The Abilene Christian Wildcats closed out their 2025 regular season on a high note, securing a dominant 49-28 comeback win on the road against Central Arkansas on Saturday in their United Athletic Conference finale.
The victory extended a four-game winning streak for the Wildcats, who also locked up their second straight UAC football conference championship with their win at Central Arkansas.
“We put in the work and everything it takes to win a championship, and I’m just so proud of our players and staff,” Abilene Christian head football coach Keith Patterson said.
“When you instill into people to have great belief in themselves, great belief in their teammates, great belief in their coaches and great belief in our scheme, what we do and how we go about doing it, you don’t have to go in and holler and yell and throw things at everybody. Let’s just stick to the plan and do it better.”
ACU found itself in an early hole against Central Arkansas after the Bears found the end zone on their opening drive on a 53-yard touchdown pass from sophomore quarterback Caleb Koger to sophomore receiver Malachi Henry.
Koger threw three first-half touchdown passes to give the Bears a comfortable 21-13 advantage entering halftime as the Wildcats tried clawing their way back.
Abilene Christian’s offense exploded during the third quarter, though, as the Wildcats reeled off 29 unanswered points. ACU seized a commanding 42-21 less than 11 minutes into the second half after a stretch that included a special teams score and three consecutive scoring drives.
“Our players started executing, making plays and challenging the ball to come away with four turnovers in the second half,” Patterson said. “That was our No. 1 key to the game. … We’re +23 now in taking the ball away from our opponents. Everyone just stuck to the plan.”
Abilene Christian senior quarterback Stone Earle threw for 310 yards and two touchdowns on 30-of-37 passing. Earle ran for 16 yards and three rushing touchdowns on six carries too.
Senior running back EJ Wilson Jr. led the Wildcats on the ground with 142 rushing yards on 18 carries, while senior wideout Javon Gipson led ACU with 188 receiving yards and a touchdown on 10 catches.
The Wildcats’ secondary also shined defensively, with senior safety Dorian Plumley picking off two passes and junior defensive back Noah Mangum also hauling in an interception.
“When we play like we did in the second half (tonight), we’re a really good football team. A very good football team,” Patterson said. “I just can’t say enough how proud I am of these young men and the character they’ve exhibited, especially here in the month of November.”
The victory also represented Abilene Christian’s third conference championship on the football field since moving up to the Division I level in 2014.
Since the Keith Patterson era began in 2022, the Wildcats have won three conference titles — capturing the Western Athletic Conference title in 2022 and then winning back-to-back UAC conference championships in 2024 and 2025.
ACU hadn’t won consecutive conference championships on the football field since capturing four straight Texas Conference titles from 1950-53 at the NCAA’s Small School College Division level.
“It’s something that we have started to build and really it’s an expectation that our players have,” Patterson said. “We have great belief.”
Their 2025 conference title is a shared UAC conference championship with Tarleton State, whom the Wildcats defeated 31-28 in a head-to-head matchup earlier this year, after both teams finished 7-1 in conference play.
ACU, however, secured the UAC’s automatic-qualifier bid to the 2025 FCS Playoffs, which is granted to every conference champion.
Abilene Christian (8-4) will return to action to face the Lamar Cardinals (8-4) in the first round of the FCS Playoffs at Noon on Saturday, Nov. 29, at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium.
This article originally appeared on Abilene Reporter-News: ACU football wins second-straight UAC championship
Reporting by Andrew McCulloch, Abilene Reporter-News / Abilene Reporter-News
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
