ABILENE -- Almost to a man, ACU players and coaches said the Wildcats enjoyed their best week of practice of the 2009 season while preparing for Saturday's game against Texas A&M-Kingsville.
Fortunately for the Wildcats, it showed on the field.
The Wildcats put together their most complete offensive performance of the season and the defense allowed just one score while the game was still in the balance as ACU snapped a two-game losing streak in a 47-35 win over the Javelinas at Shotwell Stadium.
The win pushes the Wildcats to 8-2 overall, 6-2 in the LSC and 3-2 in the LSC South Division, while the Javelinas fall to 8-2, 6-2 and 3-2. ACU will play its regular-season finale next Saturday at 1 p.m. in Wichita Falls against Midwestern State in a game that will likely send the victor to the NCAA Division II playoffs while the loser will likely see its season end.
Three weeks ago the Wildcats were 7-0, ranked No. 1 in the nation and rolling toward a fourth straight berth in the playoffs. Then the offensive problems that had plagued the team through most of the season took center stage the last two weeks.
The offense hit its low point of the season last week when the Wildcats lost 13-6 at Tarleton State, failing to score a touchdown for the first time since a 31-0 loss at Angelo State on Oct. 13, 2001. The offensive line gave up seven sacks and redshirt freshman quarterback
Mitchell Gale threw two interceptions and only completed only 39 percent of his passes.
Saturday, though, none of those areas was a problem. The Wildcats punched in six touchdowns, the offensive line did not allow a sack and opened enough holes for the Wildcats to run for 167 yards, and Gale completed 24 of 34 passes for 289 yards and two touchdowns.
"We challenged everybody (last week) in practice," ACU head coach Chris Thomsen said. "Everything (today) started with the offensive line. They knew they didn't play well at all last week, and they were challenged by everyone at practice. But everyone was better (today). The offensive line, the running backs, the receivers, and Mitchell. It was a great effort by all of those guys."
And despite the final score, ACU's defense was in control of the Javelinas, giving up just 10 first downs, 169 total yards and one score through three quarters. ACU outscored the Javelinas 23-0 in the third quarter and took a commanding 47-14 lead to the final 15 minutes.
When the game was on the line, the Wildcats' defense harassed quarterback Billy Garza throughout and limited the league's leading rusher -- Fred Windborn -- to just 35 yards on 12 carries through three quarters.
About the only negative for the Wildcats was that they allowed three blocked punts, although one of them was picked out of the air by ACU senior
Arthur Johnson and run forward for a first down, a run that kept a potential touchdown drive alive in the third quarter.
The Wildcats opened the game with a crisp, 11-play, 78-yard touchdown drive that was capped by a 1-yard touchdown run by
Daryl Richardson. After the defense forced a punt the Wildcats got the ball back, only to see
Mark Sprague's punt blocked by Mardrick Johnson. Corey Robertson picked up the loose ball at the ACU 22-yard line and rumbled into the end zone to knot the game at 7-7 with 3:46 left in the first quarter.
ACU responded with a 10-play, 70-yard drive that was capped by
Morgan Lineberry's 23-yard field goal to give the Wildcats a 10-7 lead. But the Javelinas responded, moving 90 yards on six just plays to take a 14-10 lead. Kingsville quarterback Billy Garza capped the drive with a 15-yard touchdown paqss to E.J. LeBlanc with 12:11 left in the half.
That would be the Javelinas' last hurrah for a while as the Wildcats took over.
ACU would rip off the next 37 points to take a commanding lead into the fourth quarter.
Reggie Brown -- who would finish with 106 yards and two touchdowns -- got the first of those two touchdowns with 6:10 left in the half when he bulled in from 3 yards out to give ACU a 17-14 lead.
On the first play after the kickoff, Garza was picked off by Craig Harris, who returned the pick to the Kingsville 16-yard line to set the Wildcat offense up with a short field.
ACU took advantage, needing just five plays to move 16 yards to make it 24-14 with 3:54 left in the half. Richardson capped the drive with another 1-yard scoring run.
The Wildcats' defense forced a punt on Kingsville's first possession of the third quarter, and then ACU welcomed a long-lost big-play threat back into the offense when Gale hit
Edmund Gates with a little pass into the flat and the junior speedster did the rest, splitting a pair of defenders and then tightroping down the sideline for a 72-yard touchdown catch and run that made it 31-14 with 11:21 left in the third quarter.
After an exchange of punts, the Javelinas started at their own 6-yard line, but on third-and-9 from the 7-yard line,
Fred Thompson sacked Garza in the end zone for a safety to make it 33-14.
On the ensuing drive, the Wildcats' were forced to punt on 4th-and-12, but after Mitchell Sawn blocked the punt, Johnson grabbed the ball and ran for 18 yards and a first down. The drive continued, and three plays later, Gale hit
Justin Andrews for a 5-yard touchdown pass to make it 40-14 with 3:51 left in the quarter.
On the first play after the kickoff, Thompson forced a fumble by Winborn and the ball was recovered by ACU linebacker
Bryson Lewis at the Kingsville 39-yard line.
Six plays later, Brown burst in from 4 yards out to make it 47-14 with 56 seconds left in the third quarter, and the competitive phase of the contest was over. Kingsville added three stat-padding touchdowns in the final 15 minutes, but the Wildcats were never in danger of seeing their winning streak against the Javelinas (now six games) come to an end.
