ACU keeps WAC title, playoff hopes alive with road win

STEPHENVILLE, Texas – The ACU Wildcats went on the road Saturday night and walked out of Tarleton Memorial Stadium with a hard-fought 28-23 win over Tarleton State. In the process, they kept alive their hopes for a berth in the FCS playoffs.

With their second straight win over the Texans, the Wildcats are now 6-3 overall and 3-0 in the Western Athletic Conference, the only team that remains unbeaten in the WAC. The Wildcats will play next week at Sam Houston State, but the game they have to win to capture the WAC title and earn a possible berth in the playoffs is the Nov. 19 game against Stephen F. Austin at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium on the ACU campus. 

The Wildcats' sixth victory in head coach Keith Patterson's first year is the most by the program since they finished 6-5 in 2018. It's the fourth six-win season, and it clinches the third winning season since the Wildcats moved to NCAA Division I football before the 2013 season.

Redshirt sophomore quarterback Maverick McIvor was terrific, completing 24 of 34 passes for a career-best 385 yards and three scores. That 385-yard effort is the 28th-best passing yardage day in ACU history, and it's the most by an ACU quarterback since Luke Anthony threw for 345 yards against Incarnate Word on Sept. 29, 2018.

The Wildcats were dominated by Tarleton's physical running game in the first quarter, giving up 152 yards on 24 carries on the ground in the first 15 minutes of the contest. However, the teams ended that quarter tied 7-7, and from there, ACU limited the Texans' running game to just 57 yards on only 23 carries.

ACU, meanwhile, had just 68 yards on the ground but came up with five game-ending running plays to seal the win. After Tarleton scored to get to within 28-23 with 2:12 to play (the 2-point conversion pass failed), ACU wide receiver Tristan Golightly recovered the onside kick attempt, giving the Wildcats a chance to run the clock out. 

The Wildcats needed to run the ball to make Tarleton burn its final two timeouts and run the clock out on the game and the win. And they were able to do just that.

Rovaughn Banks picked up gains of 4 yards, 11 yards, 5 yards, 3 yards, and 10 yards to run the clock down to inside of 40 seconds. McIvor kneeled on the ball after that final 10-yard gain, and the Wildcats had their second road win of the season.

GAME SUMMARY

How They Scored

1Q (8:49) – One play after Tarleton State failed to score after driving to the ACU 1-yard line, Maverick McIvor flipped the ball to Davion Johnson on a jet sweep, and Johnson did the rest, splitting two defenders at the 25-yard line and finished off an 80-yard touchdown pass-and-run on the Wildcats' first offensive play of the game.

  Scoring Play: Maverick McIvor 80 pass to Davion Johnson (Blair Zepeda kick)

  Drive: 1 play, 80 yards, 0:13   

ACU 7, Tarleton State 0

1Q (4:38) – On Tarleton State's second drive, the Texans picked up where they left off on their first drive, punishing ACU with the running game. Tarleton scored on a 10-play, 75-yard drive that was an all-running drive. Mookie Douglas capped the scoring drive with a 9-yard touchdown run to get the Texans on the board.

  Scoring Play: Mookie Douglas 9 run (Adrian Guzman kick)

  Drive: 10 plays, 75 yards, 4:11   

ACU 7, Tarleton State 7

2Q (10:40) – After forcing the game's first punt, ACU took over on its 8-yard line and moved smartly to the go-ahead touchdown. ACU converted three third-down plays on the drive, including a 22-yard touchdown pass from Maverick McIvor to Kobe Clark. ACU also took advantage of a 15-yard facemask penalty on Tarleton near midfield. 

  Scoring Play: Maverick McIvor 22 pass to Kobe Clark (Blair Zepeda kick)

  Drive: 10 plays, 92 yards, 4:38   

ACU 14, Tarleton State 7

2Q (5:06) – After ACU's touchdown dive, the Texans responded with a short drive for a field goal to cut the lead to 14-10. The Texans got a 21-yard kickoff return to the 35-yard line and then a 15-yard personal foul penalty on ACU, which moved the ball to the 50. The Texans had first-and-goal inside the 5, but once again, the ACU defense stiffened, forcing the Texans to settle for a field goal. 

  Scoring Play: Adrian Guzman 26 field goal

  Drive: 14 plays, 41 yards, 5:27   

ACU 14, Tarleton State 10

3Q (6:17) – Tarleton grabbed its first lead of the game on a 2-yard shovel pass from Beau Allen to Shawn McFarland, capping a 6-play, 65-yard drive that put the Texans ahead 17-14. The drive's biggest play was a 54-yard shovel pass from Allen to Derrel Kelley on third-and-14 that moved the ball from the Tarleton 31 to the ACU 15. The Texans scored the go-ahead touchdown four plays later.

  Scoring Play: Shawn McFarland 2 pass from Beau Allen (Guzman kick)

  Drive: 6 plays, 65 yards, 3:25   

ACU 14, Tarleton State 17

4Q (14:15) – ACU re-gained the lead early in the fourth quarter as Maverick McIvor and Kobe Clark hooked up for the second time in the game, this time from 19 yards out to give ACU a 21-17 lead. McIvor had a pair of 14-yard completions earlier in the drive: one to Clark and the other to Tristan Golightly as the Wildcats moved downfield to get the lead back.

  Scoring Play: Shawn McFarland 2 pass from Beau Allen (Guzman kick)

  Drive: 8 plays, 63 yards, 4:08 

ACU 21, Tarleton State 17

4Q (5:48) – ACU grabbed its largest lead of the night as Anthony Smith – playing in his first game since the season-opening win over Lamar – scored from two yards out to cap a 76-yard scoring drive to give ACU a 28-17 lead. The biggest play in the drive was a 70-yard completion from Maverick McIvor to Tristan Golightly. He caught the ball over the top of Tarleton cornerback Tayvis Coleman and kept moving down to the Tarleton 2-yard line.

  Scoring Play: Anthony Smith 2 run (Zepeda kick)

  Drive: 4 plays, 76 yards, 1:28 

ACU 28, Tarleton State 17

4Q (2:12) – Tarleton State followed ACU's touchdown drive with a quick touchdown drive to pull back to within 28-23. Beau Allen capped the drive with a 7-yard touchdown pass to Jaden Smith to draw the Texans to within 28-23. The 2-point conversion pass failed, leaving the Wildcats' lead at five points.

  Scoring Play: Jaden Smith 7 pass from Beau Allen (Guzman kick)

  Drive: 11 plays, 75 yards, 3:36

ACU 28, Tarleton State 23

KEY STAT

The 80-yard pass from Maverick McIvor to Davion Johnson on the jet sweep is tied for the 18th-longest touchdown pass in ACU history. The other two 80-yard TD passes in ACU history are a pass from Mitchell Gale to Darian Hogg against Incarnate Word in 2012, and a pass from Stan Stephens to Randy Arnold against Tennessee Tech in 1987. The last time the Wildcats scored from at least 80 yards out on a pass was last season against Jacksonville State, as Peyton Mansell and Kobe Clark hooked up on an 86-yard scoring pass.

POST-GAME NOTES

• Tarleton State took the opening kickoff and moved smartly, pushing the ball down to the ACU 1-yard line. However, a personal foul penalty on Tarleton pushed the ball back to the 16-yard line. However, two 1-yard losses and an incomplete pass left Tarleton with a 36-yard field goal attempt by Adrian Guzman. The kick was wide right, keeping Tarleton off the scoreboard. ACU took over at the 20-yard line and scored from 80 yards on its first offensive snap.

• Kobe Clark's two touchdown catches on the night give him 22 for his career and tie him with the late, great Johnny Perkins (1974-76) for sixth in ACU history. Clark – a senior from Sweetwater – now has three two-touchdown games in his career: Oct. 3, 2020, against Army; Sept. 11, 2021, against Louisiana College; and Saturday night against Tarleton State.

• Tarleton State dominated the first quarter, reeling off 29 plays for 159 total yards to just five plays for 80 yards for ACU. The Texans ran the ball for 152 yards in the first quarter to minus-3 for ACU, holding the ball for 12 minutes 56 seconds to 2:04 for the Wildcats. But at the half, the Wildcats had 223 yards of total offense to 205 for the Texans, who had just 46 yards of offense in the second quarter, including just 26 yards on the ground. ACU had the ball for 9:26 of the second quarter.

• Tristan Golightly finished with seven catches for 117 yards, and Kobe Clark had seven catches for 115 yards and two touchdowns, marking the first time in seven seasons the Wildcats had two 100-yard receivers in the same game. The last time it happened was Oct. 31, 2015, against McNeese State when Cedric Gilbert had three catches for 122 yards, and Carl Whitley had eight catches for 100 yards and one touchdown.

UP NEXT

The Wildcats are back on the road next Saturday afternoon for a non-conference game against Sam Houston State. Kickoff from Bowers Stadium in Huntsville is set for noon. The all-time series is tied 13-13-1, and ACU is 8-7 all-time in Hunstville. However, the Bearkats have dominated the series since ACU moved to NCAA Division I affiliation in 2013. Since 2014 when they resumed their series, the Bearkats are 6-1 against the Wildcats and have won each of the last two games: 24-10 in Abilene in 2019 and 35-9 in Abilene in 2021. ACU's last win in the series was a 17-10 victory in Hunstville on Nov. 10, 2018. Next week's game could be the final matchup between ACU and Sam Houston State for the foreseeable future, as the Bearkats announced last November that they would be moving up FBS football on July 1, 2023, joining Liberty and Jacksonville State in going to Conference USA.

#GoWildcats