- Box Score

ABILENE – Two early turnovers by the Texans jumpstarted No. 5 Abilene Christian as the Wildcats handed the Texans its worst loss in the program's history on Saturday in Abilene,65-3.

The Texans, who fell to 0-4 and 0-1 in the Lone Star Conference South Division, also suffered several major injuries during the game, including senior safety Lonnie Buchanan and redshirt freshman Aaron Doyle.

The loss to Doyle put the Texans playing their third-string quarterback, Casey Page, for the final 32 minutes of the contest.

On the opening kickoff, Tarleton fumbled the return, and four plays later, the Wildcats' Morgan Lineberry hit a 38-yard field goal to give the home team a 3-0 lead.

Tarleton drove the field 69 yards on 11 plays, and even had a first and goal at the two, but the purple and white was forced to tie the game with a Blake Wiest 29-yard field goal. 

The Texans' starting quarterback Aaron Doyle then threw an ill-advised interception that was tipped and caught by Aston Whiteside, and the Wildcat junior returned the ball 58 yards to score. The Lineberry point after attempt put the Wildcats ahead 10-3.

ACU added to its total when D.C. Harkless punched it in from two yards away. The extra point made it 17-3 with 7:27 left in the second quarter to cap a six-play, 92-yard drive.

Ben Gibbs then caught a pass over the middle, and the tight end avoided two Texan tackles to fall backwards into the endzone for a touchdown pass from Mitchell Gale to close a four-play, 52-yard drive. The PAT gave the Wildcats a 24-3 lead with 2:21 left in the first half.

The Texans were then forced on another three-and-out, and ACU drove 52 yards on nine plays and scored the last points of the half with a 31-yard field goal with 40 seconds left in the second quarter. The home team led 27-3 at the break.

ACU got the ball back to start the second half, and Harkless scored two plays later on a 42-yard touchdown run. The PAT made it 34-3 with just 30 seconds gone off the clock. 

The next drive for the Wildcats increased the lead to 34 points after a 27-yard field goal by Lineberry with 10:07 left in the third quarter. ACU led 37-3.

Gibbs then caught a four-yard pass from Gale with 2:55 left in the third quarter to end a 10-play, 85-yard drive that took 4:58 off the clock. Lineberry's kick made it 44-3.

Page then threw an interception to on a third-and-10 from the Texans' 20, and Darien Williams intercepted the pass at the 40 and returned it 26 yards to the Tarleton 14. Charcandrick West then ran the ball in from 14 yards out on the first play from the line of scrimmage, and the kick made it 51-3.

The Texan defense forced a punt from the Wildcat 36-yardline, and the ball took a Texan bounce, but it hit a Tarleton player and was recovered by the Wildcats. Ten plays and 53 yards later, the Wildcats' Josh Morgan rushed the ball in from six yards out. Lineberry's kick made it 58-3.

Tarleton went three and out and was forced to punt. Spencer Covey returned the punt 80 yards for the final touchdown of the game. The extra point by Lineberry made it 65-3.

The Texans gained 196 yards Saturday, including 60 rushing yards and 136 passing yards while the Wildcats totaled 526 yards, including 169 yards on the ground and 357 yards passing.

Evan Robertson rushed 16 times for 54 yards to lead Tarleton.

Doyle was nine-of-13 for 93 yards with an interception while Page was five-of-16 for an interception. 

Clark Renfro had three catches for 33 yards to lead the team while Jeken Frye was second with three receptions for 32 yards.

Brandon Johnson, who was named to the 2010 Allstate/American Football Coaches Association Good Works Team earlier this week, led the team with tackles, including eight solo and two assisted stops. Tarleton had six tackles for a loss of minus-eight yards.

Harkless led the home team with eight carries for 66 yards and two touchdowns.

Gale was 25-of-38 for 344 yards and two touchdowns while backup Clark Harrell was two-for-three for 13 yards.

Johnson had six catches for 80 yards while Gibbs had three catches for two scores to lead the receivers in scoring.

Kevin Washington led the Wildcats with five solo and seven assisted tackles for a total of 12. ACU recorded five sacks for minus-35 yards as part of the 17 tackles for loss for minus-56 yards.

Tarleton will return to action at home on Saturday, Oct. 2 when it hosts Angelo State at 7 p.m. for Family Weekend.