Sunday, September 22, 1996

ACU squeaks by Midwestern State
By TED DUNNAM
Assistant Sports Editor

No paying customer deserved the punishment of having to watch the offenses of Abilene Christian University and Midwestern State University play beyond four quarters Saturday night at Shotwell Stadium.

But in the best interest of making history, the Wildcats and Indians did play the first overtime in Wildcat school history, and thanks to the accurate foot of Brandon Baker, the Wildcats prevailed 17-14.

The former Abilene High kicker split the uprights on a 37-yard field goal on ACU's first possession in overtime to end a non-conference affair in which parental discretion should have been advised.
Baker's 3-pointer gave ACU its second win in three outings while Midwestern fell for the third consecutive time.

"I was extremely nervous when I walked out there. I've never been in that situation before," Baker said. "I knew they were going to try to freeze me. I fully anticipated the timeouts. Coach (Jack) Kiser told me they were going to call them.

"I did my best not to let it get to me. After I kicked it, as soon as I looked up I knew it was good."
Baker came out the clear winner in a tale of two kickers.

Midwestern State's Donny McEwan had a chance to win the game with 24 seconds left, but his 33-yard field goal was wide left with the score tied 14-14. McEwan then misfired on a 32-yard field goal on Midwestern's overtime possession.

The Indians received the opportunity to win the game in regulation when ACU faked a punt on fourth-and-3 from its own 37-yard line. Punter Bubba Moore's pass fell harmlessly to the ground, setting up the Indians in ideal field position with 1:24 remaining.

MSU's Brian Gilmore then ran 16 yards to the ACU 21, and the Indians eventually marched to the Wildcat 16-yard line before McEwan misfired, allowing ACU coaches, players and fans to breathe a collective sigh of relief.

Why did Kiser call the risky play?

"We didn't know it wasn't going to work," the ACU head coach said. "We wanted to win the game in regulation and we had every confidence it would work."

Like a lot of things on this night when ACU had the ball in its hands, it didn't work.

The second half began with - of all things - a delay of game penalty when the ACU band didn't get off the field in time. That resulted in a non-returnable kick, and ACU promptly fumbled on its second play of the second half.

Midwestern's Michael Ortman recovered the bobble at the ACU 10-yard line and on the Indians' first snap, Gilmore scored on a reverse. With the PAT kick, the teams were tied 7-7 just 54 seconds into the second half.

Prior to that play, the Indians' woeful offense had managed just 33 yards in two quarters, including a miserable three yards rushing on 16 attempts. Midwestern's offensive struggles were lowlighted on this night by a completion that went for minus-24 yards.

After the Indians had stunned ACU with that quick touchdown, the Wildcats came right back to put together their most impressive drive of the night.

The Wildcats marched 70 yards in 11 plays with Sammie Overton sweeping right end from seven yards for the go-ahead touchdown. Baker's PAT gave ACU a 14-7 lead.

The penalty-free drive included passes of 7 and 13 yards to O'Day Tolbert and a 9-yard pass to Casey Whittle, all from the arm of Mitch Alvarado.

Alvarado split duty with sophomore Trent Fuller at quarterback as the Wildcats continued to search for an identity on offense. They didn't find it Saturday.

The Wildcats lost three fumbles, two of which were costly. One led to the first Midwestern score and the second prevented a probable ACU score at the end of a 46-yard pass from Fuller to Craig Cole. The Indians recovered that fumble at their 5-yard line.

ACU was also knocking at the door - Midwestern's 6-yard line - when an ill-advised Fuller pass was picked off by the Indians' Joel Sparks.

All of that proved frustrating for ACU because it had totally dominated the first half, only to have a 7-0 lead to show for it. The Wildcats' defense, meanwhile, was having its best game of the year.
"We had three legitimate shots at touchdowns in the first half and didn't score on any of them," Kiser said. "We made a ton of mistakes."

Midwestern finally tied the game as a result of ACU's inopportunism, marching 82 yards in just six plays on its only sustained drive of the night. Third-string quarterback Marty Mitchell led the drive, connecting on a 51-yard bomb with Gilmore and a 13-yard hook-up with Nick Leonard.
Mitchell eventually scored from 5 yards with 4:38 left in the game.

On ACU's next possession, it picked up two first downs before the fake punt backfired.
Fortunately, Baker saved the day for ACU, performing admirably in the clutch, a lesson from which the Texas Rangers could learn.

"It helped that their kicker had missed his attempt first," Baker said. "That eased the pressure some. But I was still pretty nervous out there."