After its upset win over now No. 20 Nicholls last week during Homecoming, the football team is tasked with a game against the team that made Homecoming miserable last year.
Southeastern Louisiana came into Wildcat Stadium the previous season and handed ACU its worst margin of the season losing 56-21. This was also the most points the Wildcats gave up all season.
ACU, however, has momentum coming off its first victory against a top-20 team since going Div. I and will attempt to reach .500 in conference against the Lions.
Junior linebacker Jeremiah Chambers said his team has a lot of confidence after knocking off Nicholls.
“After that big win we realized how good we can actually be when we execute and play hard for all four quarters,” Chambers said. “Realizing that all of our preparation throughout the week paid off on Saturday helped establish in our minds that when we practice right all week and execute on saturdays we are a hard team to beat.”
Coming into the game, SLU is over .500 in conference with a 3-2 record with wins over Lamar, Northwestern State and Houston Baptist. The Lions lost to two of the tougher Southland teams in Central Arkansas and Incarnate Word.
After finishing the 2017 season with a dominant rushing performance, leading the conference with 3,114 yards and 283.1 per game, the Lions now find themselves passing the ball more this year. They lead the conference with 2,142 passing yards after seven games.
Junior quarterback Chason Virgil is responsible for most of the passing production with 2,081 yards so far this season. He’s also thrown 13 touchdown passes and averaged 297.29 passing yards per game.
His leading receiver is junior Juwan Petit-Frere who has caught 31 passes for 566 yards and three touchdowns. His yard per game average is 80.86.
Chamber said the team knows what they have to do to avoid a repeat of last year’s game with the Lions
“We are both two different teams than who we were last year,” Chambers said. “We know what we have to do as an offense and defense here at ACU and if we go out and do what we are supposed to do and take our preparation from practice to the game Saturday, we will get what we want out of that game.”
Chambers’ name has come up a lot for the Wildcats this season, and headlines their defense going into the game. He was named Southland Conference defensive player of the week after earning 14 tackles, three for a loss and a sack against Nicholls. His season totals are now 77 tackles, 10.5 for a loss and three sacks.
Overall, the defense ranks third in the conference with 385.9 yards allowed per game.
The Wildcat offense has reamained succesful this season ranking first with 3,141 yards and being the only school with 3,000 plus yards on the year. They place second in yards per game with 448.7.
The game begins in Hammond at Strawberry Stadium Saturday at 7 p.m. Coverage can be heard on 98.1 FM.
