ACU proved to be the dominant Wildcats on Saturday, earning their first win of the season as they took down the Louisana College 62-7.
The Wildcats got out to a hot start at the beginning of the game with Stone Earle, a redshirt freshman quarterback from Keller, throwing a 12-yard touchdown pass to Kobe Clark, a junior wide receiver from Sweetwater, within the first three minutes of the game.
The team then continued to score on almost every drive in the first quarter, finishing the first 15 minutes up 27-0 and taking control for the rest of the game.
Because of the Wildcats taking off in the first half, some of the younger players on the roster got to play for substantial minutes and Dorrel was proud of how they played.
“We were playing a lot of young guys in the third and fourth quarter, a lot of them being guys who never played college football,” Dorrel said. “We didn’t have a lot of penalties or procedural errors and we were getting on and off the field. They executed at a really high-level tonight.”
By the end of the night, ACU finished with 297 passing yards and 204 rushing yards. This was compared to Louisana College’s 53 passing yards and 131 rushing yards. The Wildcats were able to on third down, finishing 4-5, while Louisana College finished 2-13 in third-down conversions.
In his first home start and win in his career, Earle finished with 233 yards, 18 completions and six passing touchdowns, all without throwing an interception. Earle also nearly broke the passing record set in 2013 by John David Baker, who threw seven in one game.
Though he was close to breaking the record, breaking records isn’t something Earle always aims to do.
“I never knew that the record was, but breaking records isn’t really something I worry about,” said Earle. “I just go out and play ball and let the rest take care of itself.”
With this win, the Wildcats finally earned its first win of the season, plus its first-ever home win since the 2019 season. This home matchup was one the team was anticipating, plus one Dorrel felt was an important game to win.
“Our guys were really excited to play tonight; when they showed up to the pregame meal, it sort of had that Christmas Eve feeling to it,” said Dorrel. “The last thing I told them before we went on the field was if we want people at our games, we need to play well, and I am proud that we did that. Plus, our fans were really great tonight in supporting us, and we hope to get that support next week.”
The Wildcats will aim to win two games in a row at home on Saturday as they prepare to face the Lone Star Conference’s UT Permian Basin. The game will begin at 6 p.m., with the game streaming live on ESPN+.
