Wildcats welcome old LSC rival in 2018 home-opener

GAME 2
ANGELO STATE at ACU
Saturday, Sept. 8 • 6 p.m. • Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium • Abilene, Texas

MEDIA INFORMATION
Streaming: https://portal.stretchinternet.com/abilene/
Radio: KTLT 98.1 FM The Ticket
Talent: Grant Boone (play by play), Jim Reese (analyst), Zach Carlyle (sideline)
Twitter: @ACUSports
Game Notes: ACU I Angelo State I Game Program I Flip Card

MATCHUP
ABILENE CHRISTIAN
0-1, 0-0 Southland
Ranking: NR - AP, NR - Coaches
Head Coach: Adam Dorrel (NW Missouri St., '98)
Career Record: 78-18 (8th season)
ACU Record: 2-10 (2nd season)
vs. Angelo State: 0-0

ANGELO STATE
1-0, 0-0 Lone Star
Ranking: NR - AP, NR - Coaches
Head Coach: Will Wagner (Hardin-Simmons, '96)
Career Record: 43-36 (8th season)
ASU Record: Same
vs. ACU: 1-2

OPENING KICKOFF
• The home portion of ACU's 2018 football schedule Saturday night, re-kindling an old rivalry against former Lone Star Conference foe Angelo State. The Wildcats and Rams have officially met on the field 50 times with Angelo State holding a 28-21-1 lead in the series. However, ACU's 2007 win was vacated because of NCAA violations but wasn't given to ASU as a win, leaving the official series record at 28-20-1 in favor of the Rams. ACU and Angelo State haven't played since a 28-23 Angelo State win in 2012, ACU's final season as a member of the NCAA Division II Lone Star Conference.

• The Wildcats are 0-1 on the season after falling at Baylor last Saturday, 55-27, in the season-0pening game in Waco. The game was the first ever for the Wildcats agaisnt an opponent from the Big 12 Conference. ACU acquitted itself quite well in the game, rushing for 220 yards and piling up 466 yards of total offense, its best single-game total since Oct. 22, 2016, when the Wildcats put up 500 yard of offense in a blowout win over Incarnate Word.

• The Rams opened their 2018 season last Saturday with a 24-17 win over Western Oregon in Monmouth, Ore. Angelo State trailed 17-16 with 1:46 to play in the game, but drove 67 yards in five plays late in the game, scoring with 52 seconds left on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Charlie Rotherham to Lawson Ayo for the game-winner.

• The Wildcats have officially won 488 games in program history, leaving them 12 wins short of reaching its 500th victory. However, on the field, the Wildcats' next win will be
the program's 500th. On the field, ACU has 499 wins in program history, but one against Central Arkansas in 1974 was lost due to a forfeit, and 10 wins in 2007 were vacated after ACU was punished by the NCAA for rules violations. Those 11 wins would give the Wildcats 499 on-field victories, leaving them one short of 500 wins.

SCOUTING ANGELO STATE
• The Rams opened their 2018 season last Saturday with a 24-17 win over Western Oregon in Monmouth, Ore. Angelo State trailed 17-16 with 1:46 to play in the game, but drove 67 yards in five plays, scoring with 52 seconds left on a 16-yard touchdown pass from Charlie Rotherham to Lawson Ayo for the game-winner.

• Rotherham threw for 199 yards and a pair of touchdowns, while Payne Sullins threw for 87 yards but was intercepted twice. Tyrese Nathan ran for 134 yards and one score as Angelo State piled up 471 yards of total offense while limiting Western Oregon to just 313 yards. Keke Chism caught seven passes for 106 yards and one touchdown, while Tashani Bibbs caught seven passes for 90 yards.

• Defensively, linebacker Hunter Kyle had 10 tackles and two interceptions to earn LSC Defensive Player of the Week honors.

• ASU receivers had a big day last Saturday in the Rams' 24-17 win over Western Oregon with Keke Chism, Tashani Bibbs and Lawson Ayo each having seven catches for the Rams. A sophomore from Daingerfield, Chism led the team with 106 receiving yards with a 41-yard reception and also a 31-yard touchdown during the season opener. Chism now has five touchdowns and 35 receptions in his ASU career. Bibbs matched his career-high with seven receptions, including catching two passes to start the game-winning drive and then also catching the two-point conversion to make it a seven-point game. Ayo caught the game-winning touchdown pass with 52 seconds remaining for his seventh reception of the game and 82nd of his career. A Sunnyvale native, Ayo finished the game with 58 yards receiving and the Rams had 286 yards passing in the opener.

• Angelo State recorded five sacks against the Wolves, including two from Markus Jones and one from Grant Aschenbeck, Cameron Cavanaugh and Travaughn Moore. Jones, who is a returning all-America and reigning LSC Defensive Player of the Year, now has 21.5 career sacks which now has him tied for fourth in program history with Pierce Holt and behind only Greg Collins (26.5), Dane Krager (31) and the all-time leader Clayton Callicutt who had 31.5 sacks from 2012-15. Jones earned preseason all-America recognition from D2football.com, Lindy's Sports and FreeAgentFootball.com (FAF). The ASU defense had one game last season with five sacks coming against Tarleton State.

UP NEXT
• After Saturday's game, ACU is on the road the next two weeks, playing its Southland Conference opener at Houston Baptist (Sept. 15) before taking on Stephen F. Austin (Sept. 22).

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Players Mentioned

#99 Travaughn Moore: DL; 6' 3"; Sophomore; soph

Players Mentioned

#99 Travaughn Moore
: 6' 3"; Sophomore; soph
: DL

Players Mentioned

#99 Travaughn Moore

Players Mentioned

#99 Travaughn Moore