ACU (2-2, 0-1) looks to get back on the right track following back-to-back losses when they take on the University of North Texas (1-2, 0-0) this Saturday night.
The Wildcats come into Saturday following two losses in a row, including a 52-17 loss to Central Arkansas last week in the teams first UAC game of the season. UNT comes in off of a week of rest after taking their first win of the season two weeks ago against Louisiana Tech.
The Wildcats will have to start clicking on both sides of the ball again as the team struggled in the conference opener last weekend. ACU had only 232 total offensive yards in last week’s matchup and allowed almost 600 yards of offense including 380 rushing.
“There’s no other way to say it, but we’re embarrassed that we performed like that,” head coach Keith Patterson said. “We let our expectations for ourself down. You just want to make sure that you don’t ever allow that to happen again.”
When it comes to the offense, although they struggled last game, the Wildcats still have the weapons and the ability to put a lot of points on the board. Junior quarterback Maverick McIvor, who had a below average game against the Bears, still leads the UAC in passing yards per completion and yards per attempt and junior running back Jermiah Dobbins is still fourth in the UAC in rushing yards.
The Wildcats have scored first in all four games this season, and usually come out striking within their first couple of drives. Where they have struggled the last two weeks is keeping that momentum through the duration of the game and becoming stagnant as the game progresses.
“It’s all confidence,” Patterson said. “We lost our confidence somewhere along the road. We’ve got to be aggressive and stay aggressive in our play calling. I think if we stay aggressive in doing that you are gonna see us get back on track.”
The Wildcat defense will have its hands full on the ground game once again as the UNT running backs rank fourth in the American Athletic Conference in rushing yards.
Once again however, the Wildcats have the weapons to stop the Mean Green attack as junior linebacker Cirby Coheley ranks second in the UAC for tackles for loss per game and sacks per game and junior linebacker Izaiah Kelley leads the Wildcats with 30 tackles as well as a forced fumble.
The ACU secondary led by sophomore safety Dorian Plumley and senior defensive back Patrick Jolly, who leads the team in interceptions, will play a large role in Saturday night’s matchup as well, as UNT has two receivers in the top ten of the AAC in receiving yards and average 266 passing yards per game.
An area that the Wildcats know that they can rely on is the special teams unit as sophomore kicker Kyle Ramsey continues to shine as the Houston transfer is five for five on field goals and 13-13 on PAT’s so far this season. Sophomore punter Grant Nickel also averages almost 47 yards per punt, with half of his punts going inside the 20. Sophomore wide receiver Marcayll Jones also leads the UAC in yards per kickoff return at 29.8.
“It takes absolutely zero talent to play harder than your opponent,” Patterson said. “We have to focus on what it takes and the preparation and the things that it takes to win and position ourselves for success, and good things will happen. When you do that, and take care of everything else leading up to the game, everything just seems to take care of itself.”
We will see how the Wildcats positioned themselves for sucess come Saturday night when they take on UNT at 6 p.m. at DATCU stadium with the game streaming live on ESPN+.
