ACU Travels to Austin Peay with Playoff Chances on the Line

#24 ACU (5-5, 4-1) at #6 Austin Peay (8-2, 4-1)
Clarksville, Tenn. | Fortera Stadium
Saturday, Nov. 14, at 1 p.m.

GAME LINKS

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. - For the second week in a row, Abilene Christian goes on the road to take on a Top 10 team as the No. 22 Wildcats face No. 6 Austin Peay on Saturday afternoon. Kickoff is at 1 p.m. and will be broadcast on ESPN+ and the ACU Sports Network.

ACU had its four-game winning streak snapped by a 40-27 loss at No. 1 Tarleton State last week. The result means the final two games -- Saturday at Austin Peay, and Nov. 21 vs. Eastern Kentucky -- must be Wildcat wins, and then likely put their playoff fate in the hands of the FCS Selection Committee.

Trailing the big-play Texans 28-13 at halftime, ACU started the 3rd quarter with a 14-play, 8-minute touchdown drive. Early in the 4th, the Cats had a chance to cut the deficit to five but a field goal was blocked and a few plays later Tarleton State went back up by two scores.

Quarterback Tucker Parks was 25/30 (83%) for 215 yards, and Cristian Driver led ACU in receiving yards for the third straight game.

Austin Peay's schedule features similar results to ACU with wins over West Florida (ACU by 28, Austin Peay by 22) and North Alabama (ACU by 3, Austin Peay by 6), and a loss to Tarleton State (ACU by 13, Austin Peay by 8).

The Governors are powered by all-American quarterback Chris Parson. He threw for more than 3,000 yards in 2025, and currently has 2,175 this season. He also leads Austin Peay in rushing as he's netted 537 yards on the ground, and the redshirt junior has scored 26 total touchdowns.

The Govs are fighting for playoff positioning and a possible first-round bye if they win their last two games. Austin Peay is 10-1 in its last 11 home games, but has never beaten a program from Texas at Fortera Stadium.

SERIES MATCHUP

Saturday is the third meeting between the two schools with ACU winning in 2024 and 2025.
Two years ago in Clarksville, Austin Peay led 27-14 at halftime but the Wildcats scored the winning TD on a 15-yard pass on 4th down and 9 from Maverick McIvor to Jed Castles with 3:07 remaining.
In 2025, ACU shredded the Governors to a 31-3 lead en route to the 45-31 final score. Linebacker Rashon Myles Jr. recovered three fumbles - all in the first half.

NUMBERS TO KNOW

13 - ACU's current strength of schedule, according to Massey Ratings. Saturday is the Wildcats' 6th game against a Top 25 opponent, not including playing FBS #12 Texas Tech.
73% - QB Tucker Parks' completion percentage which ranked 2nd in all of FCS, and is 10 points higher than the closest UAC QB.
317 - Average number of yards allowed per game by ACU in conference games, which leads the UAC (33 yards fewer than 2nd place North Alabama).
17 - Amount of 70+ yard drives by the Wildcats this season. All 17 drives have ended with touchdowns.

AN ACU WIN WOULD...

Keep ACU's hopes alive for the FCS Playoffs as well as a 3rd straight UAC championship.
Be the Wildcats' 19th win in their last 22 conference games.
Be the 3rd win over a Top 10 in Keith Patterson's five seasons.
Make ACU 4-0 vs. teams from Tennessee since 1967. Before then, ACU was 2-11-1 against Memphis and Chattanooga.

LAST TIME OUT

ACU's 4-game winning streak ended with a 40-27 loss at #1 Tarleton State last Saturday night.
The Wildcats ran a whopping 45 more plays than the Texans (79-34) -- but TSU struck big often with 12 yards per play.
The Texans scored 75-yard TDs on their first two snaps, scored their third TD on a 41-yard pass and had a 50-yard throw which set up another TD.
QB Tucker Parks completed 83% of his passes (25/30) for 215 yards and two total TD.
RB Brandon Johnson scored his first TD as a Wildcat.
RB Alex Broome ran for a season-high 95 yards.

BIG-TIME STARTS

LB Darius Moore, in his 5th season at ACU, will make his 30th start as a Wildcat on Saturday. Moore missed the entire 2024 season with an injury, and did not play most of 2025 either.
C Colter Lynch, RG Landon Roaten and RT Luke Roaten will make their 25th consecutive starts.
LG Kaden Carr will be in the starting lineup for the 20th time at ACU.
WR Dallas Dudley will likely make his 20th start as a Wildcat.

HOLD THE BALL

ACU opened the 2nd half with an 8:04 drive at Tarleton State -- their third possession of 8:00+ this season.
Their longest drive of 8:14 resulted with a TD at Idaho, and the second longest lasted the final 8:11 of the game in a win vs. Central Arkansas.

TRENDING THAT WAY

Here's a look at some of ACU's trends this season:
- 6-2 when holding opponents to less than 400 yards
- 0-3 when turning the ball over more than once
- 3-0 when forcing more than one turnover
- 4-0 when scoring at least 30 points
- ACU has forced three straight 3-and-outs on their opponents' first drive of the 2nd half

WEEKLY PRESS CONFERENCE

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Players Mentioned

Alex Broome

Kaden Carr

Jed Castles

Cristian Driver

Dallas Dudley

Brandon Johnson

Colter Lynch

Darius Moore

Tucker Parks

Landon Roaten

Luke Roaten

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