No. 18 ACU Tries to Finish Unbeaten Home Schedule

#18 ACU (5-4, 4-1) vs. Utah Tech (2-7, 1-4)
Senior Day / Sideline Scholars, presented by Hendrick Health
Abilene, TX | Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium
Saturday, Nov. 8 at 2 p.m.

GAME LINKS

• Buy Tickets | Watch on ESPN+ | Live Stats
• Weekly Press Conference | ACU Game Notes (PDF) 

ABILENE - Following last week's heart-pounding victory over rival Tarleton State, the ACU football team's number one goal of going undefeated at home can be accomplished this Saturday when the Wildcats host Utah Tech. Kickoff at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium is at 2 p.m. for Senior Day, presented by Hendrick Health.

ACU, which rose to No. 18 in this week's national rankings, never trailed against the Texans and won on Brandon Perez's final-play, 47-yard field goal which caused a massive dogpile at the midfield and celebration throughout the stadium.

Tarleton State was ranked No. 2 at the time, which is now the highest ranked team the Wildcats have defeated in the Division I era. ACU has won seven of his last nine games against Top 25 opponents, including five in-a-row at home.

The Wildcats also boast the FCS' eighth-longest active home winning streak at eight games dating back to the midpoint of the 2024 season. The last time ACU had an eight-game home winning streak was during the 2007-08 seasons.

ACU controls its own destiny with three United Athletic Conference games remaining on the schedule: Saturday vs. Utah Tech, Nov. 15 at Eastern Kentucky, and Nov. 22 at Central Arkansas. A victory in all three will make the Wildcats back-to-back UAC champions and secure an automatic berth in the FCS Playoffs.

Utah Tech enters Saturday on a high after its own thrilling victory as the Trailblazers beat North Alabama in overtime, 34-33 last Saturday. UTU has the country's 35th best pass defense, but is 101st in rushing defense. ACU is 3-0 all-time against the Trailblazers, including last year's 55-30 victory in St. George, UT, which is the most amount of points the Wildcats have scored in a game during the Keith Patterson era.







LAST TIME OUT

• The Wildcats led 14-0 after the 1st quarter, 14-10 at halftime, and 28-10 after the 3rd quarter.
• LB Rashon Myles, Jr., was named the UAC Defensive Player of the Week for the second time this season. He had a game-high 13 tackles, 3 TFL and 2 sacks.
• RB E.J. Wilson, Jr., had his first 100-yard rushing game in his 46-game college career as he ended with 100 on the dot. RB Rovaughn Banks, Jr., ran for 83 yards and two TD. Each back had one run of at least 40 yards.
• QB Stone Earle scored his 10th career rushing TD, and his seventh of the season.
• ACU's defense totaled seven tackles for loss and five sacks. TSU had only surrendered 13 sacks in their first nine games.
• Kortlin Rausaw blocked a FG to shutout the Texans' on their first drive. It's ACU's first blocked kick of the season after blocking two PAT and three FG in 2024.
• K Brandon Perez missed a 45-yard FG with less than 3:00 to play, but then rebounded to connect on the 47-yarder on the final play to win the game.

SENIOR DAY

• ACU will recognize 31 seniors before Saturday's game.
• Four of those 31 will get special recognition. Alex Bowman, Jr., Joziah Fogle, and Chidi Lebechi are the three remaining players from HC Keith Patterson's first recruiting class at ACU. 
• DL Colt Cooper will be honored as the only player who has been at ACU for five seasons. He came to ACU as a TE, and stayed through the coaching change from Adam Dorrel to Patterson. Cooper is the only current student-athlete to spent five years at ACU.

NUMBER ONE GOAL

• HC Keith Patterson's first goal each season is to go undefeated at home. Patterson's teams are 16-4 at home in his four seasons.
• A win vs. Utah Tech would make ACU 5-0, and complete an unbeaten home regular season for the first time since 2013 when ACU went 4-0 at Shotwell Stadium. However, ACU was in its transition to Division I and played a mixture of FCS, Division II, and US Collegiate Athletic Association (USCAA) opponents.
• The last time an ACU team went 5-0 at home was 1978.
• The Wildcats went 6-0 at home in the regular season in 2010, but then lost a home second-round Division II playoff game.

SHUT DOWN STARTS

• In 5 of the last 6 games, ACU's defense has not given up a point the first time they've been on the field.
• On their opponent's first drive of the game, the Wildcats have forced four punts -- including a 3-and-out -- and blocked a FG in that span.
• West Georgia could only muster a FG on its first possession on Oct. 11.

AN ACU WIN WOULD...

• Push the Wildcats in a tie for first place in the UAC with a 5-1 conference record. ACU holds the tiebreaker over Tarleton.
• Finish an unbeaten regular season home record (5-0). ACU has not done that since 2013 (4-0). Going undefeated at home is the team's No. 1 goal each season.
• Extend the Wildcats' home winning streak to 9 in-a-row, which has not been done since 1977-79 (11 straight wins).
• Give ACU back-to-back seasons with wins on Senior Day (had gone 6 straight with losing on Senior Day).