No. 15 seed ACU (8-4, 7-1 UAC) vs. Northern Arizona (8-4, 6-2 Big Sky)
Abilene, TX | Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium
FCS Playoffs - Round 1
Saturday, Nov. 30Â at 2:00 p.m.
GAME LINKS
ABILENE - In a season of many 'firsts', the ACU football team checks one more off the list on Saturday afternoon. The Wildcats will not play only their first postseason game of their Division I era - but also host it.
ACU welcomes Northern Arizona in to Wildcat Stadium for a 2 p.m. kickoff in an FCS Playoffs first round matchup.
The Wildcats - champions of the United Athletic Conference - earned the No. 15 seed from the selection committee and get a home game in the opening round against unseeded NAU.
ACU is coming off a 32-19 setback at Stephen F. Austin last Saturday to end the regular season. The Wildcats had already won the UAC title and knew they were heading to the postseason no matter the result. Backup QB
Carson Haggard played the second half and threw two touchdown passes, including a 74-yard catch-and-run by Nehemiah Martinez.Â
This week QB
Maverick McIvor was named a finalist for FCS Offensive Player of the Year (Walter Payton Award), LB
Will Shaffer for FCS Defensive Player of the Year (Buck Buchanan Award) and head coach
Keith Patterson for FCS Coach of the Year (Eddie Robinson Award). ACU is one of just six schools to have a finalist in all three awards.
Northern Arizona has won five straight games including last week's 30-18 victory over Eastern Washington. The Lumberjacks held tough with Arizona, falling 22-10 in the second game of the season. They have lost to three top-15 teams -- UIW, Idaho and Montana -- all on the road. NAU did defeat Sacramento State, which was ranked No. 10 at the time, 36-14 on Sept. 28.
This is the Lumberjacks' 6th appearance in the FCS playoffs and the first since 2017. QB Ty Pennington was named the Big Sky Conference Newcomer of the Year this week. Thirteen players were named to all-conference teams.
ACU's last playoff game was in 2011 during the program's next-to-last season of Division II competition. The Wildcats have not win a postseason contest since the first round of the 2009 Div. II playoffs - a 24-21 victory over Midwestern State in Wichita Falls.
The winner of this game advances to round two to face No. 2 seeded North Dakota State in Fargo, ND, on Saturday, Dec. 7 at 2 p.m. CT.
LAST TIME OUT
- ACU sputtered out of the gate and took one on the chin at Stephen F. Austin, 32-19 last week. The Wildcats trailed 16-0 until QB Maverick McIvor connected with TE Jed Castles for a 9-yard TD with 4:42 remaining in the 2nd quarter.
- QB Carson Haggard played the second half and threw for 187 yards, including a 74-yd TD to Nehemiah Martinez.
- Martinez has 10 receiving TD this season -- T-9th highest total in program history. He and Blayne Taylor have each caught 65 passes which is 8th most for a single season.
- RB Sam Hicks went over 1,000 rushing yards for the season in the loss at SFA. Hicks has the single-season rushing record for ACU's Division I era with 1,011 entering Saturday.
- DL Chris Wright forced a fumble, which LB Cirby Coheley recovered, and blocked a 55-yard FG attempt.
- ACU forced SFA's offense to go 3-for-16 on 3rd down conversions. The 16% conversion rate is a season-low for ACU's opponents.
CATS IN CRUNCH TIME
- ACU has had seven games decided in the final three minutes. Of those seven, ACU has gone 5-2 with successful late-game situations in six of those games. The Wildcats have mounted three 4th quarter comeback victory.
      Game           Score           Time Left           Outcome     Â
   8/31   @ TTU   Down 45-42   2:39           Made FG to force OT
   9/14   @ UNC   Down 22-21   1:10           Made FG to win
   10/5   vs. UCA   Up 41-34       1:11           INT to seal victory
   11/2   vs. SUU   Up 28-25       2:41           FR to seal victory
   11/9   @ APSU   Down 34-28   6:19           TD pass on 4th & 9
                            Up 35-34       3:09           4th down stop
   11/16   @ TAR   Down 31-28   1:48           75-yd TD drive to win
                             Up 35-31       0:19           Knocked down Hail Mary
PAIR OF ACES
- ACU's two players who wear jersey No. 1 -- QB Maverick McIvor and LB Will Shaffer -- were both named finalists for their respective FCS player of the year awards this week.
- McIvor is one of 35 finalists for the Walter Payton Award, given to the FCS offensive player of the year and nicknamed "The FCS Heisman."
- Shaffer is one of 35 finalists for the Buck Buchanan Award which is given to the FCS defensive player of the year.
- The final three players up for each award will be invited to the Stats Perform FCS National Awards Banquet on Jan. 4 in Frisco where the winners will be revealed.
HICKS FOR SIX
- RB Sam Hicks, a transfer from Central Michigan, eclipsed 1,000 rushing yards for the season on Nov. 23 at Stephen F. Austin.
- Hicks is the first ACU player to rush for 1,000 yards since Bernard Scott's back-to-back 2,100-yard seasons in 2007 and 2008.
- Hicks has secured the most rushing yards for a single-season in ACU's Division I era (since 2013).
THANKSGIVING FOOTBALL
- Saturday's game will mark the first time ACU football has played past Thanksgiving since 2010 when the Wildcats reached the second round of the Division II playoffs.
AN ACU WIN WOULD...
- Be ACU's first home postseason victory since Nov. 22, 2008 - the famous 93-68 win over West Texas A&M which broke dozens of single-game and playoff records.
- Improve ACU to 5-1 at home this season. ACU last had 5 home wins in single-season in 2010.
- Make Keith Patterson 20-10 vs. FCS teams in his 3 seasons as ACU's head coach.
- Give ACU its sixth victory against a team which was ranked or receiving votes in a national poll at the time of the game.
- Have the Wildcats playing in the month of December for the first time since 1977.
