ABILENE – A trio of ACU players have been selected as NCAA Division II pre-season all-America performers by Beyond Sports Network.
Senior quarterback Mitchell Gale and senior placekicker
Morgan Lineberry were each selected pre-season first team all-America, while junior wide receiver
Taylor Gabriel has been selected to the third team.
Gale – who last week was selected pre-season first team all-America and pre-season Offensive Player of the Year by Lindy's magazine – enters the 2012 campaign on the verge of putting his name in the history books. After throwing for 3,823 yards and 28 touchdowns last season he now has 9,127 yards and 76 TDs in his three years as the starter.
If he throws for at least 2,873 yards in 2012 he will join former ACU great Billy Malone as career 12,000-yard passers. By doing that, he would make ACU only the fifth school in NCAA history to feature two 12,000-yard passers in their history, joining Hawaii, Texas Tech, Houston and Weber State in that select club.
If Gale does top 12,000 yards, he and Malone will have topped that number as back-to-back starting quarterbacks, something only Houston (Kevin Kolb and Case Keenum from 2003-11) and Hawaii (Timmy Chang and Colt Brennan from 2000-07) have done in NCAA history.
Gale needs to pass for 2,886 yards to surpass Malone's career total of 12,012 yards and become the all-time leader in passing yards in both ACU and LSC history. He also needs just 2,545 yards of total offense to become the all-time ACU and LSC leader in that category as well.
The 2012 season will mark Lineberry's final year as a Wildcat, and he has a chance to own several ACU placekicking records at the end of the season.
Lineberry's first field goal of the 2012 season will give him 44 on the season and make him the all-time leader in ACU history in that category. He is currently tied with Eben Nelson (43 field goals from 2001-04) going into the final season of his career.
He's second on the ACU kicking points list with 242 and needs 98 to break the record of 338 set by Matt Adams from 2005-08). Lineberry already holds the school record for field goals in a season with 21 in 2010. He's also the only kicker in ACU history to make four field goals of 50 yards or more in a career.
Lineberry is also the third all-time leading scorer in ACU history with 242 points behind Wilbert Montgomery (422 points from 1973-76) and Adams' 339 points.
Taylor finished the 2011 season with 64 catches for 988 yards and 10 touchdowns and earned first team all-Lone Star Conference honors in 2011. He was also an all-region selection after leading the Wildcats in all three of those categories.
Taylor enters his junior season with 90 catches for 1,283 yards and 10 touchdown receptions in his career. He is on pace to finish in the top three in ACU history in all three categories.
