The 2021 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team represented Abilene Christian University in the 2021 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Western Athletic Conference. The Wildcats were led by fifth-year head coach Adam Dorrel and played their home games at Anthony Field at Wildcat Stadium, Abilene, Texas. The Wildcats played their 100th season in 2021.
The Western Athletic Conference and ASUN Conference announced the formation of the WAC-ASUN Challenge (AQ7) for the 2021 season on February 23, 2021. The Challenge included the four fully qualified Division I (FCS) members of the WAC (Abilene Christian, Lamar, Sam Houston, and Stephen F. Austin) and Central Arkansas, Eastern Kentucky, and Jacksonville State of the ASUN Conference. The winner of the challenge received an auto-bid to the NCAA Division I FCS football playoffs.
Preseason
Preseason polls WAC Poll The Western Athletic Conference coaches released their preseason poll on July 27, 2021. The Wildcats were picked to finish fifth in the conference.
1 Sam Houston 20 (5) 2 Stephen F. Austin 16 (1) 3 Tarleton State 11 4 Lamar 8 5 Abilene Christian 5 Note: Dixie State is not included since they are not playing a full WAC schedule due to previous non-conference game contracts. Dixie State players are eligible for individual rewards.
AQ7 Poll The AQ7 coaches also released their preseason poll on July 27, 2021. The Wildcats were picked to finish sixth in the ASUN-WAC Challenge.
1 Sam Houston 49 (7) 2 Central Arkansas 40 3 Jacksonville State 37 4 Stephen F. Austin 27 5 Eastern Kentucky 20 6 Abilene Christian 15 7 Lamar 8
Recruits
Transfers
Name No. Pos. Height Weight Year Hometown Prev. school Trey Adams #5 LB Redshirt Sophomore Corvallis, Oregon Northern Colorado Alex Spadone #7 WR Redshirt Junior Houston, Texas San Diego Triston Anderson #12 CB Redshirt Freshman Rockwall, Texas Arkansas State Roland Williams III #15 DB Redshirt Junior Arlington, Tennessee Richmond Anthony Smith #20 RB Redshirt Sophomore Fort Worth, Texas Texas State Mike Garrett Jr. #29 DB Redshirt Junior Magnolia, Texas Tulsa John Brannon #43 LB Senior Prosper, Texas Texas State Kaleb Chester #58 OL Sophomore Grayson, Georgia Lenoir–Rhyne Derek Simmons #73 OL Redshirt Freshman Jacksonville, Florida Tusculum Reese Moore #74 OL Redshirt Freshman Seminole, Texas Texas Derek Simmons #99 DL Redshirt Freshman Bakersfield, California Fresno State Tyran Calloway # DT Junior Fort Worth, Texas Howard Payne
Personnel Roster 2021 Abilene Christian Wildcats footballQuarterback 2 Peyton Mansell – sophomore (6'2, 213) 3 Stone Earle – freshman (6'2, 203) 4 Sema'J Davis – senior (6'1, 191) 12 Hayden Anderson – freshman (6'1, 173) Trevor Baker – freshman (6'3, 186) Carson Cross – freshman (6'2, 185) Jace Robinson – freshman (6'0, 190)
Running backs 14 Quae Walton – freshman (5'10, 166) 20 Anthony Smith – sophomore (5'11, 209) 21 Jermiah Dobbins – freshman (5'11, 195) 24 Tyrese White – senior (5'10, 202) 31 Robert McKnight – senior (5'10, 186) 34 Charlie Moore – freshman (5'11, 220) (FB+) 36 Rece Stafford – freshman (6'0, 231) (FB+) 43 Easton Myrick – freshman (5'11, 195) (FB+) Jailen Dixon – freshman (6'3, 202) Jamal Stephens – freshman (5'8, 185)
Wide receiver 5 Darius Lewis – freshman (5'8, 163) 6 Taelyn Williams – junior (6'2, 169) 7 Alex Spadone – junior (6'2, 216) 8 Kobe Clark – junior (5'11, 180) 9 Davion Johnson – sophomore (5'8, 163) 13 Jordan Brooks-Wess – sophomore (5'10, 164) 16 Denver Holman – freshman (5'10, 179) 19 Dax Neece – freshman (6'3, 206) 80 Jackson Young – freshman (5'11, 183) 82 Cooper McCasland – freshman (6'1, 188) 87 Andrew Edwards – freshman (6'0, 178) Tanner Bowman – freshman (6'3, 185) Matthew Bynum – freshman (5'11, 160) Solomon Cole – freshman (5'10, 165) Jack Frazier – freshman (6'2, 192) Kendall Jimerson – freshman (5'10, 185)
Tight ends 81 Noah Caldwell – freshman (6'6, 245) 83 Colt Cooper – freshman (6'4, 240) 84 Grant Miles – sophomore (6'5, 252) 85 Andrew Stripling – freshman (6'5, 219) 86 Remington Lutz – junior (6'6, 241)
Long snappers 46 Dustin Inness – sophomore (5'11, 189) 54 David Stone – senior (6'0, 213) 60 Cade Lippincott – freshman (6'0, 213)
Offensive lineman 51 Collin James – freshman (6'4, 273) 55 Alan Hatten – freshman (6'3, 300) 56 Truett Knox – freshman (6'2, 287) 57 Jaron Marshall – junior (6'3, 291) 58 Kaleb Chester – sophomore (6'0, 271) 59 Jacob Thielen – freshman (6'4, 292) 61 Mitchell Melrose – junior (6'6, 286) 62 Jackson Andrews – freshman (6'2, 300) 63 Peyten Girty – freshman (6'3, 280) 65 CJ Zotz – freshman (6'4, 292) 66 Dylan Howerton – freshman (6'5, 273) 67 Wyatt Tate – freshman (6'6, 290) 69 Bronson Warner – freshman (6'3, 310) 73 Derek Simmons – freshman (6'5, 311) 74 Reese Moore – freshman (6'6, 273) 76 Zach Terry – senior (6'6, 280) 78 Ty Smith – freshman (6'6, 296) Cohen Carpenter – freshman (6'3, 290) Brad Robinson – freshman (6'2, 260) Tai Sewell – freshman (6'5, 305)
Defensive lineman 40 Dre Jones – sophomore (6'4, 277) 41 Tyrin Bradley – sophomore (6'4, 242) 45 Jordan Paup – freshman (6'5, 250) 49 Dennis Herrold – freshman (6'4, 235) 50 Damion Hart – freshman (6'3, 235) 89 Cameron Byrom – freshman (6'5, 249) 90 Kadron Johnson – sophomore (6'4, 249) 91 Garviea Freeny – junior (6'3, 235) 92 Quent Titre – junior (6'2, 286) 93 Landon Eades – freshman (6'3, 283) 94 Osaretin Obadeyi – sophomore (6'5, 239) 95 Jack Schultz – junior (6'0, 280) 96 Isaiah Pedack – freshman (6'3, 255) 97 William Morgan – sophomore (6'3, 292) 99 Colby Warkentin – freshman (6'6, 245) Tyran Calloway – junior (5'11, 249) Tanner Rambeau – freshman (6'4, 270)
Linebacker 5 Trey Adams – sophomore (5'10, 190) 9 Chike Nwankwo – sophomore (6'2, 224) 30 Tory Hargrove – junior (5'11, 210) 32 Joshua James – junior (6'0, 228) 33 Greg Green – junior (5'10, 217) 35 Ethan Taite – freshman (6'3, 205) 42 Hunter Kier – senior (5'11, 217) 43 John Brannon – senior (6'2, 233) 46 Cirby Coheley – freshman (6'4, 206) 47 Derrick Parker – freshman (6'1, 206) 52 Abe Schwinn – freshman (6'3, 219) 53 Zeke Lott – freshman (6'1, 205) Diego Diaz – freshman (5'10, 208) Dilaver Ibrahimi – freshman (5'10, 206) Kyle Pointer – freshman (6'3, 213)
Defensive backs 1 Shelby Washington – junior (6'1, 190) 2 Christopher Satterfield – freshman (5'10, 190) 3 Ryan Stapp – sophomore (6'0, 170) 7 Elijah Moffett – freshman (6'2, 195) 12 Triston Anderson – freshman (6'2, 195) 15 Roland Williams III – junior (5'11, 180) 17 Dishon Hall II – sophomore (6'3, 195) 22 Koy Richardson – senior (5'11, 178) 23 Kameron Stokes – freshman (6'0, 203) 24 Luke Dillingham – Freshman (6'2, 198) 26 Brian Bullock – Junior (6'0, 198) 29 Mike Garrett Jr. – Junior (6'1, 187) 31 Keegan Tharp – Freshman (6'2, 198) 39 Anthony Egbo, Jr. – Sophomore (5'8, 180) Jeremy Gonzales – Freshman (5'7, 165) Jamal Marshall – Freshman (6'0, 186) Quintin Montgomery – Sophomore (5'11, 183) Casen Olsen – Freshman (6'1, 189) Landon Reynolds – Freshman (5'8, 185) Manny Ruiz – Freshman (5'8, 163)
Placekickers 37 Blair Zepeda – Sophomore (5'11, 205) 85 Oscar Hernandez – Sophomore (5'11, 197)
Punter 88 Will Fargason – Freshman (6'2, 204) 88 Brock Thompson – Freshman (5'11, 161)
Coaching staff Name Position Alma mater Joined StaffAdam DorrelHead CoachNorthwest Missouri State (1998) 2016Josh LambersonOffensive Coordinator / QuarterbacksNorthwest Missouri State (2005) 2016Clint BrownDefensive CoordinatorJames CurleeWide ReceiversHastings College (2016) 2017Travis DixonCornerbacksUNLV (2010) 2020Zach WilliamsSafeties / Co-Recruiting CoordinatorBryce BaccariniRunning Backs / Fullbacks / Co-Recruiting CoordinatorTravis BritzDefensive LineKansas State (2017) 2020Cody ScribnerDefensive LineCentral Missouri (2010) 2020Drew LiddleOffensive LineKansas State (2014) 2021Dimitri DonaldTight EndsWest Texas A&M (2015) 2021
Depth chart
Schedule
Game summaries at SMU
Statistics ACUSMU First downs 14 27 Total yards 332 490 Rushing yards 119 171 Passing yards 213 319 Turnovers 4 1 Time of possession 28:22 31:38
Team Category Player StatisticsAbilene Christian Passing Stone Earle 13/28, 160 yards, TD, 2 INT Rushing Peyton Mansell 2 carries, 33 yards Receiving Kobe Clark 6 receptions, 89 yards, TDSMU Passing Tanner Mordecai 24/30, 317 yards, 7 TD Rushing Ulysses Bentley IV 10 carries, 48 yards Receiving Danny Gray 4 receptions, 72 yards, 2 TD
Louisiana College
UT Permian Basin
at Lamar
Statistics Statistics Abilene ChristianLamar First downs 22 10 Total yards 461 136 Rushing yards 274 98 Passing yards 187 38 Turnovers 0 2 Time of possession 29:13 30:47 Team Category Player StatisticsAbilene Christian Passing Stone Earl 13/18, 187 yards, long 32 yards, 3 TDs Rushing Peyton Mansell 6 carries, 107 yards, long 62 yards, 1 TD Receiving Kobe Clark 4 catches, 50 yards, long 16 yards, 1 TDLamar Passing Jalen Dummett 4/7, 38 yards, long 14 yards Rushing Hunter Batten 7 carries, 29 yards, long 11 yards Receiving Kirkland Banks 2 catches, 15 yards, long 10 yards
Central Arkansas
at Eastern Kentucky
Lamar
Statistics Statistics LamarAbilene Christian First downs 14 21 Total yards 364 466 Rushing yards 158 208 Passing yards 206 258 Turnovers 0 1 Time of possession 29:35 30:25 Team Category Player StatisticsLamar Passing Mike Chandler 9/17, 206 yds, 1 TD Rushing James Jones 9 carries, 81 yds, 1 TD Receiving Nathan Gaskamp 1 reception, 80 yards, 1 TDAbilene Christian Passing Peyton Mansell 10/18, 135 yds Rushing Peyton Mansell 18 carries, 106 yds, 2 TD Receiving Davion Johnson 6 receptions, 82 yds
at SFA
at Jacksonville State
Tarleton
No. 1 Sam Houston
References