SAN ANTONIO -- The University of the Incarnate Word football team travels to Abilene Christian on Saturday for a 6 p.m. (CT) contest at Wildcat Stadium.
 
KICKOFF COVERAGE

• Saturday's game is on ESPN+. A live streaming link can be found on the schedule page at uiwcardinals.com/football.
• Live audio is available for all football games on Stretch Internet and can be found at uiwcardinals.com/broadcast.
• Live stats can be found on the schedule page at uiwcardinals.com/football.

 
HIGHLIGHTS FROM SFA

• Senior Ra'Quanne Dickens scored his fourth touchdown of the season with a 13-yard scamper in the first quarter.
• Dickens scored a 79-yard touchdown at the end of the second quarter. This was his third consecutive game with a touchdown of 50-or-more yards.
• Dickens finished with 220 yards rushing, his career high. It was the second most rushing yards in a single game in program history (Broderi Reeves, 244 yards vs McMurry on Nov. 2, 2013).
• This was his third consecutive game with more than 100 yards rushing, the longest such individual streak in program history.
• With the 79-yard touchdown run in the first half, he now owns both the longest run from scrimmage in program history, which he set on Sept. 1 against New Mexico, and fourth longest run from scrimmage, which he recorded against SFA on Sept. 15.
• His 12.9 yards per rush was the highest average yards per rush (minimum of 10 carries) in a single game in program history. He passed Reeves' record of 10.6 set against McMurry (Nov. 2, 2013).
• Junior Kam Williams scored his first touchdown of the season with a 21-yard reception in the second quarter.
• The offense put up all 31 points in the first half. This was the most points scored in an opening half since Sept. 7, 2013, against Texas College.
• Senior Silas Stewart's interception in the second quarter was his second of the season and led to a UIW touchdown, giving the Cardinals a 17-7 lead.
• Senior Justin Alexandre had his first career forced fumble.
• Senior Darrius Montgomery recovered Alexandre's forced fumble. This was his first fumble recovery of the season, the second of his career, and led to a UIW touchdown.
• Freshman Dalvin Fillmore had UIW's second interception of the night.
• Junior West Lambert led the team with 14 tackles, the most total tackles from a single Cardinal in 2018.
• Freshman Rhett Marshall kicked a 27-yard field goal in the first quarter, marking his first collegiate field goal.
• Junior punter David Balcomb had five punts for a season-best average of 42.4 yards per punt. He pinned the opponent inside its own 20 yard-line three times, also a season best.

 
LAST YEAR'S GAME
Abilene Christian won the last meeting, 45-20, on Sept. 30 in the 2017 home opener at Benson Stadium.
 
SERIES RECORD
UIW and ACU first squared off in 2010. UIW has won two of the nine games. Both UIW victories occurred at Benson Stadium, in 2013 and 2015.
 
TWO GAMES IN 2013
UIW and ACU played two games in the Cardinals' inaugural Division I season. Abilene Christian won (40-6) on Oct. 19 in Abilene. UIW, who was independent in 2013, won the rematch, 34-31, on Nov. 9 in San Antonio.
 
RUN LIKE THE DICKENS

• Ra'Quanne Dickens leads the FCS with 11.17 rush yards per carry.
• The Seminole, Florida, native is first in the conference and No. 9 in the nation with 469 rushing yards.
• He ranks No. 1 in the SLC and No. 4 nationally with 156.3 rushing yards per game.
• Dickens is second in the conference and No. 6 in the nation with an average of 179.67 all-purpose yards per game.
• He is also first in the conference and No. 17 nationally with five touchdowns.
• Dickens broke the UIW record for the longest touchdown run, and the longest run from scrimmage, when he ripped off a 90-yard touchdown run against New Mexico on Sept. 1, 2018.

 
SCOUTING ABILENE CHRISTIAN

• Abilene Christian is 2-2 overall, and 1-1 in SLC action, after falling at Stephen F. Austin (24-21) on Sept. 22 in Nacogdoches, Texas.
• QB Luke Anthony leads the Wildcats with 1,131 passing yards on 113 completions. He also ranks No. 2 in the SLC and No. 12 in the nation with eight passing touchdowns.
• The Wildcats lead the conference and rank No. 15 in the FCS with an average of 478.5 yards of total offense per game.

 
CARDINAL RECORDS ESTABLILSHED IN GAMES AGAINST THE WILDCATS

• Cardinal QB Trent Brittain passed for 368 yards against ACU on Oct. 25, 2015, establishing the UIW individual and team records for passing yards in one game.
• Brittain gained 392 yards of total offense in 2015, setting the UIW individual record for total offensive yards in one game.
• In that same game, UIW players accumulated 593 yards in total offense, marking the UIW team record for total offensive yards in one game.
• Cardinal kicker Saul Meza went 4-4 in field goals kicked against ACU in the Nov. 10, 2012, game. That established the UIW individual and team records for both field goals attempted and made in one game.
• UIW blocked two kicks in the Oct. 29, 2012, game against ACU, tying a team record.
• Cardinal defenders registered six quarterback hurries in the Sept. 30, 2017, contest, tying a team record.

 
CARDINALS FACE THREE FBS OPPONENTS THIS SEASON
With the recent announcement that UIW will play Iowa State on Dec. 1, the Cardinals now play three Football Bowl Subdivision (FBS) opponents this season. UIW opened its season with games against FBS opponents New Mexico (L, 62-30) and North Texas (58-16). The Iowa State game will be the sixth FBS opponent in UIW football history, and the first game against a proverbial "Power Five" conference school.
 
SPEAKING OF A CHALLENGING SCHEDULE
UIW also plays top-notch Football Championship Subdivision (FCS) opponents. Four schools represented the Southland Conference in the AFCA FCS Coaches Poll, released on Sept. 24: McNeese (11), Central Arkansas (12), Nicholls (15), and Sam Houston (19).
 
TRUE FRESHMAN QB STARTS SEASON-OPENING GAME
When UIW's Jon Copeland took the field against New Mexico in week one, it was the first time that a true freshman started at quarterback for the Cardinals in a season-opening game. Previously, UIW had started a redshirt freshman (Trent Brittain, 2013) in a season opener and started a true freshman (Taylor Woods, 2012) in midseason games.
 
MAKING THE MOST OF A HISTORIC START
Copeland made the most of his initial start against New Mexico, passing for 328 yards and one touchdown, and running for another. That put him in second place for the most individual passing yards in a single game, 40 yards behind Trent Brittain's record 368 against ACU in 2015.
 
10TH YEAR: CARDINAL FOOTBALL
This is UIW's 10th year of college football. The Cardinals won their inaugural game on Aug. 29, 2009, by a score of 42-39 against Monterey Tech. In that first year, UIW competed as a Division II independent. For the next four seasons, UIW played in the Division II Lone Star Conference. The Cardinals joined the Division I ranks as an independent in 2013 before becoming a member of the Southland Conference in 2014.
 
138th YEAR: THE UNIVERSITY OF THE INCARNATE WORD
In 1881, the Sisters of Charity of the Incarnate Word, an order of Catholic nuns based in Paris, founded UIW as a center of higher education for young women. In 1970, male students first enrolled in undergraduate programs. UIW is the largest Catholic school in Texas and the fourth-largest private university in the state. Enrollment is approaching 11,000, which includes off-campus learning programs in Texas and international locations.
 
COLLEGE FOOTBALL COACHING PRODIGY
Eric Morris, at age 32, is one of college football's youngest head coaches. Born on October 26, 1985, he is more than two years younger than another coach who has received a lot of attention for his youth, 34-year-old Lincoln Riley of Oklahoma. Morris is not the youngest head coach in college football, however. Sean Lewis of Kent State, another 32-year-old, is more than six months younger.
 
HEAD COACH: DEEP TEXAS TIES
UIW's new head coach, Eric Morris, comes to UIW from Texas Tech and has deep Texas ties. He played at Tech before spending five years as its offensive coordinator, and he plans to bring the same exciting style of offense to Benson Stadium. He was also a graduate assistant under University of Houston head coach Kevin Sumlin, who later went on to coach at Texas A&M. Additionally, Morris coached at Washington State under former Texas Tech head coach Mike Leach.
 
ASSISTANT COACHES: MORE TEXAS TIES
Only one of Eric Morris' 11 position coaches/coordinators does not have a Texas background as either a player, coach, scholar, or native-born son.
 
PASSION FOR CHANGE
The Cardinals have an all new staff filled with young coaches who have a ton of energy and passion. Throughout the spring and in fall camp, they worked to change the culture of the team and will look to sustain that momentum throughout the season. Many of the players have remarked that they can relate to a youthful coaching staff that seems to have boundless energy.
 
SIX YEARS WITHOUT NATURAL TURF FOR THE CARDINAL GRIDDERS
UIW has played 62 consecutive football games on an artificial playing surface. The Cardinals last played on natural grass on Oct. 13, 2012, at Texas A&M-Kingsville's Javelina Field. All Southland Conference football teams play home games on artificial turf. The Cardinals' streak of consecutive games on a synthetic playing surface will come to an end on Dec. 1, 2018, when they play on natural grass at Jack Trice Stadium in Ames, Iowa.
 
SPEAKING OF PLAYING SURFACES
UIW enjoys the Southland Conference's newest crop of artificial turf. Benson Stadium received new Field Turf over the summer, replete with a camouflaged end zone pattern in school colors of red and black with white lettering. The installation of the field turf garnered national attention from social media, Sportscenter, and more.
 
STRENGTH IN NUMBERS
When new UIW head football coach Eric Morris held spring football drills in March, he had a roster that numbered in the sixties. When fall drills began in August, those numbers had increased to 105. The new roster included a 20-player recruiting class announced on Feb. 7 (19 high school prospects and one transfer), plus numerous recruited and walk-on players who joined the team later.
 
MAKING THE GRADE
Since UIW head coach Eric Morris took charge of the Cardinal football team in December 2017, his student-athletes have increased the team GPA -- previously under a 2.5 -- through hard work and dedication. The emphasis that Morris and his assistant coaches placed on classroom attentiveness paid off in one semester. When spring semester grades arrived in late May, the team achieved a collective GPA of 3.2.
 
TEAM CAPTAINS
Five team captains, chosen by their fellow players, will provide leadership on and off of the field for the Cardinals this season. Center Tyler Preston from Georgetown and wide receiver Kody Edwards from Mesquite, both seniors, represent the offense. Senior linebacker Silas Stewart, from Wilmington, Delaware, and junior linebacker Mar'kel Cooks, from Irving, Texas, will lead the defense, while special teams members will look to senior kicker Cody Seidel, from Keller, Texas.