The ACU football team played a close game against Texas Tech on Saturday, losing 52-51 in overtime. Although the Wildcats lost the game, they led in nearly every team stat, which leads to the question of “Where did it go wrong for ACU?”

The answer to that question is the first half, where ACU committed multiple mistakes and gave up big plays leading to multiple Texas Tech touchdowns. These mistakes ended up being costly for ACU as the game went down to the wire.

The Wildcats came close to overcoming the first-half mistakes but could not despite having the most total yards, time of possession, first downs, third-down conversions and fewer penalty yards.

The Wildcats received the ball on the opening kickoff and started their opening drive on the ACU 25-yard line. They proceeded to go three-and-out after two incomplete passes and a one-yard rush. Texas Tech proceeded to march down the field 71 yards and score its first touchdown of the game.

The Wildcats’ next possession started with a holding penalty on the kickoff return, forcing ACU to start on its 9-yard line. The drive was heading in the right direction after the Wildcats had picked up some yardage and gained a first down, but quickly changed after ACU fumbled the ball and Texas Tech recovered it at the ACU 17-yard line.

With short field position, Texas Tech quickly scored in one play growing its lead 15-0. ACU scored its first touchdown of the game on its next drive. The Wildcat defense was then unable to stop Texas Tech on the next drive from scoring a touchdown before the end of the first quarter, extending the lead to 22-7.

The first half was not kind to the Wildcats with only one yard gained on their first drive and a lost fumble on their second drive. The defense was not looking good either after allowing a big Texas Tech fourth down conversion in the second quarter leading to a Texas Tech touchdown.

The three penalties for 30 yards halted the ACU offense and fueled Texas Tech drives.

The Wildcats’ special teams gave up a big kick return in the first half and another at the beginning of the second half giving Texas Tech a short field position and allowing them to score.

“The thing that killed us in the first half, two big kickoff returns, a turnover that led to a short field, and [Texas Tech tight end] Jalin [Conyers] just makes a great catch on 4th and 11 and really that was the difference in the game,” said Head Coach Keith Patterson.

The second half was a different story for ACU as they fought back into the game and forced overtime. When talking to the team at halftime, Patterson said, “The most dangerous score in football is a two-score lead, everybody kinda relaxes.”

Texas Tech received the ball to start the second half and started at its own 29-yard line. Tech drove all the way to the ACU 1-yard line where the Wildcats came up with a big stop on 4th and 1 giving ACU the ball back.

ACU then went 96 yards down the field and scored a touchdown to make the score 32-28. Now down by only four points, the Wildcats felt a momentum change.

This feeling was short-lived as Texas Tech scored on its next drive making the game a two-possession game again. The ACU offense was rolling though as they scored another touchdown making the score 39-35.

On the next drive, Tech was held to just a field goal. This meant that ACU could tie the game with a touchdown. The game was in reach for the Wildcats and the players could feel it.

“Our kids were very confident, they felt like we were gonna win the game,” Patterson said.

On the very next drive, ACU tied up the game 42-42 with a five-yard rushing touchdown from Isaiah Johnson, a graduate running back from Lubbock. With this touchdown, an ACU victory felt within reach.

For Tech’s last drive of regulation, they kicked a field goal giving them the lead 45-42 with 2:39 left in the game. The win for ACU was there for the taking, all ACU had to was score a touchdown.

The Wildcat offense was knocking on the door of the endzone with the ball at the Texas Tech 4-yard line. After two incomplete passes ACU had no choice but to tie the game on fourth down.

In overtime, Tech got the ball first and scored in four plays. Now ACU had to score to keep its chance of winning alive.

ACU scored in five plays and Patterson decided to go for a two-point conversion to win the game. The Wildcats were unable to convert for two points and fell short by one point.

A valiant effort in the second half was ultimately not enough for ACU to overcome its first-half struggles.