ABILENE – Abilene Christian football is approaching the end of its first full week of spring practices, which began Feb. 28 with 90 participating student-athletes.
The roster is truly Texan with 78 percent listing Lone Star State hometowns. There's also a good blend of old and new personnel with 50 returning letter winners opening the locker room to 16 newcomers.
Eleven of these first-term Wildcats reside on the defensive side of the ball as the coaching staff utilized their connections to help fill approximately eight starting positions. Within this group of defensive transfers are two d-lineman, two linebackers, two cornerbacks and five safeties.
Offensively, ACU welcomed junior QB
Peyton Mansell (6-2 /210), freshman FB
Kory Dabbs (6-0 / 240), wide receivers
DK Blaylock (6-4) and
Dax Neece (6-3) and sophomore o-lineman
Truett Knox (6-2, 290).
Among ACU's pool of returning letter winners (those who played at least three games) are 17 returning starters (two or more starts) with 11 on offense and six on defense.
The area returning the most expertise is the offensive line, led by the senior trio of
Jon Crisp,
Kade Parmelly and
Nico Russolillo. There are currently 16 o-linemen in camp with six more expected to join the squad this summer.
The second biggest group is linebackers (12) followed by safeties (11) and wide receivers (11).
Linebacker and Abilene native
Qua'Shawn Washington, who suffered a season-ending injury vs. McNeese, is listed on the spring roster, as are running back
Billy McCrary and place kicker
Oscar Hernandez. McCrary also knocked out for the year vs. the Cowboys, while Hernandez missed all of 2019 with a leg injury, giving way to
Blair Zepeda.
McCrary's backfield mates include
Tyrese White, Tavian 'T.J.' Tumbleson,
Conrad Perry,
Hunter Burcham and
Jessie Anderson. Handing off to them will be junior signal caller
Sema'J Davis, 2019 redshirts
Cutter Sparks and
Andrew Stripling, and Mansell.
Kobe Clark, who set a program single-season record with 87 receptions, is the Wildcats' most experienced receiving target followed by tight end
Branden Hohenstein and second-year WR
Javorian Miller.
The defensive line has six returning players who appeared in 10 or more games last season but DE
Kameron Hill is the only one who earned more than one start.
Similar situations exist at linebacker and within the secondary. There are many returning letter winners at these positions, but few returning starters.
Academic All-America
Jack Gibbens is ACU's lone linebacker with more than four starts in 2019. Washington started the first four games, and in his absence,
Jairan Parker earned three starts and Torian 'Tory' Hargrove recorded one.
Six returning members of the secondary played in 11 or more games a year ago with then-freshman
Ryan Stapp making the most starts with three.
Gabe Ortega, who also can punt, made two starts at safety, while
Koy Richardson and
Byron Robinson Jr. each started once through 12 appearances.
17 Returning Starters (2+ starts)
Offense (11)
Jr. QB
Sema'J Davis
Sr. FB
Tavian Tumbleson
So. OL
D'Wayne Anthony
Sr. OL
Jon Crisp
Jr. OL
Kage Hendrix
Jr. OL
Tanner Parker
Sr. OL
Kade Parmelly
Sr. OL
Nico Russolillo
Jr. WR
Kobe Clark
So. WR
Javorian Miller
Sr. TE
Branden Hohenstein
Defense (6)
Sr. DE
Kameron Hill
Sr. LB
Jack Gibbens
Jr. LB
Jairan Parker
Jr. LB
Qua'Shawn Washington
Sr. S
Gabe Ortega
So. CB
Ryan Stapp
50 Returning Letter Winners (3+ games)
Offense (21)
Jr. QB
Sema'J Davis
Sr. RB
Billy McCrary
Jr. RB
Conrad Perry
Jr. RB
Tyrese White
So. FB
Rece Stafford
Sr. FB
Tavian Tumbleson
So. OL
D'Wayne Anthony
Sr. OL
Jon Crisp
Jr. OL
Everett Gunnoe
Jr. OL
Kage Hendrix
Jr. OL
Tanner Parker
Sr. OL
Kade Parmelly
Sr. OL
Nico Russolillo
Jr. OL
Zach Terry
Jr. WR
Kobe Clark
Jr. WR
Brendan Harmon
Jr. WR
Lionell McConnell
So. WR
Javorian Miller
So. WR
Taelyn Williams
Sr. TE
Branden Hohenstein
Jr. TE
Remington Lutz
Defense (26)
Sr. DE
Garviea Freeny Jr.
Sr. DE
Kameron Hill
So. DE
Osaretin Obadeyi
Sr. DE
Reynel Previlon
Jr. DT
Michael Gayden
Sr. DT
Lakendrick Jones
So. DT
William Morgan
Jr. DT
Quent Titre
Sr. LB
Jack Gibbens
So. LB
Gage Graham
Jr. LB
Greg Green
Jr. LB
Tory Hargrove
Jr. LB
Joshua James
Sr. LB
Hunter Kier
So. LB
James Neal
Jr. LB
Ben Norman
Jr. LB
Qua'Shawn Washington
Jr. CB
Daniel Duah
So. CB
Anthony Egbo Jr.
So. CB
Donovan Johnson
Jr. CB
Robert McKnight
Sr. CB
Koy Richardson
Jr. S
Austin Goffney
So. S
Braelon Hill
Sr. S
Gabe Ortega
Sr. S
Byron Robinson Jr.
Specialists (3)
So. LS
Dustin Inness
Sr. LS
David Stone
So. PK
Blair Zepeda
16 Newcomers
Offense (5)
Jr. QB
Peyton Mansell
Fr. FB
Kory Dabbs
Fr. WR
DK Blaylock
So. WR
Dax Neece
So. OL
Truett Knox
Defense (11)
Jr. DE
Jordan Paup
Jr. DT
Jack Schultz
Jr. LB
Oliver McDowell
So. LB
Chike Nwankwo
So. CB
Triston Anderson
Jr. CB
Ty Taylor
Fr. S
Anthony Cuthbert
Fr. S
Elijah Moffett
Fr. S
Joshua Oyewole
Fr. S
Kameron Stokes
Jr. S
Shelby Washington
Roster by Position
QB – 4
RB – 5
FB – 4
WR – 11
TE – 3
OL – 16
DE – 6
DT – 7
LB – 12
CB – 8
S – 11
Specialists – 5
Notable Position Switches
Gage Graham S to LB
Braelon Hill CB to S
Rece Stafford LB to FB
New Coaches
Running Backs:
Bryce Baccarini
Wide Receivers:
Donte Ellington
Defensive Line:
Travis Britz and
Cody Scribner
Safeties:
Zach Williams
Roster by Class
Fr. – 4
R-Fr. – 18
So. – 21
Jr. – 30
Sr. – 17
Roster by State / Country
Texas – 70
California – 3
Arizona – 2
Nebraska – 2
Colorado – 1
Illinois – 1
Kansas – 1
Louisiana – 1
Maryland – 1
Minnesota – 1
Mississippi – 1
Missouri –1
New Jersey – 1
New Mexico – 1
Ohio – 1
Utah – 1
Germany – 1
