackles last week against Stephen F. Austin, the most total tackles from a Cardinal in 2018.
 
• Freshman Rhett Marshall kicked a 27-yard field goal in the first quarter against Stephen F. Austin, marking his first collegiate field goal.
 
• Junior punter David Balcomb had five punts for a season-best average of 42.4 yards per punt against Stephen F. Austin. He pinned the opponent inside its own 20 yard-line three times, also a season best.

UP NEXT
• After Saturday's game, ACU is back on the road next Saturday (Oct. 6) when it takes on McNeese at Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, La. The game is scheduled for a 6 p.m. kickoff.