Interview with Ken Collums l
Interview with Darian Hogg
By Lance Fleming
acusports.com
CANYON – One of the best rivalries in the current landscape of NCAA Division II football could play out its final act Saturday night when the Wildcats head to the Texas Panhandle to take on West Texas A&M for the 46th and, perhaps, final time.
Kickoff from Kimbrough Memorial Stadium is set for 6 p.m. and the game can be heard locally on Mix 92.5 FM. The game can also be seen on
foxsportssouthwest.com with Chris Needham calling the play-by-play action. ACU fans are also invited to a pre-game tailgate party at Canyon Hills Church of Christ just down the road from Kimbrough Memorial Stadium. The party starts at 4 p.m. and fans can get free food and a game ticket by emailing an RSVP to
mark.rogers@acu.edu.
ACU leads the all-time series, 28-17, but it's a series that's had a little bit of everything, especially in the last seven years as both teams went from the bottom of the Lone Star Conference to perennial LSC and NCAA Division II powerhouses.
Recruiting against each and playing each other nine times over the previous seven season – including meeting in two epic playoff games, which they split – has led to heated moments, memorable performances, great games and fantastic finishes.
But since 2005 when Don Carthel became the head coach at WT and Chris Thomsen became the head coach at ACU (bringing with him as his offensive coordinator, current ACU head coach
Ken Collums), these two programs have ruled the LSC with a combined record of 137-43 in all games since 2005 (72-20 for WT and 65-23 for ACU) and a remarkable 110-24 in LSC action since 2005 (57-10 for WT and 53-14 for ACU).
They have combined to win five of the last seven LSC championships, make 11 trips to the NCAA Division II playoffs and two post-season bowl appearances. And they've sent 14 players to the NFL since 2005.
And they played in the greatest offensive game in NCAA Division II football history in November 2008 at Shotwell Stadium when ACU topped the Buffs, 93-68. The teams combined for 1,531 yards of total offense and set more than 40 NCAA, LSC, ACU and WT career, single-game, and NCAA playoff game records in the process.
Add in the fact that the home team has won only one regular-season matchup since 2000 (ACU in 2011) and that only adds more spice to the game.
WT needs the win to stay atop the LSC standings, while ACU is already in playoff mode as it needs to win out just to have a shot at the playoffs for the seventh straight season.
It's the Wildcats and the Buffaloes. One last shootout in the Panhandle.
With that being the case, here are my five favorite moments of the last few years of the rivalry:
1.
Bernard goes Beast Mode: The game that everyone always thinks about first in the ACU-WT rivalry is the 2008 playoff game when ACU scored 93 points. That game was an anomaly and will likely never be seen again. My first thought about my favorite games in the rivalry always goes back to the night of Oct. 18, 2008, when the Wildcats' version of the triplets – Bernard Scott, Johnny Knox and Billy Malone – really put on a show. ACU went into the game ranked No. 3 at 6-0, while the Buffs were 7-0 and ranked No. 4. With a near-capacity crowd of 19,380 fans in attendance at Kimbrough Memorial Stadium in Canyon, the Wildcats jumped out to a 31-7 halftime lead, thanks to 190 yards receiving and two touchdowns by Knox in the opening 30 minutes. But Scott was simply awesome in the second half, rushing for 185 of his 268 yards and pulling down 65 receiving yards in the game's final 30 minutes. He scored on a 65-yard run late in the fourth quarter to push the lead to the final score of ACU 52, West Texas A&M 35. Of the hundreds of ACU games I've witnessed as a fan, student and SID, this one is my favorite. And it'll take something pretty special – a national championship victory would do it – to knock it from the No. 1 spot.
2.
The 93-point game: What's left to say about this game? ACU and WT fans heard it all after it was over, that both teams were so bad defensively that it's not surprising that the teams would march up and down the field on each other for 60 minutes that November 2008 afternoon at Shotwell Stadium. I say it's more because two of the best offenses in the history of NCAA Division II football – offenses that featured a combined seven players that would one day appear on NFL rosters – bringing their "A" games and clicking on all cylinders. WT head coach Don Carthel did his team no favors by onside kicking three straight times in the third quarter. ACU scored with the short field each time to turn a 42-34 halftime lead into a 79-54 advantage at the end of the third quarter. The teams combined to set more than 40 records in the game and ACU scored touchdowns on 13 of 15 possessions with five of those touchdowns coming at the end of either one or two play drives. ACU by 93-68 probably won't ever be duplicated, but you can be sure it won't ever be forgotten by those of us who were there to see it happen.
3.
CT vs. The Trash Can: On Nov. 18, 2006, the Wildcats led WT 27-12 midway through the fourth quarter thanks to a 76-yard touchdown run by Taber Minner and looked to be on their way to a win in the program's first NCAA Division II playoff game. But it was all WT from that point on as the Buffs rallied late, tying the game with a 50-yard touchdown pass with 1:12 to play, sending the game to overtime with the scored tied 27-27. On WT's first possession, Jon Roberts hit a 20-yard field goal to give the Buffs a 30-27 lead. On ACU's first possession, backup QB Nick Bird – who played most of the fourth quarter and the OT after Billy Malone suffered an injury – was whistled for intentional grounding on the first play. But that wasn't the call that turned the Wildcats' fortunes. On third-and-2 from the 17-yard line, Bird was looking for Caleb Stone in the end zone, but he was being held by a WT defender. Inexplicably, after Bird's pass fell incomplete, the teams were called for double pass interference on Stone and his defender, sending ACU head coach Chris Thomsen charging onto the field. After the dust settled, Bird's third-down pass was again incomplete and on fourth down former Wildcat defensive back Don Hooks – who transferred to WT – blocked Matt Adams' game-tying field goal attempt to give the Buffs the win. But that's not the whole story. From the Now-It-Can-Be-Told files: as the teams were leaving the field, I met Thomsen near the ramp that leads to the locker rooms to prepare him for the post-game interview session. He was still seething over the blown call in the end zone and asked something about what he should say – if anything – about the call. As we reached the locker room he went inside to console his team and wait for his turn in the interview tent. As he walked back outside, he saw a big, gray, plastic trash can just sitting there minding its own business and he decided to take out his frustrations. A couple of quick kicks knocked the trash can over right in front of a Randall County Deputy Sheriff, who was on hand for security. After he warned Thomsen about "destruction of property," Thomsen answered back with a glare and another kick to the trash can. I grabbed CT's arm and we quickly moved away from the trash can to the interview area while telling the deputy sheriff that I didn't think we were hurting the good people of Randall County by taking out frustrations on a plastic trash can. We might have lost the game, but we definitely won the post-game trash can fight.
4.
Who is ACU?: That was the question going into the 2006 regular-season meeting in Canyon. ACU was 6-0 and ranked No. 20 in the country, while the Buffs were 7-0 and ranked No. 4. ACU had just begun to make some noise on the national scene, but by the end of the night there would be no more questions about who this team was and if they belonged among the elite of Division II football. ACU rallied from an early 15-0 deficit behind the exquisite play of Billy Malone, who completed 23 of 36 passes for 388 yards and a school-record six touchdowns, three of which went to John Brock, who caught four passes for 160 yards and the three scores. Playing in front of 13,641 fans at the stadium and in front of a national TV audience (CSTV), the Wildcats improved to 7-0 for the first time since 1950 with the win.
5.
The Comeback: I wasn't at the 2010 game in Canyon when the Wildcats rallied in the second half, but it wasn't of my own choosing. In my 15 years at ACU, it's one of only two football games I've missed, and there's no way I could have made this one. About a month before the game an old back injury flared again that left me lying prone on my stomach most days. And so it was that on this Saturday night (Nov. 6, 2010) I was lying on my living room while the Wildcats were in Canyon to take on the Buffs in another titanic tussle. ACU entered at 9-0 and ranked No. 2 in the country, while the Buffs were 7-2 and unranked but dangerous. The Buffs led 14-6 at halftime and 27-13 late in the third quarter after Caleb Randolph picked off a Mitchell Gale pass and returned it 76 yards for a score. But the Wildcats rallied.
Daryl Richardson scored on a short run with 2:15 in the third quarter to make it 27-20, and then on the first play of the fourth quarter, Edmond Gates picked off a pass intended for teammate
Ben Gibbs and scored from 51 yards out to tie the game at 27-27. After the Buffs drove the field on their next drive to a touchdown and a 34-27 lead, the Wildcats answered with two late scoring drives to seal the win. When Richardson crossed the goal line with one minute left to cap a six-play drive and give the Wildcats a 41-34 lead, I literally lept off the floor, sending my back into spasms. After I calmed down and watched the final minute and wrote my story, I fell asleep on the floor. The next day I was in the hospital with severe back spasms, and three days later I underwent surgery to fix the problem. I'll always have
Daryl Richardson and the Wildcats to thank.
