Mansell grounds Lamar again in 24-17 Homecoming win

Box Score ABILENE – Quarterback Peyton Mansell continued his scrambling mastery over Lamar University, running for 106 yards and two touchdowns to rally Abilene Christian University to a 24-17 Homecoming win over the scrappy Cardinals on Saturday afternoon in Wildcat Stadium.
 
A redshirt sophomore who transferred before last season from the Big Ten's Iowa Hawkeyes, he stepped in after Stone Earle was injured in the second quarter. Mansell ran for 107 yards to lead ACU to a big win over Lamar earlier in the year.
 
Abilene Christian (4-3, 1-2) and Lamar (2-4, 0-2) were playing their second of two games against each other in 2021, with this one counting toward each team's Western Athletic Conference record. The Wildcats prevailed 56-0 on Sept. 25 in Beaumont.
 
ACU, which entered the game with the No. 2-ranked rushing offense in the WAC at 192.2 yards per game and the fourth-best yards-per-rush average in FCS, ran for more than 200 yards (208) for the fourth time this season. The Wildcats rolled up 466 yards of offense.
 
Lamar used a ball-control offense to take a 17-14 lead at the half and looked nothing like the team that had been outscored 97-7 its last two games and 161-24 its last four, including a 56-0 thrashing by ACU on Sept. 25 in Beaumont. But the Wildcats blanked the Cardinals in the final two quarters to earn their third straight Homecoming win on Anthony Field.
 
Fans expecting another blowout underestimated the unpredictable nature of college football and longtime rivalries.
 
ACU forced Lamar to punt on its opening drive, and took over following a kick that traveled just 25 yards. It took the Wildcats just three plays to reach the end zone, with racehorse quarterback Peyton Mansell sprinting 39 yards for the touchdown and a 7-0 lead. 
 
Mansell, who entered the game as ACU's second leading rusher and averaging 11.6 yards per carry, increased that to 12.36 with another big run.
 
The quick-fire drive was just one yard longer than the world-record 69-yard field goal booted in 1976 by the honorary game captain, Ove Johansson, the 1977 graduate from Sweden who was grand marshal of the Wildcats' Homecoming parade earlier today.
 
Lamar evened the score at 7-7 early in the second quarter when running back James Jones broke several tackles while rumbling 46 yards for a TD.
 
ACU then broke out its microwave offense again for a four-play, 75-yard drive capped by Earle's 5-yard TD run and powered by a 48-yard pass from Earle to wide receiver Denver Holman. 
 
The Wildcats were on the move again on their next drive, but Earle was carted off the field with a lower leg injury after completing a 31-yard pass to wide receiver Kobe Clark. 
 
The loss of Earle was a momentum-changing play for both teams: The Cardinals turned up the heat while the Wildcat offense went stone-cold for the balance of the quarter.
 
ACU punted the ball back to the visitors and Lamar struck quickly – on the first play – to tie the game at 14-14 on an 80-yard TD pass from quarterback Mike Chandler to tight end Nathan Gaskamp with 5:42 remaining in the half.
 
And on Lamar's next drive, Giffen kicked a 54-yard field goal with 1:37 left in the half to put the Cardinals ahead for the first time today and in the two-game series played by the two teams this season, 17-14.
 
The 10-point scoreboard swing got the home team's attention.
 
The Wildcats restored their bearings to start the third quarter, marching 75 yards to the end zone once more. A wild, cross-country 39-yard catch-and-run pass play from Mansell to wide receiver Davion Johnson set up a 4-yard scoring run by Mansell that put ACU back on top, 21-17.
 
Lamar gambled on a 4^th-and-1 on the Wildcat 6-yard line with 4:28 left in the third quarter, but the ACU defense rose to the occasion when defensive end Jordan Paup and linebacker Tory Hargrove stopped Hunter Batten's rushing attempt.
 
Five plays later, Mansell's 26-yard sprint up the right sideline dug the Wildcats out of their territory and across midfield. They moved as far as the Lamar 7-yard line before a Mansell fumble – ACU's only turnover of the game – gave the Cardinals the ball again.
 
ACU's defense stepped up once more in a key moment, with defensive end Osaretin Obadeyi sacking Chandler on third down at the 10-yard line and forcing a punt.
 
The Wildcats then took over at the Lamar 42-yard line with 9:30 remaining, running six minutes off the clock in a dizzying sequence of plays that included 1^st-and-goal at the Cardinals' 8-yard line, 3^rd-and-goal at the 32, two holding penalties and a fumble. Zepeda redeemed the drive with his fourth field goal of the season, a 31-yarder that gave ACU some breathing space and a 24-17 lead.
 
Lamar got the ball back with 3:30 left and a chance to tie or go ahead, but a lead-preserving tackle of a scrambling Chandler by Hargrove on 4^th-and-15 from the 32-yard-line gave ACU the ball back for good, and the Wildcats ran out the clock.
 
Earle completed six of nine passes for 123 yards before his injury. Mansell completed 10 of 18 passes for 135 yards. Johnson led Wildcat receivers with six catches for 82 yards. Kobe Clark caught five for 50 and Holman had two for 72.
 
Running back Tyrese White supplanted Mansell's ground game with 51 yards on six carries and Jermiah Dobbins had 9 for 45 yards.
 
Jones led Lamar in rushing with 81 yards on nine carries, Chandler completed 9 of 17 passes for 206 yards and one TD, and wide receiver Eric Pizarro caught four passes for 68 yards.
 
On defense, linebacker Hunter Kier and Brian Bullock led the Wildcats with 10 tackles each. 
 
Following a bye week, ACU plays WAC rival Stephen F. Austin on Oct. 30 in Nacogdoches for another game in the WAC/ASUN Challenge series. Kickoff is at 4 p.m. CST in Homer Bryce Stadium.
 
PLAYS THAT MATTERED
1Q – Peyton Mansell ran 39 yards for a TD with 11:43 on the clock. Blair Zepeda's successful PAT kick gave ACU a 7-0 lead. Scoring drive: 3 plays, 70 yards, 1:11
2Q – James Jones ran 46 yards for a TD with 14:07 left in the half. Bailey Giffin's successful PAT kick tied the score at 7-7. Scoring drive: 4 plays, 70 yards, 1:49
2Q – Stone Earle ran 5 yards for a score with 12:30 left to put ACU ahead 14-7. Scoring drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:37
2Q – Nathan Gaskamp caught an 80-yard pass from Mike Chandler to pull Lamar even once more, 14-14. Scoring drive: 1 play, 80 yards, 1:31
2Q – Bailey Giffen kicked a 54-yard field goal to put the Cardinals on top for the first time today, 17-14. Scoring drive: 7 plays, 47 yards, 2:46
3Q – Mansell ran 4 yards for a TD with 9:40 left to put ACU back in front, 21-17. Scoring drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 5:20
4Q – Zepeda kicked a 31-yard field goal with 3:30 left to create the final winning margin for ACU, 24-17. Scoring drive: 13 plays, 28 yards, 6:08
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• In its two wins over Lamar this season, the Wildcats have scored on seven offensive drives of five or fewer plays.
• Lamar had 64 yards of total offense at the half in its 56-0 loss to ACU earlier this season, but 261 at the half today.
• Mansell's 106 yards on the ground represented ACU's third 100-plus-yard rushing performance of the season; he had one of the other two as well – and both against Lamar.

 
STAT CORNER

• Attendance at Anthony Field for today's game topped the 10,000 mark for the first time this season: 10,121
• ACU placed big defensive pressure on Lamar quarterback Mike Chandler, sacking him twice and hurrying him eight times.
• Abilene Christian quarterback Stone Earle entered the game ranked leading the WAC in TD passes with 13, which also ranked 12^th in the nation (FCS). He has thrown at least two scoring passes in each of his team's six games, with a season-high of three against Louisiana College and Lamar. Wide receiver Kobe Clark ranked in the Top 10 in FCS in TD receptions with five.
• After one quarter, ACU led in passing yards (31-20), rushing yards (61-50), total yards (92-70) and the scoreboard (7-0). Lamar led in time of possession (10:09 to 4:51).
• At the half, Lamar led in passing yards (157-148), rushing yards (104-89), total yards (261-237), time of possession (18:52 to 11:08) and the scoreboard (17-14). ACU led in first downs (10-9).

  
NOTABLE

• Honorary captain today for ACU was also the grand marshal of the Homecoming parade around campus this morning: Ove Johansson. No one in high school, college or professional football has yet to eclipse the world-record 69-yard field goal he kicked at Homecoming in 1976 at Shotwell Stadium against East Texas State (now Texas A&M-Commerce). Johansson lives in Amarillo, Texas, with his wife, April. Both are 1977 ACU graduates.
• The Wildcats are playing in their 100^th season in 2021. Abilene Christian did not play football from 1943-45 because of World War II. 
• Abilene Christian is 55-35-1 on Homecoming, including wins in four of its last five festive days in front of alumni gathered on the Hill. The 2020 game was cancelled because of the pandemic.
• ACU and Lamar are new members this fall of the Western Athletic Conference, but the two also were founding members of the Southland Conference in 1963, along with Arkansas State University, The University of Texas at Arlington and Trinity University. The first Southland game was played between ACU and Lamar in 1964.