By Jared Fields, Sports Editor
The Wildcats’ recent offensive production has been impressive. In the last two games, ACU has thrown for 488 and 354 yards, respectively. Quarterback Billy Malone is second in the Lone Star Conference in passing yards per game, total offense and pass efficiency, behind West Texas A&M quarterback Dalton Bell, whose Buffaloes play the Wildcats on Saturday.
The No. 10 ranked Buffaloes will try to keep their perfect record (7-0, 5-0) intact when they come to Shotwell Stadium as two of the biggest guns in the LSC should be on display for an expected large Homecoming crowd.
Senior linebacker Matt Allen compared the Buffaloes wide-open passing attack to high-powered offensive teams like Texas Tech or the Indianapolis Colts.
“They run a lot of four and five wide,” Allen said. “The game plan this week is to put more [defensive backs] on the field and try to disguise the coverages and keep them guessing.”
Head coach Chris Thomsen will try some different things on defense to match the Buffaloes’ personnel. Thomsen also said he plans to replace a couple of outside linebackers with defensive backs to combat the team’s passing game. The outside linebackers won’t be out the entire game, though.
“They’ll get to be in the game,” Thomsen said. “We’ll make some changes at different times in the game.”
Another change for the Wildcats will be at kicker. Sophomore Mark Trevino has been handling the kicking duties, but is only 6-11 on field goal attempt this season. Thomsen said freshman Matt Adams will kick this weekend. Adams, whose only attempt was a missed 36-yard attempt against Northeastern State, has been battling a pulled groin, but Thomsen said he will be healthy for the game.
A major key for the defense is to be physical with the receivers.
“The main thing we want to do is re-route and be physical on the receivers,” Allen said. “It’s not always very efficient to just blitz the heck out of them because they’ve got five options every time, and so the quarterback can get the ball off at any time.”
The Buffaloes have a solid defense, Thomsen said, but have also allowed some big numbers this year. They are near the bottom of the LSC in rushing and defense.
However, their secondary has played well this year, intercepting 20 passes as a team, led by Keon Gaither, who has eight interceptions and has returned two for touchdowns.
Each team comes into the game after having last second plays win the game the previous week. The Wildcats lost 27-24 to Angelo State on a field goal with one second left. On the kickoff, the Wildcats desperate throwbacks and pitches only eluded the Rams for so long before Danieal Manning was tackled with no time remaining.
Last week the Buffaloes needed overtime to beat Eastern New Mexico, 52-51, in Canyon. At the end of regulation, the Greyhounds were in the red zone, but couldn’t call a timeout after a play was over, and time ran out. In overtime, the Buffaloes scored first and the Greyhounds followed. However, the fake field goal pass was intercepted in the end zone, and the Buffaloes celebrated a homecoming win in front of 22,993 people.
Last week is over, though. The Wildcats may be between a rock and a hard place, owning a 2-4 record and facing an undefeated team ranked No. 10 in the nation, but the teams still has a no-quit attitude.
“It’s tough coming back from a big loss like that when it’s a turning point in the season,” Allen said. “But our team doesn’t quit, and we’re all fighting hard, and we’re looking forward to Homecoming and an upset.”
