Nobody ever said it was going to be easy, and it certainly wasn’t for the Wildcats Thursday night.

Quarterback Mitchell Gale led a final-minute drive and capped it off with a 23-yard pass to Daryl Richardson for the winning score.

Tarleton made it interesting, however, as Texan QB Nick Stephens almost rallied a comeback drive for his offense in the waning seconds. But an interception by Nate Bailey on the last play of the game with seconds on the clock sealed the victory for the Wildcats.

“We weren’t perfect,” said Bailey. “They made some plays, but we kept battling. It was pretty tough.”

To begin the game, the Wildcats started their 2011 campaign like there hadn’t been an offseason after 2010. Two sacks and an incomplete pass forced the Texans to punt.

Tarleton’s defense made the ‘Cats work for their first points of the season, but Gale threw a bootleg pass to fullback Daniel Talavera for a touchdown. A missed field goal by the Texans kept them scoreless until Nick Stephens went to work.

Stephens threw up a prayer that was caught by TSU receiver Lance Clark at the five yard line late in the first quarter. One play later Tarleton struck with a touchdown as running back Brandon Lowery took the ball the final 15 feet to tie the game.

The rest of the half was a struggle for the Wildcats as ACU was handcuffed by penalties. Delay of games and false starts prematurely ended promising drives as the ‘Cats racked up 40 yards on yellow flags. TSU, on the other hand, gashed ACU’s defense. They took the lead late in the second quarter on a 14-yard screen pass from Stephens to Lowery.

“We continually had foolish penalties,” said head coach Chris Thomsen. “If we are going to win more games, we have to clean that up.”

Tarleton almost scored again at halftime, but ACU safety Darien Williams picked off a Stephens pass at the goal line to stop the bleeding.

The second half started off a little better for the Wildcats as they benefited from another missed field goal by the Texans. That seemed to give Gale and his offense some momentum as they charged down the field and scored on a screen pass.

Gale was flushed from the pocket and dumped the ball off to runningback Charcandrick West. West sprinted up the sideline to paydirt for 41 yards and the lead.

The lead was short-lived however as the Texans answered right back. A long punt return by TSU returner Tad Hill set up another Lowery touchdown. His third of the game put Tarleton back ahead 21-17.

After a long drive, ACU looked poised to tie the game early in the fourth quarter but a bad decision by Gale led to his second interception of the game.

“I thought Tarleton’s front four did a great job,” Thomsen said. “They applied good pressure all night. You get enough pressure and any quarterback will struggle.”

An ACU field goal and a three and out by TSU gave the ball back Gale and his offense with two minutes left. This time they didn’t waste the opportunity. The all-American drove the ‘Cats down and shoveled a pass to Daryl Richardson. Richardson juked a few Texan defenders en route to the endzone.

The fireworks weren’t done. Tarleton drove down to the ACU 5 setting up a last pass before the tying field goal. Cornerback Nate Bailey stepped in front of Stephens pass and sealed the win for the ACU Wildcats 27-24.

“We were in a cover three,” Bailey said. “I read the quarterback’s eyes and kind of jumped the pass.”