ABILENE -- Abilene Christian football and its No. 2 ranked FCS offense (534.7 yards per game) is back home at Wildcat Stadium for a 6 p.m. game vs. its Southland Conference rivals from McNeese.
The Wildcats are coming off an incredible effort at No. 14 Central Arkansas, which saw
Tracy James add to his FCS-leading touchdown total (7) and
Blair Zepeda kick ACU's first 50-yard + field goal in eight seasons. The game also featured four Wildcat sacks (two by
Kameron Hill) and a red-zone interception by linebacker
Jack Gibbens.
Below are some more key notes from Saturday's performance plus a quick look at the Cowboys.
vs. Central Arkansas
- With 322 yards passing against the Bears,
Luke Anthony has 11 career games with over 250 passing yards and six with more than 300 yards. He has attempted 101 throws in 2019 with six TD passes and zero interceptions.
- In the ACU career record book, Anthony surpassed Stan Stephens (1987-89) for the ninth most attempts with 717. His 20-yard touchdown pass to
Tyrese White was the 40th of his career, making him the eighth Wildcat QB to hit this plateau.
- Anthony's 855 passing yards this season rank him 13th in the FCS.
- With 84 net yards at UCA,
Tracy James needs 122 on the ground to reach 2,000 for his career. He is the current FCS leader with 14.0 ppg, seven total TD and six rushing TD, which gives him a career total of 24 - leaving him two shy of cracking the Wildcats' all-time top-10 list. His 2,608 all-purpose yards are 67 short of Johnny Perkins' career total of 2,675.
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Josh Fink finished two yards shy of 100 receiving yards, but caught a pass of more than 40 yards for the third straight game after hauling in a 44-yard reception. He ranks No. 1 in the Southland and 23rd in the FCS with 23.9 yards per catch.
- Fink enters this week with 1,700 career receiving yards, and with four catches vs. the Bears he passed
Darian Hogg for sole possession of eighth place on the career catches list with 132.
- Kicker
Blair Zepeda booted ACU's first 50-yard field goal in eight seasons (2011,
Morgan Lineberry vs. Incarnate Word) with his 51-yarder at the start of the fourth quarter. His distance was a career high and tied him for the seventh-longest in school history.
- The Wildcat defense has limited the opposition to less than 50 yards rushing over their last two games (44 yards per game). ACU has only given up two rushing scores all season, while holding all three opponents to an average of 3.0 yards per rush. The team's total rushing defense this season of 93.3 yards per game is 13th in the FCS and No. 2 in the Southland.
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Kameron Hill recorded his second 2.0 sack game of the season (plus a fumble recovery) to rank him fifth in the FCS with 1.33 sacks per game. He also ranks 21st nationally with 1.7 tackles for loss.
- ACU as a team is averaging 3.0 sacks per game, which is good for 10th in the FCS and third in the Southland.
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Jack Gibbens' interception was his first of the season and third of his career. His 25-yard return off the red-zone pick was a career single-game high.
Looking ahead to McNeese
- McNeese is the only Southland Conference school the Wildcats have not defeated in their team history. The Cowboys are 6-0 vs. ACU in a series that dates back to 1972. McNeese is 2-0 against the Wildcats in Abilene, winning 15-13 in 2015 and 13-7 in 2017.
- McNeese (2-1) held on to beat Alcorn State at home Saturday, 17-14. The Braves scored all their points in the fourth quarter, and shutout the Cowboys in the second half on 78 net yards (eight second-half drives).
- Darion Dunn's two interceptions is the first time a Cowboys picked off two passes since Oct. 27, 2018 (Cory McCoy at UIW).
- With 12 tackles, Jovon Burriss tied a career-high while recording his third career double-digit tackle game.
- Carlos Scott added 10 tackles for his first career double-digit tackle game.
- McNeese forced three turnovers to give it 10 on the season – 8 fumbles and 2 interceptions. The Cowboys eight fumble recoveries and turnovers gained lead the FCS.
