Dobbins, defense lead Wildcats to 26-10 road win

ST. GEORGE, Utah – ACU sophomore running back Jermiah Dobbins ran for a game-high 130 yards and three second-half touchdowns Saturday night, and the Wildcats' defense pitched a second-half shutout en route to a 26-10 win over Utah Tech at Greater Zion Stadium.

The win pushes the Wildcats to 4-1 overall and 1-0 in the Western Athletic Conference, their best start to a season since the 2011 team ran out to a 5-1 start. ACU is off to the best start in the program's NCAA Division I era, which began in 2013.

The Wildcats sputtered offensively in the first half, posting just 147 yards of total offense and two field goals, and went to the locker room trailing the Trailblazers, 10-6. 

That lead by the Trailblazers didn't last long, however, as ACU's offensive line, Dobbins, and quarterback Maverick McIvor began moving the ball in the second half. At the same time, ACU's defense pitched a shutout over the final 30 minutes. Dobbins scored on runs of 5, 12, and 10 yards in the second half and ran for 87 yards on 14 carries in the final 20 minutes to lead the ACU offense.

Dobbins – who ran the ball 18 times for 105 yards in last week's home win over Western New Mexico – is the first ACU running back since Tracy James in 2019 to rush for more than 100 yards in back-to-back games. James ran for 118 yards against Houston Baptist on Oct. 12, 2019, and another 105 against Stephen F. Austin on Oct. 19, 2019.

McIvor – who started each of the first four games – came off the bench Saturday night in Utah and finished the game 7 for 12 for 148 yards through the air. Ethan Long – who replaced McIvor early in last week's win over WNMU and played the rest of the way – got the start Saturday at Utah Tech but completed just 8 of 23 passes for 92 yards before giving way to McIvor to start the second half.

ACU finished the second half with 291 yards of offense (440 for the game), including 122 on the ground. Jovaughn Banks Jr. had 19 carries for 71 yards for the Wildcats, who entered the game averaging 156.3 yards per game on the ground. 

The ACU defense – continuing a season-long trend – got better the longer the game went. Utah Tech took advantage of an ACU fumble deep in its territory to score its only touchdown of the game but didn't do much else when it had the football.

ACU – No. 1 in the league in scoring defense at 17.0 points per game entering the contest – allowed just those 10 points and just 146 yards of offense in the second half. The Trailblazers netted 74 of those yards on two fourth-quarter plays: a 43-yard catch by Joey Hobert and a 31-yard run by Jeter Fenton.

The Wildcats outscored the Trailblazers 20-0 in the second half, including 13-0 in the fourth quarter where they have outscored opponents 55-3 this season.

GAME SUMMARY

How They Scored

1Q (7:53) – Utah Tech received the opening kickoff and moved smartly, holding the ball for the first 7:07 of the contest before the drive stalled at the ACU 5-yard line. Connor Brooksby ended the drive with a 21-yard field goal to give the Trailblazers a 3-0 lead. Utah Tech was 3 for 4 on third-down plays on the drive.

  Drive: 16 plays, 70 yards, 7:07. Connor Brooksby 21 FG. 

ACU 0, Utah Tech 3

2Q (7:40) – The Wildcats put together its longest drive of the season in terms of plays and time of possession with a 16-play, 64-yard drive that took 8:39 off the clock. ACU's previous longest drive of the season was 12 plays (twice vs. Lamar and once last week vs. Western New Mexico) and 7:16 time of possession (vs. Lamar). The drive ended with a 37-yard field goal by Blair Zepeda.

  Drive: 16 plays, 64 yards, 8:39. Blair Zepeda 37 FG. 

ACU 3, Utah Tech 3

2Q (5:53) – Utah Tech took advantage of a fumble by Rovaugn Banks Jr. deep in ACU territory to take a 10-3 lead. Dylan Hendrickson recovered the Banks fumble at the ACU 20-yard line, and three plays later, Quali Conley scored from 15 yards out on third-and-10 to give Utah Tech a 10-3 lead.

  Drive: 3 plays, 20 yards, 0:13. Quali Conley 15 run; Connor Brooksby PAT. 

ACU 3, Utah Tech 10

2Q (0:38) – ACU put together another long drive, but again had to settle for a field goal. The Wildcats drove 14 plays for 62 yards, taking 5:15 off the clock before Zepeda hit a 30-yard field goal to make it a 10-6 game. The drive's biggest play was a 15-yard pass from Ethan Long to Kendall Catalon on third-and-4 from the Utah Tech 28-yard line.

  Drive: 14 plays, 62 yards, 5:15. Blair Zepeda 30 FG

ACU 6, Utah Tech 10

3Q (6:33) – ACU took its first lead of the night on a 5-yard touchdown run by Jermiah Dobbins, capping a 64-yard drive that pushed the Wildcats in front, 13-10. The two biggest plays came on back-to-back snaps when Utah Tech's Jayden Sheridan was called for pass interference on third-and-6 from the ACU 40. On the next play – from the Utah Tech 45 – Maverick McIvor hit Blayne Taylor for 40 yards down to the 5-yard line. Dobbins scored on the next play.

  Drive: 5 plays, 64 yards, 1:24. Jermiah Dobbins 5 run; Blair Zepeda PAT.

ACU 13, Utah Tech 10

4Q (10:56) – The Wildcats expanded their lead to two scores early in the fourth quarter as Dobbins scored his second rushing touchdown of the night, this time a 12-yarder to push the lead to 20-10. The drive's biggest play came on third-and-14 from the Utah Tech 48 when Maverick McIvor hit Kobe Clark for 20 yards to the Utah Tech 28. Dobbins followed with runs of 16 and 12 yards to finish off the drive.

  Drive: 9 plays, 64 yards, 3:51. Jermiah Dobbins 12 run; Blair Zepeda PAT.

ACU 20, Utah Tech 10

4Q (2:48) – Jermiah Dobbins put the game away late in the fourth quarter with a 10-yard touchdown run, his third touchdown run of the game, all coming in the second half. The big play on the drive was a 32-yard pass from Maverick McIvor to Tristan Golightly down to the Utah Tech 16-yard line. Dobbins scored two plays later from 10 yards out.

  Drive: 4 plays, 50 yards, 1:35. Jermiah Dobbins 10 run; PAT blocked.

ACU 26, Utah Tech 10

KEY STAT

Jermiah Dobbins – who ran for 130 yards and three touchdowns against the Trailblazers – is the first ACU running back to rush for more than 100 yards and score three touchdowns since Sept. 26, 2015, when De'Andrew Brown ran for 132 yards and scored three times in ACU's 35-32 win over Stephen F. Austin at Shotwell Stadium.

TURNING POINT

Early in the fourth quarter, ACU failed to convert on third-and-4 from the Utah Tech 38, but Rafiti Ghirmani was penalized for holding. Utah Tech elected to take the penalty, even though ACU was trotting placekicker Blair Zepeda onto the field for a 55-yard attempt. However, with new life and third-and-14 from the 48, Maverick McIvor connected with Kobe Clark on a 20-yard completion to the Utah Tech 28, keeping the drive alive. Jeremiah Dobbins followed with a 16-yard run and a 12-yard touchdown scamper to push ACU's lead to 20-10 with 10:56 left in the fourth quarter.

QUOTING COACH PATTERSON

On what he saw from his team Saturday night: "The same thing we've seen all year long. We showed a lot of resiliency when things weren't going very smoothly in the first half. We tried to get some momentum in the second half and got into a rhythm while we continued to play a very stout game on the defensive side of the ball." 

On his team's second-half performances this season: "It's a belief our guys have because they have confidence in what we're doing. We're making sound adjustments throughout the game; it's not just at halftime. Our kids are buying into what we're asking of them."

On the performance of Jermiah Dobbins: "He's made the most of the opportunities he's been given. He's got great balance and he's gotten better and better as we've progressed through the season. I like what we've got going with him and Rovaughn Banks."

WHAT IT MEANS

At 4-1, the Wildcats are off to the program's best start in the NCAA Division I era, which began in 2013. It also means that ACU has already recorded more wins than in four of its previous nine seasons at the Division I level (3-8 in 2015, 2-9 in 2016, 2-9 in 2017, and 1-5 in 2020).

POST-GAME NOTES

• ACU senior wide receiver Kobe Clark continued his march to the all-time receptions record Saturday night with four more catches for 54 yards. He now has 227 career catches and needs nine more to break the all-time school record for receptions of 235 set by ACU running backs coach Jerale Badon from 2004-07. His 54 yards give him 2,477 career yards, moving him past both Arthur Culpepper ( 2,451 yards from 1983-86) and Ronnie Vinson (2,431 from 1969-71) on the list.

• Blair Zepeda's two first-half field goals give him 36 for his career, keeping him fifth on ACU's all-time list. His eight points in the game give him 206 career points, making him just the fifth placekicker in 101 yards of ACU football to top 200 career points. He is now 10th in ACU history in scoring with 206 points and needs just five points to surpass former running back Charcandrick West (210 points from 2010-13) for ninth on the all-time scoring list.

• The Wildcats have had trouble scoring in the first quarter all season, and that continued Saturday night as they were held scoreless by Utah Tech, which had a field goal to take a 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter. ACU has now been outscored 45-20 this season in the first quarter.

• Utah Tech's 3-0 lead at the end of the first quarter was only the second time in five games this season that the Trailblazers have led at the end of the first 15 minutes of play. Utah Tech's only previous lead at the end of the first quarter was a 7-0 lead over NCAA Division II Chadron State (Neb.) on Sept. 10.

• The last ACU player to rush for three touchdowns in a game before Dobbins did it Saturday night was quarterback Dallas Sealey in a 45-20 win over Incarnate Word at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium on Sept. 30, 2017. 

• Former running back Herschel Sims was the last ACU running back to score three touchdowns in a game, which he did in a 40-36 loss at Northern Colorado on Nov. 21, 2015.

• With the win, ACU improves to 4-5 all-time in games played on Oct. 1. Here's the breakdown:

     > 1937 – lost to Saint Mary's, 38-0

     > 1955 – lost to Louisiana Tech, 21-7

     > 1960 – def. Lamar, 20-7

     > 1966 – def. McMurry, 28-7

     > 1988 – def. Eastern New Mexico, 21-17

     > 1994 – lost to Eastern New Mexico, 20-9

     > 2005 – lost to SE Oklahoma State, 42-24

     > 2016 – lost to Central Arkansas, 58-27

     > 2022 – def. Utah Tech, 26-10

UP NEXT

The Wildcats will be back on the road next Saturday as they take on Stephen F. Austin in a non-conference game for both teams. Each team needed an extra game after Incarnate Word backed out of the Western Athletic Conference to stay in the Southland Conference and scheduled a non-conference game for 6 p.m. next Saturday at Homer Bryce Stadium in Nacogdoches. The Lumberjacks a 2-3 on the season after Saturday's heartbreaking 17-16 loss to rival Sam Houston State in the Battle of the Piney Woods at NRG Stadium in Houston. The series goes back to 1973 and the teams have split 22 meetings with SFA winning each of the last two games: 35-32 (OT) in 2020 at Globe Life Park in Arlington, and 41-27 last season in Nacogdoches. ACU is 3-5 against SFA since making the move to NCAA Division I affiliation in 2013, and is 4-7 all-time in Nacogdoches. The teams will play their WAC game on Saturday, Nov. 19, at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium in the final game of the regular season.

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