Saturday, October 10
Abilene
7 p.m.
Abilene Christian
vs
Central Arkansas
Photo by: Matt Martinez
ACU Finishes Homestand with Central Arkansas
10/7/2026 10:01:00 PM | Football
(RV) ACU (2-4, 1-0) vs. Central Arkansas (2-3, 0-1)
Abilene, TX | Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium
Saturday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. CT
GAME LINKS
ABILENE - The Abilene Christian football team fights for a 2-0 start to United Athletic Conference play when its hosts Central Arkansas for Big Country Day presented by Hendrick Health on Saturday night. Kickoff from Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium is at 7 p.m.
The Wildcats are coming off their most well-rounded effort of 2026 with a 35-7 victory over West Florida, which was ranked No. 17 at the time. A 21-point 2nd quarter put ACU ahead 28-0 at halftime, eventually holding West Florida off the scoreboard until 5:17 remained.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Tucker Parks was named the UAC Offensive Player of the Week after his near-perfect night through the air. Parks was 16-of-17 passing for 155 yards and three touchdowns, and added a career-high 97 rushing yards. Five different Wildcats scored with JC French-Love and Jayden York recording the first touchdowns of their respective careers.
ACU's defense held the Argonauts four times on 4th down, including twice on 4th and 1 and once on 4th and 2. Four other West Florida drives resulted in 3-and-outs.Â
The victory pushed the Wildcats to a 7-3 record against nationally ranked competition at Wildcat Stadium since 2024.
ACU has defeated Central Arkansas each of the past two seasons, including a 49-28 win in Conway, Ark. to clinch the 2025 UAC championship.
The Bears earned a 36-24 win over No. 22 UT Martin in their season opener before falling to West Florida the following week. Since then, Central Arkansas has defeated NCAA Division II Central Oklahoma and lost to Southeast Missouri State, and Florida State of the ACC. The Bears enjoyed their bye last week.
Saturday's game will stream on ESPN+ with Grant Boone, Voice of the Wildcats, and former ACU running back De'Andre Brown on the call.
SERIES MATCHUP
NUMBERS TO KNOW
AN ACU WIN WOULD...
LAST TIME OUT
KNOCKING IT OUT OF THE PARK(S)
TACKLING MACHINE
FROM UCA TO ACU
THE BANK IS OPEN
GOING FOR 2-0
GO LONG!
SET OF THREE
WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE
Â
Abilene, TX | Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium
Saturday, Oct. 10, at 7 p.m. CT
GAME LINKS
ABILENE - The Abilene Christian football team fights for a 2-0 start to United Athletic Conference play when its hosts Central Arkansas for Big Country Day presented by Hendrick Health on Saturday night. Kickoff from Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium is at 7 p.m.
The Wildcats are coming off their most well-rounded effort of 2026 with a 35-7 victory over West Florida, which was ranked No. 17 at the time. A 21-point 2nd quarter put ACU ahead 28-0 at halftime, eventually holding West Florida off the scoreboard until 5:17 remained.
Redshirt sophomore quarterback Tucker Parks was named the UAC Offensive Player of the Week after his near-perfect night through the air. Parks was 16-of-17 passing for 155 yards and three touchdowns, and added a career-high 97 rushing yards. Five different Wildcats scored with JC French-Love and Jayden York recording the first touchdowns of their respective careers.
ACU's defense held the Argonauts four times on 4th down, including twice on 4th and 1 and once on 4th and 2. Four other West Florida drives resulted in 3-and-outs.Â
The victory pushed the Wildcats to a 7-3 record against nationally ranked competition at Wildcat Stadium since 2024.
ACU has defeated Central Arkansas each of the past two seasons, including a 49-28 win in Conway, Ark. to clinch the 2025 UAC championship.
The Bears earned a 36-24 win over No. 22 UT Martin in their season opener before falling to West Florida the following week. Since then, Central Arkansas has defeated NCAA Division II Central Oklahoma and lost to Southeast Missouri State, and Florida State of the ACC. The Bears enjoyed their bye last week.
Saturday's game will stream on ESPN+ with Grant Boone, Voice of the Wildcats, and former ACU running back De'Andre Brown on the call.
SERIES MATCHUP
- Central Arkansas leads the series 12-3-1, including four of the five meetings in Abilene
- ACU's win in 2024 over UCA, which was ranked No. 5 at the time, was the program's first victory at home over the Bears
- In last year's contest, ACU outscored the Bears 29-0 in the 3rd quarter
NUMBERS TO KNOW
- 4 -Â Number of 4th down stops made by ACU's defense in last week's win over West Florida. The Wildcats held the Argos on 4th & 1 twice, 4th & 2 and 4th & 19. ACU also forced four 3-and-outs.
- 61 -Â Number of tackles by DB Dillon Williams, which is 1st in the UAC and 4th in all of FCS. This pace would give him the 6th most tackles in ACU single-season history.
- 9 -Â Number of consecutive wins in conference games at Wildcat Stadium. ACU went unbeaten (4-0) at home during UAC play in 2024 and 2025, and has not lost a home UAC contest since Nov. 2023.Â
AN ACU WIN WOULD...
- Be ACU's 10th consecutive home conference win.
- Give the Wildcats a 2-0 start to conference for the 3rd straight season.
- Make the Wildcats 12-2 in their last 14 home games.
- Push HC Keith Patterson to a tie for 5th place in ACU's all-time coaching leaderboard.
- Extend the Wildcats' winning streak vs. Central Arkansas to three.
LAST TIME OUT
- ACU scored 21 points in the 2nd quarter and led 28-0 at halftime en route to a 35-7 victory over #17 West Florida.
- It was the first time ACU shut out an opponent in a half since beating Northern Arizona 24-0 in Round 1 of the FCS Playoffs in Nov. 2024.
- The Wildcats kept the Argonauts off the board for the first 54:43. ACU stopped UWF four times on 4th down, and induced four 3-and-outs.
- ACU's 5 touchdowns were scored by 5 different players: JC French-Love, Rovaugh Banks Jr., Deonte Dean, Jayden York and Itty Henry. The touchdowns by French-Love and York were the first of their respective careers.
- West Florida became the 7th ranked team that ACU has defeated at Wildcat Stadium in the past 3 seasons.
- At one point in the 2nd quarter, ACU led West Florida 14-1 in first downs.
- The Wildcats improved to 2-0 when leading at halftime, and were leading after the 3rd quarter for the first time this season.
- LBs Boone Morris and Santana Miller, and DB Jacoby Davis made their first starts as Wildcats.
KNOCKING IT OUT OF THE PARK(S)
- QB Tucker Parks was named the UAC Offensive Player of the Week for his 252 total yards and 3 TD.
- Parks was 16/17 passing (94.1%), the highest completion percentage with at least 15 attempts since Stone Earle was 18/19 (94.7%) vs. Louisiana College in 2021.
- Parks had a career-high 97 rushing yards, including a 57-yard run which is ACU's longest play from scrimmage in 2026.
- He is the third Wildcat to win a weekly conference award this season.
TACKLING MACHINE
- For the 5th time in ACU's 6 games, DB Dillon Williams was the team leader in tackles with 12 tackles vs. West Florida last week.
- His 10.2 tackles per game are the 11th most in the FCS.
- Three Wildcats rank in the top 4 in the UAC in tackles per game:
- Dillon Williams (10.2) - 2nd
- Javeon Wilcox (7.8) - 3rd
- Darius Moore (7.7) - 4th
FROM UCA TO ACU
- DB Dillon Williams spent his first 4 seasons of college at Central Arkansas before transferring to ACU in January.
- He led the Bears in tackles in 2025 with 83 for the season, including a career-high 15 vs. ACU in the season finale. Â
THE BANK IS OPEN
- RB Rovaughn Banks Jr. had his third straight game with at least 80 rushing yards:
- at Idaho - 99 yards
- vs. Mercer - 93
- vs. West Florida - 80
- Banks had two 100-yard games in 2025 (105 at TCU on Sept. 13, and 110 at UIW on Sept. 27), and one in 2022 (143 vs. Western New Mexico).
GOING FOR 2-0
- ACU is going for a 2-0 start to conference, something they've done four other times in the Division I era (2014, 2015, 2024, 2025).
GO LONG!
- The Wildcats now have 9 drives this season covering at least 70 yards.Â
- Each of the 9 drives has ended with a TD.
SET OF THREE
- After ACU started the season 0-3, HC Keith Patterson directed his team to visualize the remaining 9 games as three sets of three games.
- KP's goal was to go 2-1 in the first 3-game set, which ACU accomplished.
- The second 3-game set begins Saturday vs. Central Arkansas.Â
WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE
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Players Mentioned
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TE
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