ABILENE – It would be hard to imagine a game taking a more severe, unexpected turn than what the fans on hand at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium witnessed Saturday afternoon.
ACU dominated the second and third quarters of play, taking a 23-14 lead into halftime and expanding it to 30-14 on the first play of the fourth quarter. But Tarleton reeled off three straight scoring drives and a clock-killing march to end the game and walk out of the stadium with a stunning 31-30 win over the Wildcats in ACU's final home game of the 2023 campaign.
The Wildcats are now 5-5 on the season and 3-3 in the United Athletic Conference heading to Texas A&M next Saturday for the season finale, while the Texans finish their season at 8-3 and 4-2.
ACU trailed 14-10 midway through the second quarter before
Izaiah Kelley stepped in front of a Victor Gabalis pass, picked it off, and returned it 37 yards to give ACU the ball at the Tarleton 38-yard line with 6:19 left in the half. ACU scored eight plays later on an 11-yard pass from
Maverick McIvor to
Blayne Taylor to make it 16-14. But
Kyle Ramsey missed his first PAT of the season after hitting his first 31 attempts of the season.
The Wildcats would score again before the end of the half, the defense would stifle the Texans' offense the rest of the half and through the third quarter, and the Wildcats appeared ready to celebrate a win in their home finale. They capped their final scoring drive of the game on the first play of the fourth quarter on a short
Jordon Vaughn touchdown run, his second of the game, to give ACU what appeared to be an insurmountable lead.
In the second and third quarters – after the interception – Tarleton ran 13 plays that gained just 81 yards and only took 4 minutes, 45 seconds off the clock while being outscored 20-0 by ACU. In that same stretch, the Wildcats ran 32 plays for 216 yards and took 17:05 off the game clock to push its lead to 16 points.
But Gabalis and the Tarleton defense and running game took over in the fourth quarter and ACU's offense couldn't get untracked. The Texans had scoring drives of 63 yards to a field, 68 yards to a touchdown, and 17 yards to the game-winning touchdown after a strip-sack of McIvor. The turnover by the ACU quarterback was only the third lost fumble by a Wildcat this season.
Tarleton State dominated the fourth quarter, racking up 203 yards and three scores on 26 plays while taking 10:14 off the clock. ACU, meanwhile, couldn't muster anything on offense, coming up with just 10 plays for 13 yards in the final 15 minutes.
After falling behind 31-30, the Wildcats moved the ball just eight yards before punting. The Wildcats lost a yard on a third-down run, forcing head coach
Keith Patterson to punt the ball away instead of going for the first down. Tarleton took possession with 5:44 left in the game, and the Texans ran the clock out on the game, ripping off 11 plays and covering 55 yards to run the clock out. Running back Kayvon Britten – who scored three times Saturday – carried the ball six times for 42 yards on the game-sealing drive.
GAME SUMMARY
How They Scored
1Q (13:14) – Tarleton State took the opening kickoff and moved quickly to the game's first scoring, covering 65 yards in just five plays and 1 minute, 46 seconds. Tarleton quarterback Victor Gabalis completed passes of 27 yards to Darius Coper and 20 yards to Jaden Smith on the drive, and Kayvon Britten finished it with a 1-yard TD run.
Scoring Play: Kayvon Britten 1 run (Adrian Guzman kick)
Drive: 5 plays, 65 yards, 1:46 TOP
Tarleton State 7, ACU 0
1Q (9:32) – ACU answered Tarleton State's game-opening score with an impressive drive of its own, with most of the work coming on the ground. Of the 75 yards covered on the drive, 58 of them came on the ground with Jordon Vaughn ripping off a 36-yard run early in the drive before catching a 12-yard pass from
Maverick McIvor.
Jay'Veon Sunday also had a 10-yard run in the drive. Vaughn capped the drive with a 3-yard run, his third rushing touchdown of the season and fourth score overall.
Scoring Play: Jordan Vaughn 3 run (Kyle Ramsey PAT)
Drive: 7 plays, 75 yards, 3:42 TOP
Tarleton State 7, ACU 7
1Q (2:09) – After an exchange of punts, the Texans took over at their 27-yard ine and moved smartly to the go-ahead touchdown, Britten had runs of 8, 7, 5, 2, and 3 yards on the drive, and Gabalis completed a 23-yard pass to Benjamin Omayebu to the ACU 21-yard line on third-and-9. Two plays after that play, Gabalis scored untouched on an 18-yard run.
Scoring Play: Gabalis 18 run (Guzman kick)
Drive: 9 plays, 73 yards, 4:20 TOP
Tarleton State 14, ACU 7
2Q (9:53) – After the Tarleton State touchdown, ACU's offense picked up where it left off, driving 56 yards on 14 plays to a
Kyle Ramsey field goal, his 13th in 13 tries this season. ACU converted 2 of 4 on third down and 1 of 1 on fourth down on the march, including a 12-yard pass to
Tristan Golightly on third-and-8 early in the drive, a McIvor 2-yard run on fourth-and-2, and a Vaughn 11-yard run on third-and-2.
Scoring Play: Ramsey 36 field goal
Drive: 14 plays, 56 yards, 7:16 TOP
Tarleton State 14, ACU 10
2Q (2:43) – The Wildcats took advantage of the game's first turnover to move to the go-ahead score late in the first half. Tarleton led 14-10 and was driving before
Izaiah Kelley stepped in front of an out route intended for running back Caleb Lewis and picked off the Gabalis pass, returning it 37 yards to the Tarleton 38-yard line. ACU needed just eight plays to take its first lead of the day as
Blayne Taylor made an acrobatic touchdown catch from 11 yards out.
Scoring Play: Blayne Taylor 11 pass from McIvor (PAT failed)
Drive: 8 plays, 38 yards, 3:36 TOP
ACU 16, Tarleton State 14
2Q (0:24) – ACU's defense – which allowed just 59 yards on three second-quarter drives by the Texans – forced a quick three-and-out, and the offense was set up in good field position at the ACU 49 after a short, 23-yard punt. McIvor was 3 for 3 for 37 yards on the drive, including a 23-yard completion to Taylor, who made a spectacular grab as he was falling with his back to the end zone. McIvor finished the drive on the next play with a 7-yard rushing touchdown.
Scoring Play: McIvor 7 run (Ramsey PAT)
Drive: 6 plays, 51 yards, 1:27 TOP
ACU 23, Tarleton State 14
4Q (14:57)– The Wildcats took advantage of another Gabalis interception to put more points on the board and push their lead to 30-14. On third-and-4 from his 11, Gabalis threw a slant intended for Keyland Johnson around the 35-yard line. But cornerback Anthony Egbo stepped in front of the pass and picked it off before returning it 17 yards to the Tarleton State 19-yard line. Four plays later, Vaughn scored from two yards out for his second rushing touchdown of the day.
Scoring Play: Vaughn 2 run (Ramsey PAT)
Drive: 4 plays, 19 yards, 2:19 TOP
ACU 30, Tarleton State 14
4Q (11:03) – Tarleton State put together its best drive of the second half after falling behind by 16 points, but was forced to settle for a field goal after a third-down pass into the end zone was knocked away by ACU cornerback
Patrick Jolly. Gabalis was 4 for 7 for 52 yards through the air on the drive that stalled at the ACU 19-yard line. Guzman finished off the drive with a 29-yard field goal.
Scoring Play: Guzman 29 field goal
Drive: 12 plays, 63 yards, 3:54 TOP
ACU 30, Tarleton State 17
4Q (8:53) – ACU's offense went three-and-out on its drive after the Guzman field goal, and on the Texans' first play, Gabalis connected with Omayebu, who broke a couple of tackles near midfield and sprinted down the middle of the field before he was finally tackled by Jolly at the ACU 1-yard line. Britten finished the quick scoring drive with a 1-yard plunge – his second rushing touchdown of the game – to bring the Texans to within six points.
Scoring Play: Britten 1 run (Guzman PAT)
Drive: 2 plays, 68 yards, 0:29 TOP
ACU 30, Tarleton State 24
4Q (7:17) – The Texans completed their climb back from a 16-point deficit, thanks to their biggest defensive play of the game. With ACU facing third-and-6 from its 24-yard line, Josh Griffis sacked McIvor, forcing a fumble that was recovered by Tarleton's Robert Rios at the ACU 22-yard line. Britten scored his third touchdown of the game on the drive's only play as he took the handoff, bounced outside to the right, and went in untouched from 22 yards out.
Scoring Play: Britten 22 run (Guzman PAT)
Drive: 1 play, 22 yards, 0:07 TOP
Tarleton State 31, ACU 30
POST-GAME NOTES
• Before his PAT miss with 2:43 left in the first half Saturday,
Kyle Ramsey was 80 of 81 in his career on PATs. His only miss before Saturday was Dec. 23, 2022, when he missed for the University of Houston in a 23-15 win over Louisiana in the Radiance Technologies Independence Bowl. Before that miss, Ramsey was 47 for 47 in his career on PATs (8 for 8 in 2020, 3 for 3 in 2021, and 36 for his first 36 in 2022). He ended the bowl game making his final two PATs, and carried a streak of 33 straight converted PATs onto the field with 2:43 left in the first half before the miss. He made his final attempt of the first half and then converted one attempt in the second half, and is now 82 for 84 on PATs in his career.
• Before last Saturday's win over Utah Tech, ACU had just nine drives on the season of 10 plays or more. ACU, though, put together scoring drives that took 13, 15, and 15 plays in the victory over the Trailblazers. In Saturday's game against Tarleton State had another 15-play touchdown drive, tying it for the longest drive (by plays) of the season.
• ACU quarterback
Maverick McIvor threw a second-quarter touchdown pass to
Blayne Taylor to give him a touchdown pass in 16 of his 20 career games as the Wildcats' starting quarterback.
QUOTING HEAD COACH KEITH PATTERSON
… on the final seven minutes of the game: "We've had great ball security all year long, and then we get the strip-sack and fumble down there on our end. Even then I felt confident we would take the ball and drive down and go score. I was fully expecting to go for it on fourth-and-1, but there's a big difference between fourth-and-1 and fourth-and-2 or fourth-and-3. I thought, 'There's six minutes to go in this game. We've just got to punt it, pin them deep, and get the ball back.' We got the punt we wanted, but we just let them expire the clock. If we hadn't lost yards on the fourth-and-1, we would have gone for it. But, hats off to those guys at Tarleton. They stuck with it and did what it took to win a football game.
UP NEXT
The Wildcats will close out the 2023 season next Saturday (Nov. 18) when they take on Texas A&M at Kyle Field in College Station. Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. The game can be heard on 106.3 FM The Raider, and it will be carried on SEC Network+.
