Slow Start Leads to 27-24 Loss to #4 Idaho

ABILENE – Saturday night's contest against the fourth-ranked Idaho Vandals was the ultimate measuring stick for the 19th-ranked ACU Wildcats. They looked forward to seeing how they stacked against one of the nation's best teams and evaluating the program's growth.
 
And while the Wildcats made a valiant second-half comeback, they were once again left on the short end of a one-score game, leaving head coach Keith Patterson with what he called his "most frustrating loss" in three years as the Wildcats' leader.
 
The Vandals surged to a 20-3 halftime lead, extended it to 27-3 early in the second half, and were forced to hang on for a 27-24 win over the Wildcats, who finally got their offense untracked in the game's final 20 minutes. The three-point loss makes the Wildcats 3-7 in one-score games in Patterson's tenure, including 2-6 in games decided by three points or less.
 
"We didn't play to the level and caliber of the football team I believe we are," Patterson said. "That was a frustrating game and a frustrating loss for everyone. We didn't play well in the first half, which cost us."



 
In the first game between two ranked teams in the eight-year history of ACU's home stadium, the Vandals took control from the outset, picking off a pass on the Wildcats' first possession and scoring on four of their six first-half possessions to take a 20-3 halftime lead. The lead grew from there as the Vandals – whose only loss was a 24-14 defeat at the hands of No. 3 Oregon in the season-opener – improved to 3-1.
 
ACU, meanwhile, struggled to get anything offensively on its way to seeing its record level at 2-2. The Wildcats had just 104 yards of total offense in the first half. ACU punted on four of its seven first-half possessions and never found a rhythm in the game's first 30 minutes for the second straight week.
 
But after the Vandals opened the second half with a quick-strike touchdown to take a 27-3 lead, the game turned around just as quickly. On the first play of the second half, the Vandals took advantage of ACU's aggressive defense with a perfectly timed and executed reverse that worked for a 53-yard gain for Emmanuel Cortez-Menjivar. Three running plays later, Nate Thomas scored from three yards out, and the Vandals led 27-3 with 13:04 left in the third quarter.
 
But from then on, the game belonged to ACU as the defense clamped down on the Vandals – holding them to just 118 yards on their final 29 plays – and the offense finally got moving. ACU quarterback Maverick McIvor threw his second interception of the game on ACU's first possession of the second half, but the Vandals were forced to punt. ACU then reeled off three straight touchdowns to cut the Idaho lead to 27-24 with 4:14 to play.
 
McIvor capped the first drive with a 5-yard touchdown pass to Ole Miss transfer wide receiver J.J. Henry and then found Texas Tech transfer wide receiver Nehemiah Martinez from 23 yards away to make it 27-17 with 10:03 left in the fourth quarter. That 80-yard touchdown drive was set up by a brilliant defensive play by ACU defensive back Tyson Williams to end Idaho's drive.
 
Idaho moved into ACU territory, threatening to put the game out of reach, only to run into trouble in the red zone. On fourth-and-1 from the ACU 20, Idaho passed up a run and went for the end zone, but Jack Wagner's pass to Malakai Brown was broken up by Williams, giving the ball back to the Wildcats, who drove 80 yards in just six plays to the McIvor-to-Martinez touchdown pass.
 
After another Idaho punt, the Wildcats took over at their 28-yard line with 8:01 to play and moved 72 yards in nine plays to a 1-yard touchdown run by Isaiah Johnson. The PAT by Ritse Vaes was good, and the Wildcats trailed 27-24.  
 
The Vandals were able to chew 2:47 off the clock, but the drive ended when ACU defensive end Chris Wright dropped quarterback Wagner for no gain on a quarterback keeper on third-and-7 from the ACU 49. After the punt, ACU took over on its 20-yard line with 57 seconds left and no timeouts.
 
McIvor was sacked on the first play, and a deep pass to Blayne Taylor went in and out of his hands near midfield, setting up third-and-15. McIvor found Hut Graham for 21 yards to the 36, and an additional 15 yards were tacked on because of a late hit on Diezel Wilkinson, moving the ball to Idaho. McIvor threw incomplete with 20 seconds lef, and on third-and-10 with 14 seconds to play, McIvor was forced to scramble. Just as he escaped the pocket and appeared as though he might get a first down and get into game-tying field goal range, he was stripped of the ball by Zach Krotzer, and Idaho's Matt Ida Irwin recovered the ball with eight seconds left to seal the win for the Vandals.
 
McIvor – who at one point was 7 for 19 with one interception and 70 yards passing – finished the night 26 of 46 for 288 yards and two touchdowns. He completed passes to 10 receivers, led by Graham's five catches for 67 yards and Trey Cleveland's five catches for 52 yards. Johnson led the way on the ground for the Wildcats with 59 yards and one touchdown on 10 carries.
 
GAME SUMMARY
How They Scored
1Q (7:06) – After each team gave up the ball on their opening possessions, the Vandals took advantage of excellent field position after an L.J. Harm punt pinned ACU deep in its end of the field. The Wildcats didn't move the ball and punted it away to the Vandals, who took over at their 42-yard line. Idaho quarterback  Jack Wagner got the Vandals moving right away with a 33-yard completion to Mark Hamper, moving the ball to the ACU 25. Three plays later, Wagner and Jordan Dwyer hooked up from 22 yards away to get the Vandals on the board first.
             Scoring Play: Jordan Dwyer 22 pass from Jack Wagner (Cameron Pope kick)
             Drive: 4 plays, 58 yards, 2:28
             Idaho 7, ACU 0
 
1Q (3:00) – The Vandals took advantage of a personal foul penalty on ACU to keep a drive alive and made the Wildcats pay for the penalty with a touchdown. ACU's defense stopped Idaho for a short gain on a third-and-10 run, which would have sent Idaho's punt team onto the field. But ACU's Jordan Mukes was whistled for a personal foul penalty, moving the ball to the ACU 44 and giving the Vandals new life. On the next play, the Vandals ran a double-reverse flea-flicker that ended with Art Williams flipping the ball back to quarterback Jack Wagner, who found a wide-open Mark Hamper at the 5-yard line, and he stepped into the end zone for a 44-yard scoring play and a two-touchdown Idaho lead.
             Scoring Play: Mark Hamper 44 pass from Jack Wagner (Cameron Pope kick)
             Drive: 7 plays, 73 yards, 2:47
             Idaho 14, ACU 0
 
2Q (13:01) – The ACU offense put together its first drive of the game, resulting in a field goal by last week's hero, Ritse Vaes, to get the Wildcats to within 14-3 early in the second quarter. Running back Isaiah Johnson carried for seven yards on third-and-3 early in the drive to keep it alive, and later in the drive, quarterback Maverick McIvor found running back Sam Hicks wide open in the flat for a 28-yard gain to the Idaho 10-yard line. After a run by Hicks gained nothing, McIvor was incomplete into the end zone on back-to-back passes, setting up a field goal from Vaes for 27 yards.
             Scoring Play: Ritse Vaes 27 field goal
             Drive: 12 plays, 65 yards, 4:59
             Idaho 14, ACU 3
 
2Q (4:41) – After giving up a 44-yard pass on the drive's first play, the ACU defense stiffened and held the Vandals to a short field goal. A short pass was incomplete, a run by Nate Thomas gained nothing, and a screen pass to Jordan Dwyer was stopped for no gain on third down. That forced the Vandals to settle for a 33-yard field goal by Cameron Pope, pushing the lead back to two touchdowns.
             Scoring Play: Cameron Pope 33 field goal
             Drive: 5 plays, 44 yards, 2:17
             Idaho 17, ACU 3
 
2Q (0:15) – Two huge penalties on the ACU defensive line aided Idaho's late-first-half scoring drive, pushing the Vandals' lead to three scores. On a third-and-1 play, ACU defensive tackle David Oke was flagged for being offside, moving the ball to the ACU 45. Later – on a third-and-6 play from the ACU 24 – defensive end Kaghen Roach was called for a personal foul (hands to the face), moving the ball to the ACU 8-yard line. Three passes into the end zone were incomplete, and Cameron Pope hit a 25-yard field goal to send the Vandals to halftime with a 17-point lead.
             Scoring Play: Cameron Pope 25 field goal
             Drive: 5 plays, 13 yards, 2:17
             Idaho 20, ACU 3
 
3Q (13:04) – The Vandals picked up right where they left off, taking the second half's opening kickoff and moving quickly to a touchdown to take a commanding 27-3 lead. Emmerson Cortez-Menjivar went 53 yards with a reverse on the first play of the second half, and three plays later, Nate Thomas scored from three yards out to give the Vandals their largest lead of the game.
             Scoring Play: Nate Thoams 3 run (Cameron Pope kick)
             Drive: 4 plays, 75 yards, 1:56
             Idaho 27, ACU 3
 
3Q (2:32) – The Wildcats found the end zone for the first time late in the third quarter at the end of a long march. ACU quarterback Maverick McIvor was 6 for 8 for 39 yards through the air, including a 5-yard scoring pass to J.J. Henry to cap the scoring drive.
             Scoring Play: J.J. Henry 5 pass from Maverick McIvor (Blayne Taylor pass from McIvor)
             Drive: 11 plays, 61 yards, 4:50
             Idaho 27, ACU 11
 
4Q (10:03) – ACU's scoring drive that cut Idaho's lead to 10 points was set up by a brilliant defensive play by ACU defensive back Tyson Williams to end Idaho's drive. Idaho moved into ACU territory, threatening to put the game out of reach, only to run into trouble in the red zone. On fourth-and-1 from the ACU 20, Idaho passed up a run and went for the end zone, but Jack Wagner's pass to Malakai Brown was broken up by Williams, giving the ball back to the Wildcats. ACU quarterback Maverick McIvor hit Nehemiah Martinez for 33 yards on the first play, and the Wildcats were on the move. A 13-yard pass to Hut Graham followed, and two plays later, Isaiah Johnson gained five before Sam Hiccks ran for six yards and a first down to the Idaho 23. On the next play, McIvor found Martinez along the sideline. Martinez escaped a tackle attempt and fell into the end zone for a 23-yard touchdown reception. ACU tried a two-point play, but Graham's pass to Blayne Taylor fell incomplete, leaving the Wildcats trailing by 10 points.
             Scoring Play: Nehemiah Martinez 23 pass from Maverick McIvor (pass failed)
             Drive: 6 plays, 80 yards, 2:29
             Idaho 27, ACU 17
 
4Q (3:47) – The Wildcat defense stood up again, forcing a punt that gave ACU the ball at its 28-yard line with 8:01 to play in the fourth quarter. Quarterback Maverick McIvor was flawless on the drive, completing 5 of 5 passes for 54 yards and getting his team down to the Idaho 15-yard line. On second-and-6 from the 15, McIvor dropped to pass but found no one open. He took for the end zone but was tripped up at the 1-yard line. On the next play, Isaiah Johnson bulled in for the touchdown that brought the Wildcats to within three points.
             Scoring Play: Isaiah Johnson 1 run (Ritse Vaes kick)
             Drive: 9 plays, 72 yards, 4:14
             Idaho 27, ACU 24
 
POST-GAME NOTES
• Quarterback Maverick McIvor's first-quarter interception was his first since a 52-14 ACU loss at Southern Utah on Oct. 28, 2023. McIvor had thrown 225 passes between that interception and the interception against the Vandals.
• The announced crowd of 11,719 fans is the third-largest in the eight-year history of Wildcat Stadium. The only games with more fans were the stadium's opening game (24-3 win over Houston Baptist on Sept. 16, 2017) and the 2017 Homecoming contest (56-21 loss against Southeastern Louisiana on Oct. 21, 2017), both with sellout crowds of 12,000 fans.
• When ACU's defense kept Idaho from scoring from the 20-yard line early in the fourth quarter, it was the first time this season the Vandals hadn't scored when they had reached the "Red Zone" (inside the opposing 20-yard line). The Vandals were 7 for 7 with seven touchdowns entering the game and were 4 for 4 against the ACU defense with two touchdowns and two field goals before they failed to score on a drive that ended with 12:32 left in the fourth quarter.

QUOTING ACU HEAD COACH KEITH PATTERSON

On his post-game message to the team: "I'm proud of their grit, character, and resiliency. I love coaching this group, and I told them that. We'll look back on this one (Sunday), correct our mistakes, and then this group will get back to work to get ready to go again next Saturday."
 
UP NEXT
The Wildcats are back on the road next week for a United Athletic Conference game against Utah Tech in St. George, Utah. Kickoff is at 8 p.m. CDT. Fans can watch the game on ESPN+ and listen on theraiderabilene.com or 106.3 FM. The Wildcats and Trailblazers have met twice, with ACU winning both games: 26-10 in 2022 in St. George, Utah, and 24-7 last year in Abilene.