MSU Football
 
SATURDAY... No. 12 Midwestern State (5-1, 4-1) hits the road for a key Lone Star Conference matchup with Abilene Christian (4-3, 2-3).  Kickoff is set for 2 p.m. at Shotwell Stadium in Abilene.

WHERE TO FIND THE GAME…
 
100.9 BOB-FM: The broadcast features the play-by-play voice of two-time Lone Star Conference Broadcaster of the Year Bill Powers. He is joined by KAUZ TV-6 anchorman Chris Horgen, who serves as color analyst.

ON THE WEB: BOB-FM's audio broadcast is simulcasted on BOBradio.fm. LINK 

PAY-PER-VIEW WEB VIDEO: A pay-per-view webcast is available from Abilene Christian.  LINK

LIVE STATS: Live stats are available courtesy of the Abilene Christian Sports Information Office.  LINK 

 
SCOUTING THE WILDCATS …
 
Abilene Christian comes into the game with a 4-3 overall record, and a 2-3 Lone Star Conference record.  ACU is coming off its first shut out loss in 11 years as West Texas A&M blanked the Wildcats 36-0.

The Wildcats are facing their second straight ranked team in the Mustangs and are playing their third ranked team this season.  ACU also lost to then No. 14 Texas A&M-Kingsville 16-13 at home and lost to then No. 20 WT.

The Wildcats features one of  the top passing and scoring teams in the conference, featuring All-America quarterback Mitchell Gale.  The Lindy's Preseason Player of the Year, Gale's number may be off from last  year, but he is still one of the most dangerous players MSU will face.  He has already set ACU and LSC records for completions and pass attempts with his 840-of-1370 passes for 10,846 yards and 89 touchdowns with 24 interceptions.  He has completed 137-of-237 for 1,719 yards with 13 touchdowns and five interceptions in 2012.

Gale's favorite target is WR Taylor Gabriel who has 33 receptions for 445 yard with five touchdowns.  Darrell Cantu-Harkless adds 28 catches for 303 with a TD and DeMarcus Thompson 22 recepts for 303 with two scores.

ASU allows opponents 318.2 yards a game to also rank 33rd in NCAA Division II.  Teams are throwing for just 183.0 yards a game against ASU, while gaining just 135.2 on the ground -- second in the conference and 63rd nationally.

Leading that defense is linebacker L.B. Suggs who has 64 tackles this season, or 9.1 per game to rank 65th nationally.  Defensive End Nick Richardson leads the team with 10.5 tackles for losses (-69 yards) and has 8.0 quarterback sacks (-60 yards) to lead the LSC and rank eighth in the country.

ACU is averaging 323.3 yards of total offense a game to go with 30.6 points an outing, while allowing 424.4 yards defensively and 22.3 points an outing. 

All-Time Series: ACU leads the series 19-6-1.  MSU has split the last four games with ACU.  Abilene Christian is the longest series in MSU football history.
 
 
NOTEWORTHY

• The Mustangs moved up to No. 12 in the latest AFCA Division II Coaches Poll after being 13th the last two weeks.  They opened the season No. 4.
• MSU has been ranked in the last 17 polls (including seven in the Top 10), in 39 of the last 44 polls and has received a vote in 78 of the last 79 AFCA coaches polls.
• The Mustangs are ranked No. 10 in the D2Football.com Poll.
• Senior quarterback Brandon Kelsey  his running abilities to direct the Mustangs to a 35-28 Homecoming win over Angelo State.  The senior signal caller led all rushers with a career-high 153 yards on 20 carries with touchdown runs of 19 and 10 yards as he posted the Mustangs fourth 150-yard rushing game in as many weeks.  Six of 20 runs against the Rams were 10 yards or better.  While he completed 6-of-16 passes for 59 yards, one was a 21-yard scoring strike to Jared Freeman in the third quarter.
• With his two touchdowns against Angelo State, junior running back Keidrick Jackson now has 13 touchdowns, all rushing, for 78 points and leads NCAA Division II with 13.0 points a game. His 13 TDs mark the sixth best rushing touchdowns mark for a season in school history.  He sports a career total of 39 touchdowns and 234 points – second and third respectively in MSU history .
• Kelsey's career-high 153 yards gave MSU four consecutive games with a 150-yard rusher … Kelsey recorded the seventh 100-yard rushing game of his career to rank fifth in MSU history.
• Jackson remains fifth in MSU career rushing with 2,177 yards. 
• Junior kicker/punter Greg Saladino took over eighth place on MSU's all-time scoring list with 137 points passing Jerry Holstrom (132 points/2002-03). Saladino also tied Jose Martinez for the third-longest consecutive PAT string of 32 that he put together in 2008-09.
• Through the first half of the season, the Mustangs are 28-of-29 in the red zone (.966), with 19 touchdowns and six field goals.  Defensively, MSU has allowed the opponents to score on 13-of-18 red zone appearances (.722), with eight touchdowns and five field goal.      
• The winningest coach in MSU history, Bill Maskill won his 80th game at Midwestern with the win over A&M-Commerce.  Maskill is 84-33 in his 11th season at MSU, 97-41 in his 13th season as a head coach.
• The Mustangs return five All-Americans from 2011.  Quarterback Brandon Kelsey was fourth in the Harlan Hill voting and was third team on the Don Hansen squad and honorable mention by the Beyond Sports College Network. Guard Ken Van Heule was second team on the Hansen and third team on the BSCN team.  Running back Keidrick Jackson was an honorable mention on both the D2Football.com and Hansen teams.