Earle’s six touchdown passes lead ACU to 62-7 rout of LC

ABILENE, Texas – Redshirt freshman quarterback Stone Earle threw six touchdown passes and Darius Lewis had 131 yards receiving to help Abilene Christian University handily win the home opener of its 100^th season, 62-7 over Louisiana College on Saturday night at Wildcat Stadium.
 
ACU (1-1) scored touchdowns on its first six drives of the game on Anthony Field, building a 41-7 halftime lead and coasting to the big win over Louisiana College.
 
Earle was nearly flawless for the Purple and White, as the ACU signal caller completed 18 of 19 passes for 233 yards in just his third collegiate start.
 
Earle's six TD passes were the most for ACU since John David Baker threw seven in 2013 in a 84-6 win over Concordia (Alabama). 
 
LC's opening quarter was calamitous, resulting in a 27-0 Abilene Christian lead. 
 
ACU forced a punt on LC's opening drive, started at the visitor's 41-yard line and was in the end zone three plays later, thanks to a 12-yard pass from Earle to Kobe Clark. Earle then tossed his second TD pass in as many drives, a 16-yarder to wide receiver Quae Walton, a third on a 45-yard scoring pass to wide receiver Darius Lewis and a fourth, for 14 yards, to wide receiver Denver Holman.
 
ACU's only first-quarter miscues were a 5-yard false-start penalty and falling short on a PAT run by Tyrese White following the home team's second touchdown. The Wildcats began their first four drives at the LC 41-, 45-, 40- and 8-yard lines, and each resulted in a score. 
 
Abilene Christian opened the second quarter with the ball on the LC 44-yard line, and marched downfield to the end zone once more. Redshirt sophomore Anthony Smith ended the drive when scored his first ACU career touchdown on a 7-yard run with 12:33 left in the half, upping the Wildcat lead to 34-0.
 
Louisiana College's first scoring drive was aided by four ACU defensive penalties and was capped when quarterback James Powell Jr. ran 1 yard for the TD, tightening the ACU lead to 34-7 with 6:03 left in the opening half.
 
Earle threw his fifth TD pass of the half, a 5-yarder to wide receiver Davion Johnson with 2:34 on the clock, giving the Wildcats a 41-7 advantage they maintained at the half. LC eventually earned eight first downs over the first two quarters, but half were via penalties.
 
The ACU QB struck again with 8:55 left in the third quarter, hitting a wide-open Clark on a 36-yard TD pass. Earle's fifth TD throw of the night made ACU's lead 48-7.
 
LC forced ACU's first punt of the game with a little more than 3 minutes left in the third quarter, which featured few fireworks after the Wildcats' first-half scoring explosion.
 
Redshirt freshman fullback Rece Stafford bulled his way into the end zone from 1 yard out with 13:33 remaining in the game, giving ACU a 55-7 advantage. 
 
With 1:31 left, Walton scored his second TD of the game, and Abilene Christian's final, to make the score 62-7.
 
Clark caught the 150^th pass of his career in the game, and totaled four catches for 65 yards and two TDs. Anthony Smith's 64 yards on 10 carries led ACU's ground game, along with 53 yards from White, 48 yards from quarterback Peyton Mansell, and Walton's 41 yards. Mansell completed all five of his passes for 64 yards.
 
The Wildcats thwarted LC's passing attack, limiting their opponent to nine completions in 20 attempts for 53 yards. Markaylin Milburn led his team with 6 carries for 70 yards and Devin Briscoe added 15 for 46 yards.
 
Cornerback Ryan Stapp (seven) and linebacker Hunter Kier (six) were the Wildcats' leading tacklers. Abilene Christian led LC in total offense (501-184), passing (297-53), rushing (204-131) and first downs (25-15).
 
ACU hosts Texas-Permian Basin next Saturday in Wildcat Stadium. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. CST on Anthony Field.
 
PLAYS THAT MATTERED
1Q – Stone Earle tossed a 12-yard TD pass to Kobe Clark and Blair Zepeda's successful PAT kick gave ACU its first lead with 11:56 left in the quarter. Scoring drive: 3 plays, 41 yards, 1:15
1Q – Earle threw his second scoring pass of the night, a 16-yarder to Quae Walton. Scoring drive: 6 plays, 45 yards, 2:40
1Q – Darius Lewis caught a 45-yard TD pass from Earle to give ACU a 20-0 lead with 4:21 left. 1 play, 40 yards, :08
1Q – Denver Holman's 14-yard TD catch from Earle, the QB's fourth of the quarter, put the Wildcats on top, 27-0 with 2:21 left. 3 plays, 8 yards, 1:04
2Q – Anthony Smith ran 7 yards for another Wildcat TD, upping the ACU lead to 34-0 with 12:33 on the clock. 5 plays, 44 yards, 2:27
2Q – James Powell Jr. ran 1 yard for a Louisiana College TD, and Hunter Martensson's successful PAT kick made the new score 34-7 with 6:03 left in the half. 10 plays, 81 yards, 6:24
2Q – Earle threw his fifth TD pass of the half, a 5-yarder to Davion Johnson with 2:34 left, giving the Wildcats a 41-7 advantage at halftime. 9 plays, 75 yards, 3:29
3Q – TD pass No. 6 for Earle was a 36-yard pass to Clark with 8:55 remaining in the quarter, increasing ACU's lead to 48-7. 9 plays, 75 yards, 5:05
4Q – Rece Stafford ran 1 yard for a TD with 13:39 left in the game, putting the Wildcats up 55-7. 5 plays, 74 yards, 2:04.
4Q – Walton scored his second TD of the game with 1:32 left in the game. He ran 1 yard untouched to put ACU ahead for good, 62-7. 87 plays, 66 yards, 3:52 
 
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW

• After scoring just 3 points in the first half of its last two games (season-ending loss to University of Virginia in 2020 and season-opening loss to SMU in 2021), ACU turned the tables on LC with 41 points in the first half tonight, sealing its win early.
• Scrambling Wildcat quarterback Peyton Mansell (five for 48 yards) was his team's third-leading rusher for the game after leading ACU on the ground last week against SMU (33 yards).
• LC's futility in the punting game (six kicks for an average of 19.8 yards) caused it to go for it on fourth down in various ways. The visitors were successful on two of those five run-pass attempts.

 
STAT CORNER

• After one quarter, ACU led in total yards (154-6), rushing yards (51-6), passing yards (103-0) first downs (6-1) and on the scoreboard (27-0)
• At the half, ACU led in total offense (287-64), first downs (14-8), rushing yards (115-57), passing yards (172-7) and on the scoreboard (41-7). 
• After three quarters, ACU led in total offense (381-119), first downs (20-10), rushing yards (136-99), passing yards (245-20) and on the scoreboard (48-7). 

 
NOTABLE

• 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. A.B. Morris (67) and Wally Bullington (63) have won the most games in ACU history as head coaches.
• ACU and Louisiana College were each founded in 1906 but have never played one another in football until tonight. LC plays in the Red River Athletic Conference (NAIA, transitioning to NCAA Division III) and is located in Pineville, Louisiana, with an enrollment of 1,224. It is affiliated with the Louisiana Baptist Convention.
• The Wildcats play six regular-season home games in 2021, including three (Louisiana College, Texas-Permian Basin and Central Arkansas) of its first five and its final two (Tarleton State and Sam Houston State) on their schedule.