Saturday, September 19
Moscow, ID
3 p.m. (CT)
Abilene Christian
at
Idaho
Photo by: Tyler Rog
ACU Plays Idaho in 3rd Farthest Road Trip in Program History
9/18/2026 6:31:00 PM | Football
(RV) ACU (0-3) at Idaho (0-3)
Moscow, ID | P1FCU Kibbie Dome
Saturday, Sept. 19, at 3 p.m. CT
GAME LINKS
MOSCOW, Idaho - The Abilene Christian football team travels to the Pacific Time Zone for the first time since 2015 for Saturday afternoon's meeting with the Idaho Vandals at the renowned P1FCU Kibbie Dome. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. CT / 1 p.m. PT.
The 1,847-mile trip from Abilene to Moscow is the third longest road trip by mileage in ACU football history. The 1977 NAIA national championship game at the Kingdome in Seattle is the second farthest the Wildcats have traveled at 1,921 miles. First place will be hard to top with a 3,627-mile trek to Honolulu to play Hawaii in 1980.
ACU and Idaho are both searching for their first victory of the season. The two sides have each lost to an FBS squad. ACU opened 2026 with a loss at ranked Lamar. The Vandals hosted the Cardinals last week, and lost 23-17.
The Wildcats are coming off a 26-7 defeat to No. 9 Stephen F. Austin in Abilene last Saturday. This week's game will be ACU's first this season, and possibly only for another few weeks, that is not against a ranked foe. They have faced No. 20 Lamar and No. 9 SFA in the FCS, and No. 12 Texas Tech in the FBS.
Saturday's game wil stream on ESPN+. The ACU Sports Network will provide coverage beginning at 2:30 p.m. CT.
SERIES MATCHUP
NUMBERS TO KNOW
LAST TIME OUT
PLAYOFF PICTURE
RETURN TO IDAHO
AN ACU WIN WOULD...
Moscow, ID | P1FCU Kibbie Dome
Saturday, Sept. 19, at 3 p.m. CT
GAME LINKS
- Watch on ESPN+Â | Listen on the ACU Sports Network |Â Live Stats
- Weekly Press Conference | ACU Game Notes (PDF)
MOSCOW, Idaho - The Abilene Christian football team travels to the Pacific Time Zone for the first time since 2015 for Saturday afternoon's meeting with the Idaho Vandals at the renowned P1FCU Kibbie Dome. Kickoff is at 3 p.m. CT / 1 p.m. PT.
The 1,847-mile trip from Abilene to Moscow is the third longest road trip by mileage in ACU football history. The 1977 NAIA national championship game at the Kingdome in Seattle is the second farthest the Wildcats have traveled at 1,921 miles. First place will be hard to top with a 3,627-mile trek to Honolulu to play Hawaii in 1980.
ACU and Idaho are both searching for their first victory of the season. The two sides have each lost to an FBS squad. ACU opened 2026 with a loss at ranked Lamar. The Vandals hosted the Cardinals last week, and lost 23-17.
The Wildcats are coming off a 26-7 defeat to No. 9 Stephen F. Austin in Abilene last Saturday. This week's game will be ACU's first this season, and possibly only for another few weeks, that is not against a ranked foe. They have faced No. 20 Lamar and No. 9 SFA in the FCS, and No. 12 Texas Tech in the FBS.
Saturday's game wil stream on ESPN+. The ACU Sports Network will provide coverage beginning at 2:30 p.m. CT.
SERIES MATCHUP
- ACU and Idaho have only met once before, a 27-24 Vandal victory in Abilene on Sept. 21, 2024
- The Wildcats trailed 27-3 early in the 3rd quarter, but scored the next 21 points and had the ball in Idaho territory in the final minute but fumbled on a quarterback scramble
NUMBERS TO KNOW
- 10 -Â Number of tackles made by true freshman DL Hudson Page who made his first career start last Saturday. Page also had a strip-sack which was recovered by ACU.
- 7 -Â Players and coaches with ties to the Northwestern U.S. including the Roaten twins who played at Washington State. DL coach Nick Holt spent 10 years at Idaho and was HC from 2004-05.Â
LAST TIME OUT
- ACU held its first lead of the season, but then allowed 26 unanswered points vs. #9 Stephen F. Austin.
- The 26-7 loss went against the trend of close games. Prior to last Saturday, 10 of the past 14 matchups between ACU and SFA were one-score games.
- The Wildcats scored on a 10-play, 91-yard drive -- the longest by yardage in 2026 -- when John David Black threw to Itty Henry who broke a tackle and reached the pylon for a 6-yard TD.
- However, the lead only lasted 0:57 as the Lumberjacks hit a 69-yard TD pass as part of a 20-point 2nd quarter.
- After the lone TD drive, only one of the Wildcats' final 8 drives gained more than 50 yards.
PLAYOFF PICTURE
- Six teams have started 0-3 and gone on to still make the FCS Playoffs.
- Three won their conference's automatic bid, while three others were at-large selections.
- Four of the six also won their round 1 playoff game.
- Below is a list of those six teams along with their final record and their qualifying status into the FCS Playoffs.
-    2011   Stony Brook   9-4   At-Large  Â
-    2012   Wagner   9-4   Auto
-    2015   Colgate   9-5   Auto
-    2015   Eastern Illinois   7-5   At-Large
-    2017   Furman   8-5   At-Large  Â
-    2023   Drake   8-4   Auto
RETURN TO IDAHO
- DL coach Nick Holt is making a return to Idaho, where he spent 10 years as a young coach.Â
- He was an assistant from 1990-97, including four seasons as DC.
- Holt was HC of the Vandals for his second stint at the school from 2004-05, compiling a 5-18 record.
- This is Holt's 5th season as an assistant at ACU.
AN ACU WIN WOULD...
- Prevent the first 0-4 start since 2016 when the Wildcats lost their first 7 games. ACU has only started 0-4 four times.
- Make ACU 10-5 vs. FCS opponents since the beginning of the 2025 season.
- Push HC Keith Patterson to sole possession of 6th place in number of coaching wins at ACU.
- Be the Cats' first win in the Pacific Time Zone since 1977 (lost 4 straight) and first true road win in Pacific TIme since 1963.Â
Players Mentioned
Tuesday, September 15
Sunday, September 13
Tuesday, September 08
Sunday, September 06
