ACU (3-3, 1-1) heads to Nacogdoches on Saturday looking for its second straight win as it takes on Stephen F. Austin (3-4, 0-2).
The Wildcats come into Saturday coming off their first United Athletic Conference win after defeating Northern Alabama last week 30-13, to end a three-game losing streak for the Wildcats. The Lumberjacks are still looking for their first UAC win after falling to Central Arkansas last week 24-21.
The Wildcats played some of their best complimentary football last week and the defense shined in the win grabbing five takeaways from the Lions. This allowed the ACU offense to find its groove in Saturday’s matchup allowing the Wildcats to move down the field more freely.
“Offense is all about getting into a rhythm throughout the course of a game,” said head coach Keith Patterson. “I felt like once we forced those turnovers, the offense kind of created some energy by feeding off those turnovers and that’s what it’s all about. We’ve got to continue to do more of that.”
The defense being able to transfer its momentum over to this week will be key for the Wildcats against SFA, who has one of the better offenses in the UAC. The Lumberjacks have scored the second most points in the conference this season at 257 and quarterback Brian Mauer is fourth in the conference in total yards with 1669.
However, the ACU defense has been lights out the last seven quarters, going back to the North Texas game. Junior linebacker Cirby Coheley led the Wildcats last week with 10 tackles and two interceptions and junior linebacker Darius Moore had 10 tackles as well. Junior safety Elijah Moffett is fifth in the conference in total tackles and after grabbing his third of the year on Saturday, senior defensive back Patrick Jolly leads the conference in interceptions.
“We just need to keep playing together,” Coheley said. “We need our offense to get going, our defense needs to keep doing what their doing with the turnovers and just make the plays we have got to make.”
The Wildcat offense has settled down a bit more in this middle part of the season; however, the Wildcats still need to learn how to string drives together even if they do not always result in points. The ACU offense ranks second to last in the UAC in average yards per game and dead last in time of possession.
“We’ve put major emphasis on moving the chains,” Patterson said. “When we do that, we get into a rhythm and when we don’t, we don’t. I think if we can get that first first down everything seems to move from there.”
The Wildcat offense will look to utilize sophomore running backs Jordan Vaugn and Rovaugh Banks Jr. like they did against UNA while still in the absence of junior running back Jermiah Dobbins. Vaughn and Banks Jr. combined for 131 yards on 21 carries in last weekend’s matchup including a 52-yard touchdown run from Banks Jr. SFA ranks first in the conference in passing defense, so the Wildcats will need to establish the run game early into Saturday’s game.
One player who seems to have stayed consistently on point all season is sophomore kicker Kyle Ramsey. The Houston transfer took home his second UAC Special Teams Player of the Week award, after his performance last Saturday. Ramsey is 9-9 on FG attempts and 21-21 on PAT’s so far this season. Ramsey said it means a lot to him that coach Patterson trusts him in key situations.
“It’s a good time of just having a coach that trusts me to go out and make those balls,” Ramsey said. “Whether it’s in practice and then coming into games with some big moments, some big field goals, some at the end of the half where it’s just lets see if we can get some points on the board, having a coach that trusts me means everything.
The Wildcats have not had much success against the Lumberjacks in recent years losing seven of the last eight, including two three-point losses last season, one of which being the WAC Championship last November.
“We look forward to the challenge of it,” Patterson said. “Not one thing that happened a year ago has anything to do with Saturday. It’s a new team on both sides of the football and we’re just excited for another opportunity to go out and try to win another conference game.
The Wildcats take on the Lumberjacks at 4 p.m. on Saturday at Homer Bryce Stadium with the game streaming live on ESPN+ and being called on 106.3 FM The Raider.
