BEAUMONT, TEXAS – Abilene Christian University's quarterback duo of
Stone Earle and
Peyton Mansell flummoxed Lamar University and the Wildcat defense scored twice in a 56-0 thrashing of the Cardinals on Saturday night in Provost Umphrey Stadium.
Earle, a redshirt freshman, threw three first-half touchdowns and Mansell, a redshirt sophomore, ran for 107 yards to power ACU's first shutout in seven years and first road whitewash in 15 seasons.
Abilene Christian (3-1) and Lamar (2-2) were playing their first of two games against each other in 2021, although this game does not count toward each team's Western Athletic Conference record. The two longtime rivals meet again Oct. 17 in Abilene.
ACU rolled up 461 total yards on offense and for the third straight game, eclipsed the 200-yard mark (274) in rushing. They held Lamar's dangerous triple-option attack to 136 total yards, including just 42 in the second half, when ACU scored on three of its first four drives to put the home team away.
The Wildcats were not flagged for a penalty all night, downed their only punt of the game at the Lamar 1-yard line, returned an interception for a touchdown for the second consecutive game, and held Lamar's triple-option offense to just 94 yards before halftime and only 4 yards in the third quarter. Eight different ACU players scored TDs.
After scoring three times in 1:38 the week before, the Wildcats reprised their microwave touch on offense, finding the end zone twice in a little over two minutes of the first quarter, and twice again in a 30-second span of the second quarter.
The Wildcats stopped Lamar on its opening drive of the game, a sign of what was to come.
They then marched nearly the length of the field on their first drive of the night, highlighted by quarterback
Peyton Mansell rumbling for 16 yards and into the red zone on a first-down play in Cardinal territory. Two plays later, Earle threw his ninth TD pass of the season, a 13-yarder to wide receiver
Jordan Brooks-Wess.
The 90-yard drive was ACU's longest of the season.
On the first play of LU's ensuing drive, ACU's
Jordan Paup, the reigning WAC Defensive Player of the Week, recovered a fumble for the second straight game, pouncing on a faulty handoff at the Cardinal 23-yard line.
Four plays later, a scrambling Earle found wide receiver
Darius Lewis streaking across the end zone for an 11-yard TD pass play, building ACU's lead to 14-0.
On Lamar's next drive, ACU forced the Cardinals to misfire for the first time this season on a first 4
th-down conversion – LU had been six-for-six in 2021. The ball turned over on downs to the Wildcats with 6:36 left.
Abilene Christian's lead grew to 21-0 with 1:39 left in the half, when Clark caught a short pass from Earle and ran 9 yards untouched for his fifth TD of the season
On 1
st-and-23 for Lamar and deep in its own territory late in the second quarter, cornerback
Ryan Stapp intercepted a tipped pass thrown by quarterback Jalen Dummett and returned it 25 yards for ACU's fourth TD of the half with 59 seconds left, pushing the lead to 28-0.
Stapp's pick-6 was his team's second in two games.
ACU continued its high-energy performance after halftime, starting the third quarter with TDs on three of its first four drives.
The Wildcats wasted no time on the first, covering 81 yards in just three plays of their opening drive, and all standouts: Earle passes of 32 yards to
Tyrese White and 14 yards to Louis, and
Jermiah Dobbins' 35-yard sprint to the end zone. The new score was 35-0 with just 1:23 of time removed from the third-quarter clock.
White, a hometown football hero from nearby Hamshire-Fannett High School, ran 1 yard for ACU's next TD. Mansell did the same on the following drive.
Zepeda missed a 43-yard field goal attempt on the next drive but the Wildcat defense lit the scoreboard for a second time on the night when cornerback
Koy Richardson returned a Cardinal fumble 25 yards for ACU's eighth and final TD of the game.
The 56 points were ACU's most in a NCAA Division I game since 2014, when the Wildcats beat Houston Baptist 59-14, the first shutout since a 21-0 win over Incarnate Word in 2014, and the first shutout on the road since another 21-0 blanking in 2006 of Eastern New Mexico.
Clark caught four passes for 50 yards and one TD to lead the Wildcats. White ran for 82 yards and one TD, and Dobbins added 46 yards and a TD in his first action of the season for ACU. Earle completed 13 of 18 passes for 185 yards and three TDs.
On defense, Wildcat linebacker
Tory Hargrove had seven tackles, while linebacker
Chike Nwankwo and defensive lineman
Landon Eades added 6 each.
Lamar was led in rushing by Hunter Batten's 29 yards on seven carries. Dummett completed four of seven passes for 38 yards, and was sacked twice.
ACU hosts Central Arkansas next Saturday in Wildcat Stadium, the first game of the WAC/ASUN Challenge series in 2011. Kickoff is at 6 p.m. CST on Anthony Field.
PLAYS THAT MATTERED
1Q – With 6:97 left in the quarter,
Jordan Brooks-Wess caught a 13-yard TD pass from
Stone Earle.
Blair Zepeda's successful PAT kick gave ACU a 7-0 lead. Scoring drive: 10 plays, 90 yards, 4:34
1Q – Earle tossed an 11-yard TD pass to
Darius Lewis at the 4:22 mark, increasing the lead to 14-0. 4 plays, 23 yards, 2:09
2Q –
Kobe Clark caught a 9-yard TD pass from Earle with 1:39 left in the half. 2 plays, 23 yards, 0:47
2Q –
Ryan Stapp's pick-6 traversed 25 yards and gave ACU a 28-0 first-half lead with 59 seconds left. 1 play, 13 yards, 0:38
3Q –
Jermiah Dobbins raced 35 yards with 13:33 left, extending the Wildcat lead to 35-0. 3 plays, 81 yards, 1:23
3Q –
Tyrese White ran 1 yard for a TD with 9:03 left to make it 42-0. 5 plays, 58 yards, 2:12
3Q –
Peyton Mansell ran 1 yard for a TD with 4:34 left to make it 49-0. 4 plays plays, 65 yards, 2:11
4Q – ACU's
Koy Richardson returned a fumble 25 yards for a TD with 9:41 left to make the final score 56-0.
THREE THINGS YOU NEED TO KNOW
STAT CORNER
- Koy Richardson's fumble return for a TD tonight was ACU's first since Sept. 14, 2013, when Nick Finney went 18 yards with one against New Mexico Highlands.
- Lamar had been successful on all (six) of its 4th-down conversion attempts in 2021, until tonight.
- ACU gained 218 of its game-high 461 yards of offense in the decisive third quarter, scoring three TDs while holding Lamar to a total of 4 yards on 9 plays.
- After one quarter, ACU led in first downs (8-5), passing yards (71-5), total yards (203-94) and the scoreboard (28-0). Lamar led in rushing yards (65-64) and time of possession (8:17 to 6:43).
- At the half, ACU led in first downs (12-7), passing yards (139-29), total yards (113-64) and the scoreboard (28-0). Lamar led in rushing yards (59-42) and time of possession (16:40 to 13:20).
NOTABLE
- The Wildcats are playing in their 100th season in 2021. Abilene Christian did not play football from 1943-45 because of World War II. The WAC is the seventh conference in which ACU has been a member since its first season in 1919. It was an independent from 1919-23, 1954, 1957-63 and 2013, the latter when transitioning to NCAA Division I.
- 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.
- ACU's last game against Lamar was in 2019 – the first collegiate start for Wildcat dual-threat quarterback Sema'J Davis. He ran for 61 yards and passed for 159 yards and two TDs, although the Cardinals rallied late for a 27-24 win in Beaumont.
- The Cardinals lead the all-time series with Abilene Christian, 14-8. ACU's last win over Lamar was Oct. 17, 1970, when senior Jim Lindsey led the team to a 42-17 victory, their fifth-straight en route to a 9-2 season when the Wildcat quarterback became college football's career passing leader.
- The first Southland Conference game was played between ACU and Lamar in 1964 when this same field was called Cardinal Stadium, and was brand-new. Its record attendance of 18,500 was recorded in a 1980 LU game vs. Baylor.
- Lamar closed its football program in 1989 and reinstated it in 2010.
#GoWildcats
