With a 20-14 win against Central Arkansas at home, the Wildcats have moved to a promising 2-0 in the United Athletic Conference and 3-4 overall ahead of a road matchup against North Alabama this week.

This win did not come easily for ACU.

The Cats held off a late Central Arkansas push, relying on a strong first half in which ACU led 17-0, a big interception and a fourth-quarter first-down drive to secure the win.

The game opened with a 26-yard field goal from Brandon Perez, senior kicker from Crandall, in the first quarter.

ACU extended its lead in the second quarter when quarterback Tucker Parks, redshirt sophomore from Spring, scored on a 2-yard run before later connecting with Dallas Dudley, redshirt senior wide receiver from Lewisville, for a 10-yard touchdown pass. That gave the Wildcats a 17-0 halftime advantage.

The Wildcats’ defense also helped set the tone early.

Santana Miller, junior linebacker from Iowa City, Iowa, intercepted Central Arkansas quarterback Donovyn Omolo, sophomore from Conway, Arkansas, on fourth down in the first quarter. The Wildcats held Omolo to just 83 passing yards in the game.

Central Arkansas responded in the second half, scoring on a 30-yard run by Omolo in the third quarter and a 46-yard touchdown run by Jalen Washington, redshirt sophomore running back from Houston, Mississippi, with 8:11 remaining.

But ACU’s offense then controlled the clock, putting together a 15-play, 57-yard drive to ice the game.

Despite the win, ACU still struggled in the third quarter. Coming into the game, ACU had been shut out in the third quarter this season until Perez’s 34-yard field goal gave the Wildcats a 20-7 lead entering the fourth.

After that, nothing.

This came after head coach Keith Patterson decided to bring the team onto the field to warm up again instead of using the halftime break to reset, regroup and game-plan.

“We just kind of keep shooting ourselves in the foot,” Patterson said. “It’s unbelievable, and I don’t know what I’m going to do. I told them, I said, hey, we’ll do what I did in college. We put the ball on the 3-yard line and we scrimmaged. We went first offense, first defense. We may just go out there and scrimmage next week before the second half.”

Even with the offensive struggles, Parks was able to shine and show why he has earned the starting spot down the stretch this season.

Parks went 19 of 26 passing for 186 yards and a touchdown without turning the ball over.

“We started off slow, but now we are getting our confidence back and getting back into a rhythm,” Parks said.

Another highlight for Parks was the way he used his legs, leading the team in rushing with 73 yards before sacks brought his net total to 45 yards, which still led the team.

“If it’s second, maybe first down, I will get down and slide,” Parks said. “But if it’s third down, gotta get that first down.”

Patterson said the team is still working to put together a complete game, but he was pleased with how his team stepped up when the margin got thin.

“The one thing they did when the game was on the line, they had to, you know, convert and move the sticks, and I felt like they did that,” Patterson said.

Patterson also credited the defense for its progress. The Wildcats held Central Arkansas scoreless in the first half, did not allow a touchdown in the first quarter for the second consecutive week and forced two turnovers, finishing with a plus-two turnover margin.

“We’re starting to find our identity defensively, find out what we can do,” Patterson said. “They’re starting to get better. We just got to continue to improve to be a better tackling football team on the second level.”

After a three-game homestand, ACU now heads on the road to take on a 4-2 North Alabama team that has won three straight games. Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. in Florence, Alabama.