In a game that will decide the winner of the United Athletic Conference, the Wildcats will take on the Tarleton State University Texans in Stephenville on Saturday.
Both teams enter Saturday’s game hot off impressive wins. The Texans had a commanding win over the University of West Georgia by a score of 38-21, while the Wildcats took down Austin Peay State University, the defending UAC champions, by a score of 35-34.
The Wildcats were lifted to victory by graduate quarterback Maverick McIvor’s 355-yard, three-touchdown performance, two of which went to wide receiver J.J. Henry and the game-winner to tight end Jed Castles.
“I was just proud of our team and the way they responded,” Head Coach Keith Patterson said. “They never flinched, there was never a time in the course of the game where the players didn’t feel like they were going to win the game.”
The Wildcats will look to continue their high scoring against a Tarleton defense that surrenders only 22 points per game to opponents. The Texan defense has also forced 25 turnovers through 10 games this season, leading the UAC in both interceptions (14) and forced fumbles (11).
“They’ve had a lot of success statistically,” said first-year Offensive Coordinator Rick Bowie. “Those are the type of guys want to go against.”
In his first season with ACU, Bowie has led the offense to score over 36 points per game with three performances of 40 points or more, including the first game of the season against Texas Tech University where the offense scored 51 points.
The Wildcats’ success on offense has helped them position themselves to play for a conference championship, something Bowie does not take for granted.
“It’s why you do it,” Bowie said. “I’ve got so much respect for this league, and it has lived up to the hype. You can’t take a week off… There are no bad teams.”
The Texans also have had a successful season on the offensive side of the ball, scoring over 28 points per game and rushing for over 200 yards per game. Senior running back Kayvon Britten leads the way, amassing 1495 rushing yards and 15 touchdowns so far this season.
“They have an explosive offense,” Patterson said. “They have a great running back and a quarterback that delivers the ball to their playmakers.”
One of Patterson’s keys throughout the season has been winning third and fourth downs. Going into Saturday’s game, Tarleton State has converted only 38.17% of their third downs as an offense.
“That’s big,” Patterson said. “We’ve got to make sure that we win third down.”
Despite converting at a low rate offensively, the Texans have held opposing offenses to converting 38.10% of the time
“We anticipate them being aggressive on third down and we’ve got to do the same.”
Patterson and Bowie both mentioned the Texan’s ability to force turnovers, saying that the Wildcats will need to take care of the ball on Saturday. Patterson also stressed the importance of his teams’ effort and intensity for the big game.
“We’ve just got to keep playing,” he said. “We’ve done it all year… I’ve talked about wanting to build a football program that when the circumstances get difficult, we play winning football. We’ve exhibited that.”
