ABILENE, TEXAS – Junior quarterback
Luke Anthony threw four touchdown passes and
Tracy James scored three times, all in one half of work, as Abilene Christian University dominated Arizona Christian University 66-14 in its non-conference home opener Saturday night in Wildcat Stadium.
The first-ever meeting between FCS-member ACU (1-1 overall) and the Firestorm of NAIA Division I (0-2 overall) was evident on more than just the scoreboard. The Wildcats recorded 23 first downs in building a 45-0 halftime lead – its biggest since a 61-0 lead and 84-6 win over Concordia in 2013 – and a 459-7 advantage in total offense after just two quarters.
The Wildcat defense did not allow Arizona Christian to advance past its own 40-yard line while limiting the Firestorm to just one first down in the first half. ACU countered with scores on seven of its first nine drives, turning the ball over on downs once and ending another drive with a fumble just short of the Firestorm goal line.
Sophomore running back
Tyrese White rushed 13 times for 126 yards and a score and sophomore quarterback
Sema'J Davis added 92 to pace ACU's 425 yards on the ground and contribute to its 703 yards overall. Anthony completed 18 of 26 passes for 260 yards in the first half.
Josh Fink led the Wildcats with 69 yards in receptions and a TD.
Anthony threw four TD passes and
Tracy James scored three times in leading the Wildcat attack before intermission, then headed to the sideline for the night. Anthony moved into eighth place (one ahead of
Parker McKenzie) for the most TD passes thrown (39) in an ACU career. McKenzie tossed 38 between 2013-16.
The Wildcats used a 38-yard TD pass from Anthony to
Justus Lee and a 22-yard scoring run by James to build a 14-0 lead in the first quarter. ACU then stepped on the accelerator, scoring on all five of its second-quarter drives, three through the air. Anthony tossed TD passes of 33 yards to
Branden Hohenstein, 48 yards to
Josh Fink and 1 yard to James.
Blair Zepeda kicked a 27-yard field goal and James added a 1-yard TD.
Zepeda missed a 37-yard field goal to open the third quarter, with the Wildcats substituting liberally and keeping the ball on the ground for the most part. A 3-yard scoring run by sophomore
Tyrese White built ACU's lead to 52-0 with 6:56 left in the quarter.
The Wildcats added TDs in the fourth on a 1-yard run by freshman
Jessie Anderson and a 13-yarder by sophomore
Conrad Perry – the first collegiate scores for each.
The Firestorm did not cross midfield until nearly midway through the second half, and scored its lone points on a 29-yard pass from Tyler Duncan to Bailey Ehrlich with 33 seconds remaining in the third quarter and a 14-yard pass from Duncan to Aaron Childers with 17 seconds left in the game.
The Wildcats travel to Conway to open Southland Conference play against the University of Central Arkansas next Saturday 6 p.m. in Estes Stadium.
PLAYS THAT MATTERED
- 1Q – Justus Lee caught a pass from Luke Anthony on the left sideline and sprinted 38 yards for a TD with 11:21 left in the quarter. Blair Zepeda's successful PAT put the Wildcats on top, 7-0.
- 1Q – Arizona Christian fumbled the opening kickoff, punted from its end zone and gave ACU the ball back at midfield. The Wildcats needed just five plays to get back on scoreboard when Tracy James sprinted 22 yards for a TD with 7:39 left to give the home team a 14-0 lead.
- 2Q – The Wildcats increased their lead to 21-0 when Anthony hit tight end Branden Hohenstein with an 18-yard scoring pass to punctuate a two-play, 33-yard drive that took just 14 seconds.
- 2Q – Zepeda put his team up 24-0 with 8:22 left with a 27-yard field goal.
- 2Q – Anthony threw his third soring pass of the night, a 48-yarder to Josh Fink with 6:32 on the clock that made the score 31-0.
- 2Q – James ran for his second TD of the game with 3:12 left, a 1-yarder that put the Wildcats up 38-0.
- 2Q – A wide-open James caught a 1-yard pass from Anthony with 10 seconds left in the half. Zepeda's sixth successful PAT of the night put the Wildcats ahead, 45-0.
- 3Q – Tyrese White ran 3 yards with 8:56 left to make the Wildcat lead 52-0, with Zepeda connecting on his seventh PAT.
- 3Q – With 33 seconds left, the Firestorm got on the scoreboard with a 29-yard TD pass from Tyler Duncan to Bailey Ehrlich, cutting the Wildcat lead to 52-7.
- 3Q – Cornerback Ryan Stapp intercepted a pass from Tyler Duncan with 12:34 left in the quarter, giving ACU the ball on the Firestorm 25. Eight plays later, freshman Jessie Anderson converted the turnover into points with a 1-yard run up the middle with 9:42 remaining, his team's score growing to 59-7.
- 4Q – Conrad Perry ran 13 yards untouched for another TD at the 4:36 mark, making ACU's lead 66-7, the final margin.
QUOTABLE
Head Coach Adam Dorrel
Thoughts on game ...
"I'm proud of our team. We did what we should have don by starting fast and finishing strong. I think we also played well over 100 guys, and that's great for us to see the young guys, the true freshmen compete.
"The (Arizona Christian) played a hard, clean football game at a high level. Their defensive line did good things, tackled well and their backs ran hard."
On seven different players scoring a touchdown ...
"When you get people involved, it spurs a great week of practice coming up and that's exactly what we need going into the Southland Conference season opener vs. Central Arkansas, on the road against one of the best teams in the FCS, which is 2-0 right now.
On what he liked best about the game ...
"The balance was good on offense between the running and passing games, the kickoff team was improved and we didn't give up any big plays over the top on defense. All the areas we wanted to improve on this past week looked good."
Senior Running Back Tracy James
On first half performance ...
"I'm happy with what we all did. It's never just about me. I'm happy about the whole game. We all did good things.
On Central Arkanas ...
"We're going to come in there (Conway, Ark.) fresh minded and just want to win. That's all we want to think about ... (last year's loss) really hurt all of us, so we're coming back with a chip on our shoulder for real."
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
- Luke Anthony passed Jim Reese (37 from 1973-76) and Parker McKenzie (38 from 2013-16) for the eighth-most TD passes thrown in a Wildcat career tonight. He trails Clint Longley for the No. 7 spot (43 from 1971-73). Billy Malone is No.1 with 114 (2005-08).
- ACU had 12 scoring drives of less than three minutes in length and three shorter than a minute (14, 9 and 52 seconds. The Wildcats didn't punt until 3:41 remained in the third quarter.
- The last time ACU scored 50 points in a game at home was 2016 – doing it twice in a 55-52 loss to Central Arkansas and a 52-27 win over University of the Incarnate Word. The last time the Wildcats scored 60 points in any game was a 65-45 win over Prairie View A&M in 2013.
STAT CORNER
- The 66-17 win was the 17th time ACU scored more than 60 points in school history; the last time was 2013 in a 69-12 win over Houston Baptist. The Wildcats' 425 rushing yards are ACU's seventh time to surpass the 400-yard mark in a game; the last time was 1963 in a 55-14 win over Texas-Arlington.
- This was only ACU's fifth game against a university from Arizona. The Wildcats have an 0-3 record against Northern Arizona but won their only game with Arizona State, a 13-7 victory Oct. 4, 1947.
- ACU's first-quarter domination of AzCU included points (14 to 0), total yards (100 to 0), rushing (105 to -4), passing (100 to 0) and first downs (9 to 0). At the half, their advantage grew to points (45 to 0), total yards (459 to 7) rushing (199 to -5), passing (260 to 12) and first downs (23 to 1).
NOTABLE
- The Firestorm were playing their first game against a team from NCAA Division I.
- Arizona Christian, a non-denominational Christian liberal arts university in Glendale, is the only other American university with the same acronym as Abilene Christian. The Firestorm are members of NAIA Division I and the National Christian College Athletic Association. They have an enrollment of 820 students and began playing football as an intercollegiate sport in 2014. They are members of the Golden State Athletic Conference, but compete in football in the Sooner Athletic Conference, which includes Wayland Baptist, Langston, Oklahoma Panhandle State, Southwestern Assemblies of God, and Texas Wesleyan universities, among others.
- ACU's opening games last season and this year were played in front of big crowds: 45,330 in Waco on Aug. 31, 2018, against Baylor and 23,057 last Saturday night in Denton against North Texas. The Wildcats' biggest-ever crowd will likely be in its regular-season finale Nov. 23 against Mississippi State. The Bulldogs play in 61,337-seat Davis-Wade Stadium, the second oldest college football venue in the Football Bowl Subdivision (Georgia Tech's Bobby Dodd Stadium is the oldest). ACU's largest crowd to date was in 1980 when the team traveled to Honolulu to play Hawai'i.
