Photo by: Jeremy Enlow
ACU Football Game Notes (at UTEP)
9/15/2020 9:14:00 AM | Football
Abilene Christian (0-0) Football Game Notes
at UTEP (1-1, 0-0 C-USA)
Date: Saturday, Sept. 19, 2020
Location: El Paso, Texas (Sun Bowl)
Kickoff: 7 p.m. MT / 8 p.m. CT
Watch: ESPN3 / ESPN+
Listen: 98.1 FM - The Ticket
LONG TIME, NO SEE
- Abilene Christian and UTEP football Saturday meet for the first time since 1959.
- The Wildcats lead the all-time series, 3-2, four of those games played in the 1950s. ACU first played UTEP during the 1942 season, falling 20-14.
- Four of the five games have been played in El Paso. ACU also won a 20-13 game during the 1951 season in Midland, Texas.
- ACU’s last team to play UTEP featured 27 lettermen, including All-America Robert McLeod, who spent six years playing with the Houston Oilers (1961-66).
CAPTAINS LOG
- Abilene Christian football Monday (Sept. 14) selected seven team captains: junior quarterbacks Peyton Mansell and Sema’J Davis, and seniors Jack Gibbens (LB), Kade Parmelly (OL), Koy Richardson (CB), Byron Robinson (S) and Nico Russolillo (OL).
- Abilene’s Parmelly and Gibbens - a native of Bulverde, Texas - are both second-year team captains who’ve been with the team since 2017.
The Wildcats chose seven of their teammates to serve as captains. Kade Parmelly and Jack Gibbens are both second-year captains.
AN ‘A’ FOR ACADEMICS
- Senior linebacker Jack Gibbens (pictured)is Abilene Christian’s nominee for the William V. Campbell Trophy, which is presented by the National Football Foundation.
- The award is given to the American college football player with the best combination of academics, community service, and on-field performance. It is considered by many to be the “Academic Heisman.”
- Senior offensive lineman Kade Parmelly this summer was awarded the 2020 F.L. McDonald Postgraduate Scholarships by Southland Conference Commissioner Tom Burnett.
- Parmelly excelled in the classroom and compiled a 3.96 GPA as he completed his undergraduate degree in kinesiology in three years. He was a recipient of the Dean’s List Award every semester at ACU and a two-time Southland Football All-Academic Team member.
- ACU Football has posted a term GPA above a 3.0 the last three semesters, and finished the 2019-20 academic year with a 3.07.
- ACU finished the 2019 season with TWO CoSIDA Academic All-America (Josh Fink, Jack Gibbens), FOUR Academic All-District selections, TWO FCS ADA Academic All-Stars, and FIVE Southland Conference All-Academic Honorees. Thirteen players posted a 4.0 and 75 had a 3.0+ GPA in the fall 2019 term.
Team captain Jack Gibbens receives encouragement and direction from head coach Adam Dorrel
EIGHT IS ENOUGH?
- ACU will play an eight-game schedule this fall, which starts Sept. 19 at UTEP and concludes Nov. 21 at Virginia, a longtime mainstay of the Atlantic Coast Conference.
- The additional games on this year’s slate means the Wildcats will not compete in the spring.
PRESEASON HONOREES
- Seniors Jack Gibbens (LB) and Nico Russolillo (OL) joined ACU’S list of preseason selections as both were named to Phil Steele’s 2020 Preseason All-Southland Conference Second Team.
- ACU’s three Southland-chosen preseason honorees: Branden Hohenstein (First Team TE), Billy McCrary (Second Team RB) and Kade Parmelly (Second Team OL) also were selected by the staff at Phil Steele.
STRENGTH IN DIVERSITY
- Junior Anthony Egbo this summer accepted an invitation to join the university’s first-ever Diversity Council, which will be co-chaired by ACU President Dr. Phil Schubert and ACU’s chief diversity officer Dr. Stephanie Hamm.
- The goal of this group is to foster a more racially and culturally supportive and diverse environment at ACU. Egbo will be one of five students serving on the council.
Wildcat Stadium is slated to serve as host to three home football games this fall.
DON’T TRUST THE POLLS
- There were no surprises in the Southland Conference’s annual release of its preseason poll, which is determined by the league’s 11 head coaches and sports information directors.
- The rankings closely followed last year’s standings with Central Arkansas topping the list with 190 points and 12 first-place votes. The defending champion Bears tied Nicholls for the league’s best record at 7-2, but the Colonels slipped to third with Sam Houston State tallying 170 points (4).
- Nicholls scooped up the remaining six first-place votes in finishing a point (169) behind Sam Houston State. The Colonels will be the Wildcats’ homecoming opponent this season on Oct. 17.
- Southeastern Louisiana, which celebrated a playoff win last fall over Villanova, was pegged fourth with 157 points.
- The Wildcats played in six one-possession conference games in compiling a 4-5 record vs. the Southland (232 points for, 233 points against) last fall, and they start the year ranked seventh with 101 points. They were topped by McNeese (113 points) and UIW (104).
2020 Southland Conference Preseason Poll
1. Central Arkansas (12) - 190
2. Sam Houston State (4) - 170
3. Nicholls (6) - 169
4. Southeastern Louisiana - 157
5. McNeese -113
6. UIW - 104
7. Abilene Christian - 101
8. Stephen F. Austin - 60
9. Houston Baptist - 59
10. Northwestern State - 49
11. Lamar - 38
Teams competing this fall in bold
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