Abilene Christian on the rise thanks to bruising ground game, 'War Daddy' at linebacker

Abilene Christian football (Photo by Kelly Guess)

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Abilene Christian faced long odds heading into its football game on the road against No. 15 Nicholls last Saturday.

The Colonels owned an eight-game home winning streak overall and had won their last 13 regular-season home games. Nicholls was also angry after being shutout on the road the week prior.

“They had a long home winning streak and it was homecoming there and they were coming off being blanked by Sam Houston State,” said ACU head coach Adam Dorrell.

The odds grew longer after ACU fell behind by 11 points early in the third quarter. But the Wildcats were able to overcome the odds and the deficit to score a huge 37-31 overtime win.

“It was a huge win. It’s a hard place to play and they’re a really physical football team. I was fired up because of the way we beat them,” said Dorrell. “We outrushed them, won the turnover battle and made some huge plays on special teams. It was just a complete all-around team win.”

In a battle between the top two rushing teams in the conference, ACU won in a big way with 282 total rushing yards.

“It’s not just the win but it was the type of win and who we beat,” said Dorrell. “Nicholls is a hard-nosed, physical football team so when you go on the road and you beat someone at their own game, I think that says a lot about our kids and our confidence.”

While most teams who use a two-quarterback system struggle to have success, the Wildcats have thrived since installing a two-quarterback system three weeks ago.

Junior Luke Anthony completed 25-of-37 passes for 181 yards with one touchdown and two interceptions while sophomore Sema’J Davis gained 146 yards rushing and two touchdowns on 19 carries while completing his only pass attempt in the game.

“If you’ve followed my track record as a head coach and an offensive coordinator, I’ve always played two quarterbacks if I had them,” said Dorrell. “I’ve never been one of those guys that subscribes to the theory of quarterback controversies and it goes with the type of team I like to recruit.”

“I’m really big on recruiting unselfish guys that are humble and hungry,” said Dorrell. “To do it you have to have two kids that aren’t worried about their statistics and Luke and Sema’J both are super unselfish kids.”

Having two quarterbacks with different skill sets has allowed the Wildcats offense to be more diverse.

“The one thing you won’t see on those stats sheets is that Sema’J lined up at receiver and we were able to send him out on pass routes even though he didn’t catch any passes,” said Dorrell. “We can use him as a decoy on other stuff. It’s really fun when you can get it to work like it’s been working and it’s been going well.”

The Wildcats defense was also huge in the win as they held Nicholls to 153 rushing yards led by senior linebacker Jeremiah Chambers.

Chambers is a two-year captain, was first-team All-Southland Conference last season and was named to the STATS FCS preseason All-American team heading into this season.

“He’s our war daddy. He’s the alpha male leader in our locker room and he’s just super physical. He plays extremely hard and he’s hard-nosed,” said Dorrell.

Chambers has been outstanding this season as he leads ACU in tackles (85), tackles for loss (14.5) and fumbles recovered this year (3). He filled up the stat line against Nicholls with seven tackles, all solo, three tackles for loss, two sacks and broke up a pass.

“I’m so proud of him and what he stands for and he’s really rallied our team the last couple of weeks,” said Dorrell. “He’s very humble and low key. He’s a highly intellectual young man academically and in football. He’s just very unique.”

ACU continues to show improvement during Dorrell’s third season at the helm. The Wildcats had their first winning season since 2014 last year, have won three straight games and are undefeated at home this year.

Prior to his arrival at ACU, Dorrell was very successful at NCAA Division II Northwest Missouri State where he won three national titles.

Dorrell’s teams were always known for their regular-season and physical play which became his focus as he began building the Wildcats.

“I think people will tell you we’ve come a long way in two years. I felt like in year one that we were really soft as a football team physically and mentally and I don’t feel like that anymore,” said Dorrell. “I’m proud of our guys for buying into that mindset.”

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