# 2020 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team

The 2020 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team represented Abilene Christian University in the 2020–21 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Southland Conference. The Wildcats were led by fourth-year head coach Adam Dorrel and played their home games at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium. The Wildcats finished the season with a 1–5 overall record.

## Preseason
### Preseason poll

The Southland Conference released their original preseason poll in July 2020. The Wildcats were picked to finish seventh in the conference, prior to their schedule split from the rest of the league. In addition, four Wildcats were chosen to the Preseason All-Southland Team
| Predicted finish | Team | Votes (1st place) |
| 1 | Central Arkansas* | 190 (12) |
| 2 | Sam Houston State | 170 (4) |
| 3 | Nicholls | 169 (6) |
| 4 | Southeastern Louisiana | 157 |
| 5 | McNeese State | 113 |
| 6 | Incarnate Word | 104 |
| 7 | Abilene Christian* | 101 |
| 8 | Stephen F. Austin* | 60 |
| 9 | Houston Baptist* | 59 |
| 10 | Northwestern State | 49 |
| 11 | Lamar | 38 |
(*) These teams opted out of playing in the revised spring 2021 Southland schedule, and instead played as Independent in the fall of 2020.

### Preseason All–Southland Teams
## Schedule

Abilene Christian had a game scheduled against Texas A&M, which was canceled due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
| Date | Time | Opponent | Site | TV | Result | Attendance |
| September 19 | 8:00 p.m. | at UTEP* | Sun BowlEl Paso, TX | ESPN3 | L 13–17 | 6,056 |
| October 3 | 12:30 p.m. | at Army* | Michie StadiumWest Point, NY | CBSSN | L 23–55 | 5,306 |
| October 17 | 6:00 p.m. | West Texas A&M* | Wildcat StadiumAbilene, TX | ESPN+ | Canceled | |
| October 24 | 12:30 p.m. | vs. Stephen F. Austin | Globe Life FieldArlington, TX | ESPN3 | L 32–35 $^{OT}$ | 5,211 |
| October 31 | 2:00 p.m. | at Mercer* | Five Star StadiumMacon, GA | ESPN3 | W 20–17 | 2,372 |
| November 7 | 3:00 p.m. | Angelo State* | Wildcat StadiumAbilene, TX | ESPN+ | L 21–34 | 4,787 |
| November 14 | 3:00 p.m. | Arizona Christian* | Wildcat StadiumAbilene, TX | ESPN+ | Canceled | |
| November 21 | 3:00 p.m. | at Virginia* | Scott StadiumCharlottesville, VA | ESPN3 | L 15–55 | 250 |
| *Non-conference gameHomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the gameAll times are in Central time |||||||
Source:

## Game summaries
### At UTEP

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 7 | 0 | 3 | 3 | 13 |
| • Miners | 0 | 10 | 0 | 7 | 17 |
| Pregame line | Over/under |
| UTEP –8.5 | 47.5 |
| Statistics | Abilene Christian | UTEP |
| First downs | 15 | 17 |
| Total yards | 308 | 293 |
| Rushing yards | 99 | 98 |
| Passing yards | 209 | 195 |
| Turnovers | 5 | 1 |
| Time of possession | 30:02 | 29:58 |
| Team | Category | Player | Statistics |
| Abilene Christian | Passing | Peyton Mansell | 14/21, 202 yards |
| Abilene Christian | Rushing | Tyrese White | 11 carries, 41 yards |
| Abilene Christian | Receiving | Taelyn Williams | 2 receptions, 77 yards |
| UTEP | Passing | Gavin Hardison | 15/25, 195 yards |
| UTEP | Rushing | Joshua Fields | 17 carries, 75 yards, 1 TD |
| UTEP | Receiving | Jacob Cowing | 8 receptions, 110 yards |

### At Army

| Quarter | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 3 | 7 | 13 | 23 |
| Black Knights | 7 | 16 | 15 | 17 | 55 |
at Michie Stadium, West Point, NY
* Date: October 3, 2020
* Game time: 1:30 p.m. EDT
* Game weather: Temperature: 62 °F (17 °C) • Wind: W 7 mph • Weather: Sunny
* Game attendance: 5,306
* Referee: Jerry McGinn
* TV announcers (CBSSN): Ben Holden (play-by-play), Ross Tucker (analyst) & Tina Cervasio (sideline)
* ESPN – Jones accounts for 3 TDs, Army beats Abilene Christian 55–23 /// Box Score, Abilene Christian at Army /// Pregame Notes /// Postgame Notes
Game information :
First Quarter
(08:20) ARMY TD – Sandon McCoy 1-yard rush, Landon Salyers kick Drive: 10 plays, 45 yards, 5:19; Army 7–0
Second Quarter
(14:55) ARMY FG – Landon Salyers 43-yard field goal Drive: 6 plays, 39 yards, 3:37; Army 10–0
(12:37) ARMY TD – Jemel Jones 3-yard rush, Landon Salyers kick failed Drive: 2 plays, 16 yards, 0:16; Army 16–0
(10:15) ARMY TD – Jakobi Buchanan 3-yard rush, Landon Salyers kick Drive: 5 plays, 58 yards, 2:18; Army 23–0
(07:59) ACU FG – Blair Zepeda 31-yard field goal Drive: 6 plays, 62 yards, 2:08; Army 23–3
Third Quarter
(13:27) ARMY TD – Michael Roberts 33-yard pass from Jemel Jones, Artice Hobbs IV rush Drive: 3 plays, 75 yards, 1:33; Army 31–3
(04:18) ACU TD – Kobe Clark 2-yard pass from Peyton Mansell, Blair Zepeda kick Drive: 9 plays, 61 yards, 4:04; Army 31–10
(02:56) ARMY TD – Jemel Jones 49-yard rush, Landon Salyers kick Drive: 3 plays, 68 yards, 1:15; Army 38–10
Fourth Quarter
(11:12) ARMY FG – Quinn Maretzki 40-yard field goal Drive: 11 plays, 55 yards, 4:25; Army 41–10
(08:29) ACU TD – Kobe Clark 45-yard pass from Peyton Mansell, Blair Zepeda kick Drive: 5 plays, 80 yards, 2:35; Army 41–17
(04:29) ARMY TD – Anthony Adkins 3-yard rush, Quinn Maretzki kick Drive: 8 plays, 76 yards, 3:58; Army 48–17
(03:01) ACU TD – Branden Hohenstein 61-yard pass from Peyton Mansell, Blair Zepeda kick failed Drive: 3 plays, 74 yards, 1:23; Army 48–23
(00:37) ARMY TD – Anthony Adkins 28-yard rush, Quinn Maretzki kick Drive: 5 plays, 46 yards, 2:24; Army 55–23
Passing
ACU – Peyton Mansell: 23/37, 279 yards, 3 TD
ARMY – Jemel Jones: 4/7, 52 yards, 1 TD
Rushing
ACU – L.J. McConnell: 2 carries, 59 yards
ARMY – Jemel Jones: 14 carries, 138 yards, 2 TD
Receiving
ACU – L.J. McConnell: 11 receptions, 101 yards
ARMY – Michael Roberts: 2 receptions, 38 yards, 1 TD
Defense
ACU – Jordan Paup: 8 total tackles (3 solo, 5 assisted)
ARMY – Marquel Broughton: 8 total tackles (7 solo, 1 assisted), 1 forced fumble :
| Statistics | ACU | ARMY |
| First downs | 19 | 24 |
| 3rd down efficiency | 1–10 | 3–11 |
| 4th down efficiency | 1–3 | 2–3 |
| Plays–yards | 62–388 | 67–493 |
| Rushes–yards | 23–86 | 60–441 |
| Passing yards | 302 | 52 |
| Passing: Comp–Att–Int | 25–39–0 | 4–7–0 |
| Penalties–yards | 6–48 | 4–27 |
| Turnovers | 0 | 0 |
| Time of possession | 28:15 | 31:45 |

### West Texas A&M

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Buffaloes | | | | | 0 |
| Wildcats | | | | | 0 |

### Vs. Stephen F. Austin

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | OT | Total |
| Wildcats | 7 | 7 | 0 | 15 | 3 | 32 |
| Lumberjacks | 0 | 7 | 6 | 16 | 6 | 35 |

### At Mercer

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 7 | 0 | 3 | 10 | 20 |
| Bears | 0 | 10 | 7 | 0 | 17 |

### Angelo State

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Rams | 14 | 14 | 0 | 6 | 34 |
| Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 14 | 0 | 21 |

### Arizona Christian

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Firestorm | | | | | 0 |
| Wildcats | | | | | 0 |

### At Virginia

| | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Total |
| Wildcats | 0 | 7 | 0 | 8 | 15 |
| Cavaliers | 14 | 14 | 14 | 13 | 55 |