Fresh off their first win of the season, the Wildcats continue Southland Conference play Saturday when they visit McNeese State.
ACU’s 52-27 victory over Incarnate Word last Saturday ended an overall eight-game losing streak dating back to last season. This weekend the Wildcats will be looking to end another streak, as they have lost 10-straight road games.
In order for ACU to accomplish that, it will have to knock off the defending Southland Conference champions, who got back into the win column against Northwestern State after losing two straight prior to last Saturday.
ACU’s defense is coming off its best game statistically, as it allowed just 86 total yards in the first half. Despite the stellar performance, Head coach Ken Collums said the defense will have to be on its toes.
“McNeese is coming off a really sharp win against Northwestern and when McNeese gets on a role they’re really tough you’ve seen that for years,” Collums said. “Our defensive line has to compress those running lines and make that quarterback feel a little pressure.”
Junior Sam Denmark has moved his way up to ninth all-time in tackles at 291 and ranks second in the Southland this season with 76.
Each of the team’s offenses will also look to build on the success they found in their previous games behind their sophomore quarterbacks. ACU scored 52 points for the second-time this season and McNeese State racked up 48 on Saturday. James Tabary and Dallas Sealey threw for career-highs as Tabary went for 384 yards and three touchdowns and Sealey posted 346 yards and five touchdowns. The passing games were aided in large part by depth in the receiving corps, as juniors D.J. Fuller and Kent Shelby each put up strong numbers. Fuller has accumulated 261 yards and three touchdowns over the last two games for the Wildcats and Shelby has a reception in 21-straight contests. Collums said in order for Fuller’s effectiveness to continue he has to keep getting the ball.
“We’ve got to continue to get him (Fuller) the ball because he’s a playmaker,” Collums said. “He’s got good hands and he’s got speed, so Nathan Young does a fine job of finding ways to get him the ball and we are going to have to continue to do that.”
Each offense also eclipsed the 500-yard mark in team totals, with the Cowboys racking up 601 to the Wildcat’s 500 even.
Saturday’s match up will mark the teams fourth meeting and McNeese’s 83rd Homecoming game. The Cowboys are 52-19-1 all-time in those Homecoming affairs and 3-0 against ACU, including a 15-13 win in last season’s match up.
