The Wildcats made history Saturday night in Stephenville, where No. 14 ACU defeated the No. 13 Tarleton State Texans 35-31 in the I-20 rivalry game. The eighth win of the season secured a spot in the NCAA FCS playoffs, ACU’s first conference championship and the most wins in a season since moving to the Div. I level in 2013.
ACU was not expected to win the conference, finishing sixth in the preseason United Athletic Conference coach’s poll.
This team will go down in ACU history along with the 1973 and 1977 teams which each won NAIA championships.
“They literally just set themselves apart,” Head Coach Keith Patterson said. “They’ll be recognized in ACU football history forever.”
With 1:48 left in the game, the Wildcats took the field down 31-28, looking to score a touchdown and make history.
All 58 minutes played before this drive didn’t matter anymore, all that mattered was scoring on this drive.
Maverick McIvor, graduate quarterback from San Angelo, was poised in the pocket as he completed his passes, slowly driving his offense down the field.
“Hats off to Maverick, that was a tough, hard-fought win,” Patterson said. “We expected nothing less. There’s not many kids that can execute with that poise. No timeouts and just never panicked.”
McIvor led ACU to the Tarleton 25-yard line where he spiked the ball to stop the clock with less than a minute left. The next play he found JJ Henry, redshirt junior wide receiver from McKinney, across the middle to set up first and goal at the Texans’ one-yard line.
“Every Thursday we have a two-minute drill in practice and it’s just kind of relying on what we know how to do and what we’re good at,” McIvor said.
With less than 30 seconds left, McIvor completed a pass to Hicks who fell into the endzone for a touchdown, giving ACU the lead 35-31.
“I just had a weird feeling that we were going to go score a touchdown because I saw them do it on Thursday,” Patterson said. “We’re very proud of our team, and I’m proud of my coaches. They do a great job getting these guys prepared to play.”
Tarleton started its final drive with 0:19 left. The Texans got the ball to the ACU 39-yard line to set up the final play of the game. After the Texans’ quarterback Victor Gabalis launched the ball to the endzone, it was bobbled until it finally hit the ground.
As the ball hit the ground and the clock struck zero, fans ran onto the field to join the players in celebrating their historic accomplishment of winning the United Athletic Conference.
ACU is scheduled to play Stephen F. Austin State University on Saturday. The playoff matchup is scheduled to be announced Sunday night.
