Football got its first win of the 2026 season on the road against a then-parallel team in Idaho, which also entered 0-3, winning 41-39 in Moscow, Idaho, and bringing ACU to 1-3 overall.

After starting 0-3 and losing at home for the first time since 2024, the opposite of one of the team’s keys to success – defending Wildcat Stadium – head coach Keith Patterson said the team would switch things up, change practice and make players earn their way onto the field.

It looks like that may have worked, with the offense scoring the most points it has all season and the defense forcing two turnovers, winning the turnover battle by two after not doing so this entire season.

“Last week we went to practice with a purpose, a mentality, a mindset, whatever you want to call it, that carried over into the game,” Patterson said. “Very proud of our team, the way they responded to being challenged, and we’re going to continue to do that as we move forward.”

One response to the challenge is the quarterback position.

Tucker Parks, a redshirt sophomore quarterback from Spring, got the starting role after being benched for about 2 1/2 games since being taken out against Lamar for John David Black, a redshirt sophomore quarterback from Flower Mound, after throwing two interceptions.

“At the end of the day, to be the quarterback of our football team, we have to understand the game’s about the ball,” Patterson said. “And you have to protect the football. You can’t put it in jeopardy.”

Parks did not turn the ball over in this game, something Patterson stressed could not happen this week, and threw for 148 yards with two touchdowns and 74 rushing yards, without leading wide receiver Cristian Driver, a redshirt senior wideout from Flower Mound, who was out with an apparent injury.

Speaking of injuries, ACU faced a couple, of course, with starting running back Alex Broom, a senior from Nashville.

The rushing game stepped up in his absence, however, with Rovaughn Banks Jr., a redshirt senior back from Tulsa, and Deonte Dean, a redshirt sophomore from Dallas, combining for 162 yards, 99 and 63, respectively.

“When his opportunity came, he responded,” Patterson said about Dean. “So, very proud of him and just the ability to stay the course, not get discouraged and just keep practicing. And when your opportunity presents itself, you do exactly what he just did.”

On the defensive side, defensive lineman Chris Herpin, a senior from Pearland, has been out, setting up other people to step in. For ACU, in this case, it was Obi Udom, a redshirt sophomore defensive lineman from Frisco, who forced a strip-sack against the Vandals in the fourth quarter that went for a 9-yard touchdown, all on his birthday.

“And he just every single week throughout the course of the season, he has gotten better and better and better,” Patterson said about Udom.

The Wildcats face another test at home this week. They play against Mercer on Saturday night at 7 p.m. in Wildcat Stadium. Mercer comes in 23rd in the coaches’ poll and No. 25 in the Stats Perform poll.

Mercer comes in 2-2 on the year on a two-game losing skid after starting the season hot at 2-0.