#15 ACU Travels to Austin Peay on Saturday

#16/15 ACU (6-3, 5-1) vs. (RV) Austin Peay (4-5, 3-3)
Clarksville, TN | Fortera Stadium
Saturday, Nov. 9 at 3:00 p.m.

GAME LINKS

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

ABILENE - The no. 15 Abilene Christian football team begins a three-game road stretch when it takes on the Austin Peay Governors in Clarksville, Tennessee, on Saturday afternoon.

The Wildcats conclude the regular season with trips to Austin Peay, Tarleton State on Nov. 16 at 6 p.m., and to Stephen F. Austin on Nov. 23 at 2 p.m.

ACU sprinted out to a 21-0 lead last week before Southern Utah roared back in the fourth quarter. The Wildcats held on for a 28-25 victory on Senior Day, and with Tarleton losing that night to Eastern Kentucky ACU jumped into first place in the United Athletic Conference.

The Wildcats are 5-1 in the league - 0.5 games ahead of Tarleton - and two games in front of Central Arkansas, Southern Utah and EKU -- all teams that ACU has already defeated.

ACU and the Texans will meet in Stephenville next Saturday. An ACU win would make the Wildcats the UAC champions.

But first ACU must contend with the Governors who have won three of their last four games and are receiving votes in the FCS Coaches Poll.

Austin Peay set a season-high with 525 offensive yards in last week's 31-17 win at North Alabama. Quarterback Austin Smith completed his first 19 passes on his way to a career stat line -- 31-of-35 passing for 406 yards and 4 touchdowns.Receiver Jaden Barnes caught 12 of those throws for 241 yards and three scores -- the second-best single-game total for receiving yards in Governors history.

ACU and Austin Peay have never met before on the football field, and in a strange note - this will be the Wildcats' first game in Tennessee since 1966. Beginning in 1949, Abilene Christian played Chattanooga ten times - all in the Volunteer state. The Wildcats last played a school from Tennessee in 1987 when ACU defeated Tennessee Tech in Abilene, 40-31.

Fans can watch Saturday's game on the ESPN+ streaming platform (requires paid subscription), and listen to the radio call on 106.3 The Raider.









LAST TIME OUT

• ACU earned its first Senior Day win since 2016 with a 28-25 win vs. Southern Utah last Saturday.
• The Wildcats led from start-to-finish, pushing their record to 4-0 this season when scoring first.
• QB Maverick McIvor threw for 306 yards -- his 4th 300-yard game this season and the 7th of his career.
• Six players caught multiple passes led by Blayne Taylor and J.J. Henry who each had five receptions.
• ACU scored the first 21 points of the game and led 21-3 at halftime. The Wildcats are 5-1 when up at the break.

ONE WIN AWAY

• ACU is one win from tying the mark for most wins in a single-season as Division I program. The Wildcats have won 6 games four times since the transition to D-1.
• ACU went 7-4 in 2022 - which was Keith Patterson's first year as head coach.

WE ALL EAT

• Seven times this year ACU has won a United Athletic Conference Player of the Week award, and each time it has been a different player.

MONEY DOWN

• On the ACU sideline you will see two signs with emojis of dollar bills and bags of money being held up on 3rd downs.
• ACU's coaches call 3rd down the "money down" and put an added emphasis on the offense moving the chains and the defense coming up with stops.

AN ACU WIN WOULD...

• Be ACU's fourth win in 2024 over a team that was ranked or receiving votes in a national poll at the time of the game.
• Push ACU to a 6-1 conference record, which would keep them in 1st place in the UAC. Regardless of the outcome of the Austin Peay game, a win next Saturday at Tarleton State would make the Wildcats the UAC champions. 
• Improve ACU's road record to 3-2 this season.
• Make Keith Patterson 18-9 vs. FCS teams and 12-5 vs. conference opponents in his 3 seasons as ACU's head coach.