Defense holds its ground in 21-13 win over Prairie View A&M

ABILENE, Texas – ACU's defense held Prairie View A&M scoreless in the second half Saturday night and the offense responded with two touchdowns as the Wildcats rallied for a 21-13 win over the Panthers in front of 6,236 fans at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium.

The Wildcats improved to 2-0 on the season under first-year head coach Keith Patterson, the first time they've started 2-0 since 2013. This season marks the first time the Wildcats have opened a season with two wins over NCAA Division I programs; the two wins in 2013 were against NAIA and NCAA Division III opponents.

ACU trailed 13-7 at halftime, but the Wildcats' defense turned the game in the second half, forcing four punts, taking the ball over once on downs, and putting an end to the game with a stop near midfield on the final play of the game. All four of Prairie View's second-half punts came at the end of three-and-out drives by the offense.

While the ACU defense was putting the clamps on the Panthers, the ACU offense was able to dig itself out of a hole brought on by up-and-down first-half play. Quarterback Maverick McIvor threw three interceptions in the opening half but rallied to lead two fourth-quarter scoring drives and lead ACU to the comeback win.

McIvor's 8-yard scoring pass to tight end Noah Caldwell gave ACU its first lead of the game, 14-13, with 11:27 left in the game. PVAM then went three-and-out, turning the ball back over to ACU at its own 48 after a 35-yard punt and 11-yard return by Kendall Catalon. McIvor led a 10-play, 48-yard drive that took 4:49 off the clock and capped it with a 2-yard scoring on third-and-goal, giving ACU a 21-13 lead with 5:05 to play.

Prairie View took over for the final time in the game at its own 1-yard line with 1:07 to play and got the ball out to its own 49-yard line before ACU put a stop to the drive and the game.
 

ACU sophomore defensive end Tyrin Bradley led the Wildcats with 10 tackles (three solo), two tackles for loss, and one quarterback hurry. Freshman linebacker Reese Young had six tackles (four solo), one sack, one tackle for loss, and one quarterback hurry. And cornerback Abner Dubar finished with eight tackles (all solo) and one interception.
 

After completing 11 of 19 passes for 151 yards, one touchdown, and those three interceptions in the first half, McIvor finished the game 20 of 34 for 225 yards, two touchdowns through the air the game-clinching 2-yard touchdown run.                                                                  

GAME SUMMARY

How They Scored

1Q (10:24) – The Panthers grabbed a 7-0 lead less than three minutes into the game when quarterback Trazon Connley hit receiver Jailon Howard for a 26-yard touchdown pass on the opening drive of the game. The drive was kept alive thanks to a personal foul penalty on ACU's Elijah Moffett when he hit Ty Holden out of bounds after a seven-yard gain on third-and-10.

     Drive: 9 plays, 75 yards, 2:42. Luis Reyes PAT. ACU 0, Prairie View A&M 7

1Q (2:09) – The Wildcats got the game tied late in the first quarter when quarterback Maverick McIvor hit tight end Jed Castles for a 15-yard catch-and-run touchdown. The drive was set up when ACU blocked a 47-yard field goal attempt by Luis Reyes. Anthony Egbo Jr. blocked the field goal and recovered it to keep the ACU deficit at 7-0 and set up the Wildcats' offense.

    Drive: 7 plays, 61 yards, 2:24. Blair Zepeda PAT. ACU 7, Prairie View A&M 7

2Q (11:17) – The Panthers regained the lead on a 46-yard field goal by Luis Reyes. The Panthers converted two third-down plays and moved the chains on a fourth-and-1 on an ACU penalty. On third-and-17 from the PVAM 18-yard line, Tarzan Connley completed a 23-yard pass to Bernard Goodwater to keep the drive alive.

    Drive: 13 plays, 46 yards, 5:52. ACU 7, Prairie View A&M 10

2Q (0:00) – The Panthers pushed their lead to six points at halftime on a 47-yard field goal by Luis Reyes as time expired in the first half. The drive was set up by a Warren Shankle interception, the Panthers' third pick of the first half.

    Drive: 6 plays, 20 yards, 0:47. ACU 7, Prairie View A&M 13

4Q (11:27) – The Wildcats took their first lead of the game on a third-and-8 touchdown pass from Maverick McIvor to Noah Caldwell, McIvor's second passing touchdown of the game. The Wildcats converted three third-down plays, including the touchdown pass. The first of those third-down conversions was a 19-yard completion from McIvor to Zarak Scruggs on third-and-7 from the ACU 48.

    Drive: 10 plays, 70 yards, 3:48. Blair Zepeda PAT. ACU 14, Prairie View A&M 13

4Q (5:05) – Maverick McIvor capped a 10-play, 48-yard scoring drive with a 2-yard touchdown run that gave the Wildcats its biggest lead of the night. ACU converted its only two third-down plays of the drive, including on the touchdown run. The first third-down conversion was a 6-yard pass from McIvor to Colt Cooper for six yards on third-and-5 from the PVAM 43 early in the drive.

    Drive: 10 plays, 48 yards, 4:49. Blair Zepeda PAT. ACU 21, Prairie View A&M 13

TURNING POINT

Leading 13-7 midway through the third quarter, Prairie View A&M had a chance to take a two-score lead but made a curious decision to pass up a field goal, a call that came back to haunt the Panthers. Facing fourth-and-4 from the ACU 21-yard line, PVAM passed on a 38-yard field goal attempt and went for the first down. Prairie View A&M kicker Luis Reyes made field goals from 46 and 47 yards in the second quarter but wasn't given the chance to push his team's lead to 16-7. Instead, on fourth down, quarterback Trazon Conley's pass for Jailon Howard was incomplete, giving the ball to the Wildcats with 4:20 left in the quarter. That was as close as the Panthers would get to the end zone the rest of the night.

KEY STAT

After gaining 209 yards on 45 plays in the first half, the Panthers gained just 124 yards on 28 plays in the second half (4.4 yards per play). In the opening half, the Panthers had five pass plays of at least 20 yards and three running plays of at least 12 yards. In the second half, they had just one passing play of more than 20 yards and two rushing plays of more than 15 yards as ACU's defense shut down the PVAM offense.

QUOTING COACH PATTERSON

    General assessment: "This is a growing process for us. We played a team that went 7-5 last year and won their first game by a large margin. They're very athletic and play with a lot of confidence, and I can't say enough about how hard Prairie View competed tonight."

    ACU's defensive effort: "I know we gave up some big plays early in the game, which was frustrating and we have to learn to come out of the gate quicker, but that happens with an inexperienced young defense. But I like the way that when stuff happens and we've gotten behind, our defense just keeps getting better and better as the game goes along. There was a little bit of an unknown about how they would attack us with the passing game, but I like the way we responded. There was no panic on the sideline; our guys just kept playing and that's what we have to continue to do."

WHAT IT MEANS

The Wildcats are now 4-0 all-time against Prairie View A&M with wins in 1995 (35-0), 1996 (30-14), and 2013 (65-45) ahead of Saturday night's victory.

POST-GAME NOTES

•  Senior wide receiver Kobe Clark had two catches for 35 yards Saturday night, giving him 213 career catches for 2,313 career yards. He is third all-time in catches, two behind Taylor Gabriel for second place and eighth in career yards, 10 yards short of tying Josh Fink for seventh place (2,323 yards from 2016-19).

•  The Panthers were 2 for 8 for nine yards in the air last week in their win over Texas Southern but completed 12 of 26 passes for 164 yards and one touchdown in the first half Saturday night. Quarterback Trazon Connley completed 20 of 37 passes for 240 yards against the Wildcats.

•  Prairie View A&M is led by first-year head coach Bubba McDowell, who was drafted in 1989 by the Houston Oilers and played in the NFL until 1995. He's been on the Prairie View staff for the previous 10 years, including the last four as assistant head coach. He picked up the first win of his coaching career last week with a 40-23 win over Texas Southern.

•  As part of Saturday night's Military Appreciation Night festivities, 14 individuals took the Military Oath of Enlistment at halftime, joining the United States Air Force.

UP NEXT

The Wildcats will hit the road for the first time in 2022 when they travel to Columbia, Missouri, to take on the Missouri Tigers from the Southeastern Conference. The Tigers are 1-1 after Saturday's 40-12 loss at Kansas State. The Wildcats are 0-2 all-time in games against SEC opponents: a 40-6 loss at Arkansas on Sept. 18, 1948, in the first game at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock, Arkansas; and a 45-7 loss at Mississippi State in 2019.

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