The Wildcats will have to travel to one of the most unforgiving environments in the Lone Star Conference when they head to Blackwater Draw in Portales, N.M., to take on the Eastern New Mexico Greyhounds.
With a rowdy home crowd and team coming off its worst loss of the year, the Wildcats will have to tread lightly. Last Saturday the Greyhounds lost to perennial cellar dweller East Central Oklahoma in a sloppy game marred by turnovers.
While the Greyhounds are 3-4 on the season, they are by no means a team to ignore. Eastern New Mexico has historically been a team that isn’t afraid to throw the ball, and this year is no different. Quarterback Wesley Wood leads a Greyhound passing offense that ranks second in the Lone Star Conference. Wood has thrown 23 touchdowns this year, leading the conference.
“We have to stop Eastern New Mexico’s offense first,” said head coach Chris Thomsen. “They can roll up a lot of yards and a lot of points, and they do it in an up-tempo way.”
Frequent passing usually means a lot of picks, and Wood has thrown 17 of them this year to lead the LSC. The Wildcats aren’t near the top of the conference in interceptions, but they will get plenty of chances against a team that throws the ball three-fourths of the time.
“Our scout team offense this week in practice has gone fast, fast, fast to prepare our defense,” Thomsen said. “Usually you get 70 plays in a game. They will try to run 100.”
The ACU offense will look to expose a glaring weakness against Eastern – its run defense. The Greyhounds have given up the second-most yards of any team in the LSC, which has the Wildcat backfield licking its chops. Both Darrell Cantu-Harkless and Daryl Richardson will get a good number of carries.
“We need to be efficient on offense and keep our defense off the field,” Thomsen said.
When the Wildcats get to the air, Mitchell Gale will have to be accurate. The Greyhound secondary consists of ball-hawks who will try to take it the other way. Eastern ranks second in the conference in interceptions this season with 12, but it will face its toughest test of the year this Saturday in Gale. ACU’s quarterback has only thrown one interception all year to lead the LSC.
“They are a team that plays extremely hard,” Gale said. “Offensively, if we protect the ball and make the routine plays, we have the ability to do really well.”
Every game is a must-win from here on out for the Wildcats, and this one isn’t any different. Game time between the Greyhounds and Wildcats is set for 3 p.m.
