ABILENE – Abilene Christian football has played a number of high-profile opponents in celebrated venues since its making its jump to NCAA DI Athletics in 2013, but it'll be hard to top the history and iconography that surrounds Michie Stadium, where the Wildcats will face Army West Point Saturday afternoon.
Monuments and locales such as Cadet Chapel, Trophy Point, Battle Monument, West Point Cemetary, and the Plain, all play a role in shaping and telling the stories of the U.S. Military’s and West Point’s most notable figures. Meanwhile inside Michie Stadium is a bronze plaque displaying a quote attributed to General George C. Marshall while he was serving as chief of staff of the army during World War II. The plaque reads, “I want an officer for a secret and dangerous mission. I want a West Point football player.”
Each Army football player touches this plaque as they rush onto the field.
Army football dates back to 1890 and its stadium, named after its first football head coach, Dennis Michie, openend in 1924. Three national championship teams (1944-46) have played there as have three Heisman Trophy Winners and more than a dozen College Football Hall of Famers. Michie Stadium capacity is 38,000; however, the lone fans expected Saturday are the 4,000-strong Corps of Cadets.
“Much of the history we teach at the United States Military Academy was made by the people we taught” is the slogan of the West Point Department of History, and the list of notable alumni includes former U.S. Presidents Ulysses S. Grant and Dwight D. Eisenhower, plus 20 astronauts, 74 Medal of Honor recipients and 70 Rhodes Scholars.
ACU head coach Adam Dorrel noted earlier this week he, ‘respects Army’s game, and respects where we're going to,' but his team will be going there to play agressive assignment football and come out of it a better team.
“We're going to one of the most historic institutions in the United States of America,” he said, “to play a football game vs. a team of student-athletes I have the utmost respect for. They are the best of the best that our country has to offer. They are intellectual elites blessed with athleticism that makes for a super rare combo.”
Both teams are coming off losses. ACU dropped its season opener at UTEP 17-13 Sept. 19 in El Paso, while Army fell at No. 14 Cincinnati, 24-10, a game in which the Black Knight limited the Bearcats to 2.0 rushing yards per carry.
ACU's defense held UTEP to under 100 yards rushing and 293 yards of total offense.
Wildcat quarterback Peyton Mansell, who is the son of two former Army student-athletes, Mike and Kim (Hanson) Mansell, passed for 202 yards in his ACU debut under center.
Freshman Jermiah Dobbins scored the Wildcats' lone touchdown, and sophomore placekicker Blair Zepeda booted two field goals and an extra point to account for all of ACU's scoring at the Sun Bowl.
The gameday tempeture along the banks of the Hudson River is expected to be a pleasant 65 degrees.
