Balanced, prolific offense helps ACU pummel HBU, 45-20

ABILENE, TEXAS – Tracy James and Sema'J Davis combined for 266 rushing yards and Luke Anthony threw three touchdown passes to lead Abilene Christian University to a 45-20 domination of Houston Baptist University on Saturday night in Wildcat Stadium.
 
ACU throttled the nation's leading offense all night while moving to 3-4 overall and 2-3 in the Southland Conference. HBU (4-3 and 1-2) – which entered the game tops in the FCS in total, scoring and passing offense, and with the nation's top passer – watched the Wildcats roll up 583 yards of balanced offense (280 yards passing, 303 rushing) and play stingy, opportunistic defense and special teams all night.
 
Abilene Christian halted its two-game skid and won its second Southland game after losing three to Central Arkansas, UIW and Lamar by a total of 10 points.
 
The Huskies, averaging 567 yards of offense a game, were held by ACU to 320 yards, 112 in the first half, in losing for a second straight week.
 
Anthony completed 30 of 43 passes for 280 yards, Davis – a backup quarterback – ran for 148 yards and James added 118 and his FCS-leading 13^th TD of the season. Josh Fink caught 12 passes for 112 yards and Kobe Clark grabbed nine for 107 yards, and scored once each.
 
Head coach Adam Dorrel's team had its foot on the accelerator from the get-go.
 
The Wildcats sacked HBU quarterback Bailey Zappe on third down to abruptly end his team's opening drive, then jumped to a 14-0 lead. The offensive mini-explosion represented ACU's first opening-quarter points in a game since a narrow loss to Central Arkansas on Sept. 14 – and it only took five plays to get things started.
 
Anthony tossed a 12-yard scoring pass to Josh Fink on the Wildcats' first drive, and then on the next one, Tracy James ran 30 yards untouched for another touchdown. The latter was set up by a 41-yard pass from Anthony to Kobe Clark on second down, and James went the distance on just the third play of the lightning-fast – 25 seconds – 71-yard drive.
 
Zepeda hit the left upright on a 37-yard field goal attempt with just nine seconds elapsed in the second quarter, but his counterpart, HBU freshman Gino Garcia, booted a 49-yarder to make the score 14-3 on the Huskies' sixth drive of the game.
 
ACU appeared to be on its way to another score on its subsequent drive but a short pass to Fink was stopped on 4^th-and-2 at the HBU 2-yard line.
 
But on its next trip downfield, the Wildcats found success from the HBU 2 when Clark took a shovel pass from Anthony and found his way into the end zone for his second TD of the season with 26 seconds left.
 
ACU looked to be taking its 21-3 lead to halftime but HBU used a 48-yard kickoff return by LaDarius Dickens, then four plays capped by a 41-yard field goal by Garcia to tighten the Wildcat lead at 21-6.
 
The evening's back-breaking play took place on the Wildcats' first play from scrimmage in the second half. That's when Sema'J Davis ran 75 yards for a TD – the second longest scoring run by a quarterback in ACU history since Elbert Anderson's 88-yarder in 1932 – to put ACU up 28-6. Zepeda kicked a 26-yard field goal to grow the lead to 31-6.
 
HBU finally found the end zone with 6:35 left in the third quarter when Zappe tossed a 1-yard scoring pass to Jerreth Stearns, cutting the ACU lead to 31-13. But on the ensuing kickoff, the Huskies attempted an onside boot that was picked up by safety Gage Graham and returned 42 yards for a Wildcat TD, growing ACU's advantage to 38-13.
 
The Huskies' Ean Beek ran 16 yards for a TD on the next drive, making the new score 38-20. ACU countered with Anthony's third scoring pass of the night, a 10-yarder to Lionel McConnell, putting the Wildcats ahead for good, 45-20, with 13:26 remaining in the game.

Zappe completed 35 of 56 passes for 267 yards and one TD for the Huskies, and was intercepted once.
 
Ryan Stapp and Jeremiah Chambers led the ACU defense with seven tackles each, and Adonis Davis recorded his second interception of the season.
 
ACU celebrates Homecoming next Saturday by hosting Stephen F. Austin State at Wildcat Stadium. Kickoff on Anthony Field is 3 p.m.
 
PLAYS THAT MATTERED

• 1Q – Josh Fink got ACU on the scoreboard with 11:22 left when he caught a 12-yard TD pass from Luke Anthony. The successful PAT kick by Blair Zepeda put the Wildcats on top, 7-0.
• 1Q – Tracy James ran 30 yards for a TD with 9:23 left to give ACU a 14-0 lead.
• 2Q – Zepeda missed a 37-yard field goal attempt on the second play of the quarter.
• 2Q – Gino Garcia kicked a 49-yard field goal to pull HBU closer, 14-3, with 10:46 left.
• 2Q – Kobe Clark raced from right to left to take a shovel pass from Anthony and score from 2 yards out with 26 seconds left. Blair's third PAT kick of the night put ACU ahead 21-3.
• 2Q – Garcia booted his second field goal of the half, a 41-yarder as time expired in the half, making the new score 21-6.
• 3Q – Sema'J Davis ran 75 yards for a TD on ACU's opening drive of the second half to put the Wildcats ahead 28-6 with just 12 seconds expired in the third quarter.
• 3Q – Zepeda kicked a 26-yard field goal to cap a 12-play, 79-yard scoring drive and extend ACU's lead to 31-6 with 7:55 left.
• 3Q – Gage Graham picked up an onside kick and raced 43 yards for a TD to put ACU up 38-13 with 6:28 left.
• 3Q – Ean Beek ran 16 yards for a HBU TD at the 3:21 mark, cutting the Wildcat lead to 38-20.
• 4Q – Lionell McConnell caught a 10-yard TD pass from Anthony to cap ACU's scoring on the night, and give the Wildcats their eventual final margin, 45-20.

 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• Sema'J Davis set an ACU single-game rushing mark for a quarterback with his 148-yard effort tonight.
• Talk about balanced offense: Two ACU runners each ran for more than 100 yards (Davis 148 and Tracy James 118) and two Wildcat receivers each eclipsed the century mark in reception yards in the game (Josh Fink 112 and Kobe Clark 107).
• James passed the 3,000-yard mark in career all-purpose yards for ACU, moving into 13^th place ahead of former fullback Gerald Todd and just behind running back Daryl Richardson.

 
STAT CORNER

• After one quarter, ACU led the Huskies – the nation's top offensive team – in total offense (180-31 yards) and first downs (11-1). At the half, the Wildcats held a commanding lead in total offense (328-112), passing yards (192-84), rushing yards (136-28) and first downs (19-7). Anthony was 20 of 29 for 192 yards and two TDs through the air and Tracy James had rushed for 92 yards. Josh Fink and Kobe Clark shared the game lead in reception yards (87 each).
• Anthony moved into a tie for fifth place in career TD passes (44) with John Mayes and Loyal Proffitt. Mayes quarterbacked the Wildcats to the NAIA Division I national title in 1977.
• Josh Fink was the first Wildcat with more than 10 catches in a single game since Justin Miller hauled in 10 vs. Sam Houston State on Nov. 11, 2017.
• Tonight's game marked the third time since the Wildcats' joined the DI ranks in 2013 that a running back and quarterback each rushed for more than 100 yards. QB John David Baker ran for 102 and RB Charcandrick West rushed for 139 in a 2013 win over McMurry, and the following season vs. Central Arkansas, RB De'Andre Brown ran for 171 yards and signal caller Kade Munden had 101.
• Fink (112 yards) and Clark (107) are the first Wildcat duo to each surpass 100 yards receiving in a single game since Oct. 31, 2015 when Cedric Gilbert caught three passes for 122 yards and Carl Whitley, eight for 100 and a TD.
• Gage Graham's 43-yard kickoff return for a touchdown off an onside kick attempt was the Wildcat's first since Sept. 24, 2016 at Stephen F. Austin (Justin Miller, 93 yards) and marked ACU's first onside kick recovery since a Sept. 1, 2018 game vs. HBU.

 
QUOTABLE

• "It's real big. I'm proud of our players and coaches ... We played real well. Houston Baptist, obviously, has been playing good football and tonight's (success) all started with our defense. We held a team that's been averaging over 60 points per game to under 30. That's huge. Offensively, we finally got off an going on our first 15-20 plays. I was impressed with Luke (Anthony) coming back strong tonight, but I was also impressed with Sema'J (Davis), Josh (Fink) and Kobe (Clark). They all had huge nights and everyone contributed ... The biggest thing was that we were +2 in turnover margin." -- Head Coach Adam Dorrel

 

• "That's a very good (HBU) offense. Our coaches talked all week about how explosive they were in the run and passing game, and we made it a priority to be great out on the perimeter and against the run game. We knew that if we could stop them on the run, then they would try to run the screens and we beat them there on the perimeter.  -- Senior linebacker Jermiah Chambers 

 

• "I didn't get too out of sync (missing one game due to injury) ...  but Tuesday's practice was a little rough, just trying to get back into the flow of things and the game was moving a little fast having been gone for a few days. By midweek and toward the end I felt normal again. This was a huge win for us. We've hit a lot of our goals through the first few games despite coming up short, so it's been rough on us, knowing we're hitting our goals and losing games. This game for us we wanted to come out and set the tone early, and we ended up having a sizable lead for the whole game."  -- QB Luke Anthony

 
NOTABLE

• At kickoff, ACU running back Tracy James still led the nation (FCS) in touchdowns with 12 and linebacker Jeremiah Chambers was 15^th in the nation in tackles (10.3 per game). HBU led FCS in total offense (567.2 yards per game), scoring offense (49.5), passing offense (385.7) and first downs offense (184). Huskie quarterback Bailey Zappe led the nation in passing (2,207 yards), TD passes (24), and Andrew Walker was No. 1 in the FCS with 9.5 sacks.
• ACU leads the series with HBU, 6-1, winning handily each year since 2013, except for a 27-24 overtime loss in 2016. The Huskies were ACU's opponent when Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium opened in 2017, a game the home team won 24-3.
• HBU's offensive coordinator is Zach Kittley; his father is ACU track and field head coaching legend Wes Kittley, whose teams won an unprecedented 29 national team championships at ACU. Wes is the head coach and director of track and field at Texas Tech University and was a visitor tonight in the press box and home radio booth.