No. 24/25 Abilene Christian vs. No. 2/2 Tarleton State Preview, Prediction, And How To Watch
No. 24/25 Abilene Christian hosts No. 2/2 Tarleton State this weekend in a ranked FCS matchup.
Check out our preview and prediction below.
Abilene Christian vs. Tarleton State On TV
The matchup between Abilene Christian vs. Tarleton State airs on ESPN+.
Kickoff is at 3 p.m. CT on Saturday, Nov. 1. It takes place at Wildcat Stadium in Abilene, Texas.
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Abilene Christian vs. Tarleton State Preview
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The playoff implications are big in this Texas showdown.
Tarleton State is in the hunt for a highly-contested Top 2 seed, and the difference between the 2 and 3 seed is often the difference between reaching the national title game or exiting in the semifinals.
Abilene Christian’s last game saw an upset loss at Southern Utah, which set the Wildcats back. At 4-4 overall and 4-2 vs. the FCS with four games remaining, ACU needs to win out to secure a playoff bid at 8-4. Seven wins in a 12-game season puts a team on the bubble and your fate in the hands of the selection committee. A few ranked wins would help ACU’s argument if it were to finish 7-5, but the Wildcats won’t want to put themselves in that position.
ACU had a bye week to prep for Tarleton State, plus it’s Homecoming. To add even more storylines to this matchup, the Wildcats won 35-31 at Tarleton State last year in a ranked matchup, winning the UAC title and celebrating on Tarleton’s turf.
It’s a huge game for both squads. When Selection Sunday rolls around, this game will be pointed to as a key factor in where both teams landed.
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The Texans look like the more complete and consistent team compared to ACU.
After allowing 42 and 23 points in games that tested Tarleton’s depth, the Texans have shut down opposing offenses more recently, beating No. 23 West Georgia 45-10 and Eastern Kentucky 31-7. AJ Owens leads the unit with 59 tackles, while Yasir Holmes has nine TFLs, and Angelo Anderson has 8.5 sacks.
Offensively, Victor Gabalis has a 16:1 TD:INT ratio with 1,441 passing yards while missing a couple of games due to injury. Running back Tre Page III is a candidate for the Jerry Rice Award, tallying 839 rushing yards and seven TDs. ACU’s defense is allowing 232.4 passing yards per game (No. 83 in the FCS), an area Tarleton can exploit.
Stone Earle is a good quarterback for ACU, recording 1,877 yards, 15 TDs, and eight interceptions. But the offense has lacked some explosiveness compared to last year, averaging 26.8 points per game. They’ll go up against Tarleton’s No. 4 FCS passing defense that allows just 149.9 yards per game through the air.
ACU will treat this game like a playoff contest, as one more loss could put it on the wrong side of the playoff bubble. Combined with an extra week of preparation and a Homecoming crowd, I expect the Wildcats to push Tarleton. But the Texans are too good this season for an upset to occur.
Prediction: Tarleton State 35-24
