SAN ANTONIO - Abilene Christian quarterback Mitchell Gale Tuesday was selected as the Lone Star Conference's Offensive Preseason Player of the Year by the league's head coaches, sports information directors and media members. With 11 votes, Gale edged Midwestern State's Brandon Kelsey, who received nine votes.
Jeremy Aguilar of Texas A&M-Kingsville claimed the Defensive Player of the Year award after garnering 13 votes. Tarleton State's Marquis Wadley placed a distant second with four votes.
The preseason citation is Gale's third of the summer as he earlier was named the NCAA DII Offensive Player of the Year by
Lindy's magazine and the
Beyond Sports Network.
"Mitchell's resumé is worthy of respect, and with him under center we can be very agressive in our play calling because he's been there before and has done everything," head coach
Ken Collums said during the Lone Star Conference's Media Day. "He is a great football player and has one of the biggest hearts of anyone I know. He understands what it takes to be a leader and can get the best out of anyone though his ability to care. The guys respond by playing well for him."
A 6-2, 220-pound senior from Alva, Okla., Gale enters the 2012 season 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. That would make Abilene Christian only the fifth school in NCAA history to feature two 12,000-yard passers in their record books, joining Hawai'i, Texas Tech, Houston and Weber State in that select club.
If Gale tops 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 to 2011) and Hawai'i (Timmy Chang and Colt Brennan from 2000-2007) 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 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.
Since taking over as the Wildcats' starting quarterback early in the 2009 season, Gale has helped ACU post a .742 winning percentage (23-8) which includes an undefeated regular season in 2010. Last year's squad recorded an 8-3 mark and finished as the runner-up to Midwestern State in the Lone Star Conference.
ACU reached the NCAA Division II playoffs for the sixth straight season in 2011 joining Northwest Missouri State, Albany State (Ga.) and North Alabama as the only NCAA Division II programs to reach the NCAA playoffs in each of the last six seasons.
The Wildcats are expected to again finish behind Midwestern State in the Lone Star Conference standings based on preseason poll results. The Mustangs earned 215 points on the strength of 19 first-place votes. ACU received five first-place votes and 187 points. West Texas finished a close third with 179 points, while Texas A&M-Kingsville scored 158 points and one first-place vote.
The Wildcats were ranked 13th nationally by Lindy's in its preseason poll released earlier this summer. ACU's season begins Saturday, Sept. 1 at Abilene's Shotwell Stadium vs. crosstown rival McMurry of the Heartland Conference. ACU leads the all-time series, 24-15, with the last meeting taking place in 1971.
