Bison Game Day December 7, 2024 by The Forum of Fargo Moorhead

THE ‘BIG COUNTRY’ TEXAS SCHOOL HITS THE BIG TIME OF FCS PLAYOFFS

Abilene Christian finding its niche in a Division I-happy state

BY JEFF KOLPACK

The Forum FARGO

North Dakota State senior receiver

Braylon

Henderson from Plano, Texas, already has his undergraduate degree. Now in his sixth year in Fargo, he could probably qualify for an honorary meteorology minor.

Weather can hit hard this time of the year.

When Abilene Christian travels to NDSU for Saturday’s FCS second round playoff game, Henderson forecasts a different experience for the Texans.

“They finally get to see what this cold weather is all about,” Henderson said.

The rest of FCS is finally getting to see what Abilene Christian is all about. It’s not easy in a state where there are 22 Division I-playing football schools including eight at the FCS level.

Besides Abilene Christian, they consist of East Texas A&M (formerly Texas-Commerce), Houston Christian, Incarnate Word, Lamar, Prairie View A&M, Stephen F. Austin, Tarleton State and Texas Southern. Sam Houston State recently made the move from FCS to FBS while Incarnate Word made the FCS playoffs this year as the No. 6 seed.

It can turn recruiting into a zoo.

Henderson saw notable head coaches Dabo Swinney, Jimbo Fisher and Kevin Sumlin at his high school.

“Sumlin flew into a game in a helicopter one time,” Henderson said. “The stories are endless.

It was a revolving door of coaches all the time.”

There are plenty of players to go around. Incarnate Word has won four Southland Conference titles and gave the Bison everything they wanted in a 35-32 NDSU win in the 2022 FCS semifinals at the Fargodome. Abilene differs somewhat from most of the Texas D-I schools in its location, about two hours west of Dallas in what is known in the football circles as “The Big Country,” a 30-county area of the state near Abilene.

“Friday Night Lights,” the movie and the television series, lives.

“It’s just not on Netflix anymore,” said ACU athletic director Zack Lassiter. “It’s still a way of life down here and we wouldn’t want it any other way. There’s a lot of good football in Texas, even in the small towns.”

In a sense, Abilene Christian being removed somewhat from the major metro areas like Dallas, Austin, San Antonio and Houston can be an advantage. Lassiter said not all of the big programs bother with the smaller high school programs in west Texas. Look at a map and only Texas Tech and Texas El Paso are west of Abilene Christian.

“And there are some kids who like a smaller town, slower lifestyle versus being in an urban environment,” Lassiter said. “I think we provide an alternative for them with this place versus one that has a lot more going on.”

In building its FCS playoff team, Abilene has used the mixture of the transfer portal and high school recruits.

“Texas high school kids that are being under-recruited based on the recruiting world right now,” Lassiter said, “and a lot of FBS programs not giving high school kids much of a chance because they try to solve their roster challenges through the portal.”

When it comes to its own use of the portal, the Wildcats haven’t been shy, but also targeting players from the state of Texas and luring them back with the opportunity to play in front of friends and family. North Texas University and Texas Tech are prime transfer portal grounds for ACU players, with six each coming from each school. That doesn’t include head coach Keith Patterson, a former defensive coordinator at Texas Tech.

Quarterback Maverick McIvor came from Tech. He completed 292 of 467 passes for 29 touchdowns and 5 interceptions before leaving the final regular season game against Stephen F. Austin with an undisclosed injury.

Abilene is relatively new to the Division I mix making the move in 2013 after mixed success in lower levels. The Wildcats won two Division II Lone Star Conference titles in 2008 and 2019 and before that won a pair of national championships in NAIA in the 1970s.

“When we made the move up to Division I awhile back, I don’t think we really understood the quality and investment in football at this level,” Lassiter said. “What’s been fun over the last three years is to

understand where we needed to get to and make those investments and to watch that come to fruition has been rewarding.”

The Wildcats won the FCS Western Athletic Conference title in 2022 and the United Athletic Conference championship this year, reaching the FCS playoffs for the first time. Not only that, they came out of the gates strong shutting out Northern Arizona 24-0 last Saturday.

“It’s not just a dream anymore, it’s something we can do,” Lassiter said. “We envision ourselves as a program that can do this on a regular basis.”

Abilene started the season a 30-point underdog at Texas Tech, yet played the Red Raiders to the wire before losing 52-51 in overtime. The Wildcats hosted Idaho, one of the perennially top FCS programs and took the Vandals to the end in a 27-24 loss.

“Now we’re going up against the standard and I think that’s something we’ll embrace,” Lassiter said. “The best way to find out how good you are is to play teams like

North Dakota State.” The Bison have dabbled in Texas players over the years, from running back DJ McNorton and receiver Warren Holloway in the beginning years of the FCS dynasty to four players on this year’s team: wide receivers Braylon Henderson and Chris Harris, safety Ryan Jones and linebacker Donovan Woolen.

NDSU restricts its Texas recruiting to the Dallas-Frisco area, mostly because of resources and the Bison are a recognizable name. There were a couple instances

when Bison head coach Tim Polasek was an Iowa assistant sent to recruit Texas and stopped at one high school.

“The coach drove me around, a legendary older gentleman, and he pointed out 28 Division I guys that had scholarships,” he said. “And the two sophomore offensive linemen looked like they were going to the Green Bay Packers. It’s fascinating. There are a ton of football players.”

Readers can reach Forum reporter Jeff Kolpack

David Samson / The Forum

North Dakota State’s Braylon Henderson makes a reception between Murray State’s Jamari Dailey and Amari Wansley on Oct. 26 at Roy Stewart Stadium in Murray, Kentucky.

Aly Bayliss / ACU Athletics

Abilene Christian’s Kaghen Roach (90) and David Oke (98) celebrate a play during the Wildcats’ FCS first round playoff victory over Northern Arizona on Nov. 30 at Wildcat Stadium in Abilene, Texas.

David Samson / The Forum Incarnate Word’s Marcus Cooper carries against North Dakota State during the NCAA FCS semifinals at the Fargodome on Dec. 16, 2022.