No. 11 ACU Finishes Regular Season at Rival SFA

#12/11 ACU (8-3, 7-1 UAC) at Stephen F. Austin (6-5, 4-3 Southland)
Nacogdoches, TX | Homer Bryce Stadium
Saturday, Nov. 23 at 2:00 p.m.

GAME LINKS

• Watch on ESPN+ | Listen on 106.3 The Raider | Live Stats | Keith Patterson Press Conference | ACU Game Notes (PDF)

NACOGDOCHES - Fresh off a last-minute victory to seal the United Athletic Conference championship, the ACU football team travels to old foe Stephen F. Austin knowing their season will not end on Saturday afternoon at 2 p.m.

The Wildcats, ranked No. 12 in the FCS Coaches Poll and No. 11 in the Stats Perform Top 25 this week, defeated Tarleton State 35-31 last week to secure the conference title and an automatic spot in the FCS Playoffs.

ACU's defense stuffed the Texans inside the 10-yard line to force a field goal. Down 31-28, the Wildcat offense had 1:48 to work with and no timeouts. Quarterback Maverick McIvor dinked-and-dunked his team down the field until he found J.J. Henry open over the middle for a 24-yard gain down to the one.

Two plays later Sam Hicks ran out of the backfield and caught the game-winning touchdown which put ACU on top, and the defense knocked down a last-second Hail Mary pass from Tarleton State.

The Wildcats earned their first conference championship since 2010, and are heading to a postseason for the first time since 2011. But both of those accomplishments were at the tail end of ACU's Division II days. Now in Division I, these Wildcats are making history.

Saturday's game at Stephen F. Austin is a non-conference matchup because the Lumberjacks abruptly left the Western Athletic Conference and the UAC to move back to the Southland Conference during the summer. This will mark the fourth straight season that ACU has traveled to Nacogdoches to play SFA. The teams played a home-and-home during the 2022 season. 

SFA leads the overall series 13-12. In their 11 meetings as Division I programs, eight games have been decided by one score with the Wildcats and 'Jacks each winning four of those eight.

No matter the result ACU is assured a spot in the 24-team FCS Playoffs, but a victory would strengthen their season resume for a possible first-round home game or an opening-weekend bye and a home game in round two.

A watch party for the playoff selection show is being held on the 3rd floor Brown Family Club Level of Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium.

The event begins a 10:30 a.m. with a chapel service and message, followed by interviews with players and coaches. The selection show is from 11:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m. on ESPNU. Head coach Keith Patterson is scheduled to be interviewed live on ESPNU during the show.

The Wildcat Football Watch Party is presented by First Financial Bank.











LAST TIME OUT

• ACU pulled off a second straight comeback victory with a 35-31 win at Tarleton State last Saturday. That result won the United Athletic Conference championship and earned the Wildcats a spot in the FCS playoffs which begin Nov. 30.
• ACU's defense held Tarleton State to a field goal attempt to take a 31-28 lead with 1:48 remaining. Maverick McIvor went 9-for-9, excluding three spikes, on the ensuing drive with no timeouts and hit Sam Hicks for a 1-yard TD pass with 0:19 left for the winning score.
• McIvor finished with 391 yards, his second highest total, 3 TD and zero INT. It was his 5th game of this season with 300+ yards and 3 TD.
• Hicks totaled 175 total yards (137 rushing, 38 receiving) and 2 total TD. He was named UAC Offensive Player of the Week.
• WR Blayne Taylor set a new career-high with 168 yards.
• LB Will Shaffer led ACU with 13 tackles and was named UAC Defensive Player of the Week.

ANOTHER RECORD BROKEN

• ACU's win at Tarleton was their 8th of the year, which broke the record for most wins in a single-season in the Div. I era.
• ACU went 7-4 in 2022 - which was Keith Patterson's first year as head coach - and had won 6 games four times since the transition to D-1.

MAGNIFICENT MAVERICK

• QB Maverick McIvor increased his lead for most passing yards in the FCS. He has 3,604 yards entering Saturday.
• McIvor's 28 TD and 5 INT is the best TD:INT ratio of the top 10 passers.
• In ACU's career records, he needs 147 yards, and 18 completions, to climb to 4th place in each respective category.
• McIvor has thrown 4 TD of at least 70 yards this season.
• McIvor has started 31 games and has thrown for 250+ yards in 10 of ACU's 11 games this season.

QUICK HITS

• The Wildcats are on their first 4-game winning streak of the Keith Patterson era. ACU's last 4-game winning streak was during the 2018 season.
• The Wildcats are nationally ranked for the eleventh straight week. They've been inside the top 20 each of the past ten weeks.

AN ACU WIN WOULD...

• Push ACU's win streak to 5 games for the first time since 2010 when the Wildcats won their first 11 games.
• Give ACU 3 road wins in a 3-week span for the second time in program history. In 1929, Abilene Christian won 4 road games in a 4-week span (at SE Oklahoma St., Texas Tech, SW Oklahoma St., and Daniel Baker College).
• Improve ACU's road record to 5-2 this season.
• Make Keith Patterson 20-9 vs. FCS teams in his 3 seasons as ACU's head coach.
• Strengthen ACU's resume for a possible home game in the first round of the FCS Playoffs on Nov. 30.