CARROLLTON, Ga. - For the first time this season the UWG football team will find out how they respond following a setback, and luckily they get to do it front of a home crowd as the 21st-ranked Wolves welcome 19th-ranked Abilene Christian to University Stadium on Saturday.
West Georgia (5-1, 2-1 UAC) is coming off a road loss at Austin Peay while Abilene Christian (3-3, 2-0 UAC) is on the road in United Athletic Conference play for the first time this season.
GAME INFORMATION
#21 West Georgia (5-1, 2-1 UAC) vs. #19 Abilene Christian (3-3, 2-0 UAC)
Saturday, October 11
Kickoff: 2:00 p.m. EST
Location: Carrollton, GA // University Stadium
TV: ESPN+
Radio: KISS 102.7
Saturday will mark the first-ever top-25 FCS matchup in University Stadium history as the Wolves host the Wildcats, and head coach Joel Taylor is ready for the challenge.
"I'm so glad to be back home and get a chance to play Abilene Christian here in front of our fans. I think it will be a tremendous thrill for our kids and our community," said Taylor. "I mean you've got two ranked teams, what more could you want? It's going to be a really good football game."
Abilene Christian is the defending UAC champion and is off to a good start in their title defense, defeating Austin Peay and North Alabama at home to open league play. The Wildcats three losses are all out of conference and two came against FBS opponents, Tulsa and TCU. The third loss came on the road at nationally-ranked Incarnate Word.
"Abilene is a good ball club, and at the end of the day, they are the champions. They won the league last year and until someone knocks them off they are the champions," Taylor added. "I think coach Keith Patterson does a great job. He's an old defensive guy and he brought in a high-profile offensive coordinator in Graham Harrell, so they're scoring some points."
The Wildcats are led offensively by quarterback Stone Earle. The transfer from Marshall played in nine games for the Sun Belt champs last season and is 127-for-186 with 1,411 yards and 11 touchdowns.
Earle's top target has been J.J. Henry who has a team-high 23 receptions although it's Javon Gibson leading a trio of ACU receivers with 200-plus yards receiving.
ACU's offensive line is towards the bottom of the UAC in sacks allowed, allowing over two per game. UWG's David Hoage will look to exploit that and take advantage and get pressure on Earle.
Hoage is third in the UAC in sacks per game and then ranks fifth in FCS football in tackles for loss.
As for the Wolves offense, they hope to get Davin Wydner back after he missed the majority of the second half at Austin Peay after an injury. Taylor remains hopeful to get his experienced signal caller back.
"I think Davin's fine. We actually could have put him back in the game on Saturday, but if he had landed wrong on it, it could have been even worse," said Taylor at his weekly coaches show on Tuesday, "So I made the decision not to put him back in the game, but I think everything's clean and hopefully he'll be just fine for the game."
Saturday is also the Hall of Fame game in which UWG will honor four new inductees into the Hall of Fame. At halftime, UWG will honor Willie Candler, Sherry Cooney, Cade Marlowe, and the 1974 NAIA National Champion Men's Basketball team that was led by head coach Roger Kaiser.
It will be just the second all-time meeting between the Wolves and Wildcats with ACU winning last season's week two contest in Abilene by a 38-24 final.
Kickoff on Saturday is set for 2 p.m. from University Stadium.
The game is being broadcast on ESPN+ and UWG fans can also listen live to the radio broadcast on KISS 102.7 or the Gradick Communications Listening Portal.
