No. 11 Tarleton squares off against No. 9 ACU

Close to kickoff here at Memorial stadium and its perfect football weather here to start the game. Captains are out on the field and it looks like ACU has won the toss and will defer until the second half. Tarleton and its high powered rushing attack, second in the LSC, will take the ball to start the game. It should be a great match up against two of the top teams in the Lone Star Conference. Kickoff is coming soon.

> Good defense so far with both teams going 3 and out. Tarleton started its second drive and was able to get a little bit going through the air with a a first down pass from Grantham to Shaun Ragon, however they were stalled once again on a 3rd and 5. ACU has its second possession coming up.

> ACU quarterback Mitchell Gale had his pass go off the hands of several Tarleton defenders before it finally landed in the hands of linebacker Marcus Phillips. ACU was on the Tarleton 9 yard line and looking ready to score before the huge play was made by the preseason All-LSC linebacker. However, Tarleton was not able to do anything with the ball offensively as they again went three and out before a booming 49 yard punt. ACU has the ball and will try to put up the first points of the night.

>End of the 1st quarter and neither team has been able to get a whole lot going offensively. It has been a defensive standstill as Tarleton has only been able to gain a total of 42 yards of offense while ACU has only put up 93 yards. Big plays defensively have kept the Wildcats out of the end zone. The two teams will look to get jump started here in the 2nd quarter.

> A nice stop by the Texan defense put the Wildcats in a 4th and 23. ACU punter Mark Sprague punted the ball to Texan receiver Devin Guinn but a muffed punt was recovered by the Wildcats at the Tarleton 8 yard line. The Texan defense made a great stop, holding the Wildcats to a 3 and out and causing them to kick a field goal to put up the first points of the night. Wildcats now lead with 8:25 left in the 1st half.

>Wildcats drive 55 yards down to the Tarleton 8 yard line and Lineberry kicks his 2nd 20 yard field goal of the night with 50 seconds left in the half. Tarleton is unable to do anything in the last 50 seconds and they go into the half down 6-0.

HALFTIME: Tarleton has gotten off to a very slow start offensively with only 48 yards of total offense in the 1st half. The highly touted rushing attack for the Texans has a total of -16 yards rushing. The Texans have been able to get absolutely nothing going on the offensive side of the ball. The Texan defense however has repeatedly answered the call after being backed up in their own territory on several occasions. To allow ACU only 6 points at the end of the first half is nothing short of remarkable. However, they have had trouble containing the ACU offense on 3rd down as the Wildcats have converted on 5 of 11 3rd downs, several of which happened to be 3rd and longer than 10. The entire Texan team will look to come out of halftime blazing as they try to upset the Wildcats. Be sure to stay tuned for this defensive battle.

> The 3rd quarter seemed to be a mirror image of the entire 1st half as the defenses have owned this game. Neither team was able to get anything going offensively yet again. The Texan offense has not been able to move the ball all game as ACU is winning the time of possession battle 30:35 to 14:25. 4th quarter is soon to come.

> After muffing two punts on the night Devin Guinn finally gets his hands on one and makes a couple of nice moves to take the ball back 57 yards all the way to the end zone. After a 15 yard penalty the Texans were forced to attempt a long extra point. The Wildcats were able to get to it and force the kick off its intended path. The score is now tied at 6-6 with 14:14 left in the game. The Wildcats brought the ball all the way out to midfield on the kick return but the offense was unable to get anything going. On 4th down ACU was forced to punt and the ball sails out of bounds at the Tarleton 19 yard line. The Texans will now try to get something going offensively.

> With one play quarterback Scott Grantham hooks up with wide receiver Jahmeel Hobson for a 75 yard bomb that Hobson takes all the way to house. It was easily the longest play of the night and a huge factor thus far in the game. The score puts the Texans up 13-6 with 4:32 left to play in the game. Texan defense will come out to try and do their thing.

> The Texans defense has done its thing all night long and they have their biggest stand right at the end. With 4:32 left on the clock and the Wildcats on their own 33 yard line ACU started their march downfield. After two first downs, including one on a big 4th and 9, the Wildcats sat on the Tarleton 35 yard line. Gale was sacked on 1st down and the next two passes went incomplete. On 4th and 17 on the Tarleton 42 yard line Gale dropped backed and threw over the middle. The Texan defenders sandwiched the receiver and the ball went over on downs. Texans have the ball and need a first down to run out the clock.

> Thats the end of this one. The Texans get an outstanding effort from its defense allowing ACU to score just 6 points all night. It was two huge plays, one a 57 yard punt return by Devin Guinn and a 75 yard bomb from Scott Grantham to Jahmeel Hobson, that lifted the Texans over the Wildcats. As the Texan offense was stalled for a majority of the night, the defense continually made huge stops allowing the Texans to remain in the game. The Tarleton Texans move to an 8-1 record overall and 3-1 in conference. The Texans will look to continue their winning streak against the Angelo State Rams in San Angelo, Texas next Saturday at 6 p.m.

GAME NOTES: The Texan defense held the Wildcats to 255 yards of total offense... the Texans came into tonights matchup with the 2nd best rushing offense in the LSC averaging 180 yards per game on the ground. In tonights matchup they were held to -11 yards rushing... Jahmeel Hobson led the Texan receivers with 8 catches for 144 yards... Marcus Phillips came to play tonight as he finished with 12 tackles, 2 sacks, and 1 interception.