Abilene Christian ranks No. 24 in HERO Sports’ FCS Preseason Top 25.
The Wildcats finished 9-5 last year, losing 51-31 at North Dakota State in the second round of the FCS playoffs.
Here’s a look at the 2025 ACU football squad.
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Returning 2024 FCS All-Conference Players (4)
1st Team
LB Will Shaffer
2nd Team
TE Jed Castles
DL Kaghen Roach
LB Chris Wright
D1 Transfer Portal Movement
Transfers Coming In From The FCS (5)
B.K. Jackson (RB), East Texas A&M
Cameron Jones (DL), Alcorn State
Noah Mangham (DB), Northern Colorado
Zack Haaland (DB), Yale
River Gordon (OL), UIW
Transfers Coming In From The FBS (22)
Romario Noel (DB), Baylor
Zion Fonua (LB), Eastern Michigan
J.B. Mitchell III (WR), Eastern Michigan
John David Black (QB), ECU
Boone Morris (LB), Kansas State
Stone Earle (QB), Marshall
Nathan Jones (TE), Minnesota
Luke Farr (OL), Nevada
Dallas Dudley (WR), North Texas
Kortlin Rausaw (DL), North Texas
Jocelyn Malaska (DB), Oklahoma
Gabe Brown (LB), Oklahoma State
Vilay Nakkoun Jr. (DB), Rutgers
E.J. Wilson (RB), Temple
Brady Stephenson (OL), Texas A&M
Langston Anderson (WR), Texas State
Kaden Carr (OL), Texas Tech
Isaiah Crawford (DL), Texas Tech
Sammy Morris IV (DB), Texas Tech
Anthony Rosas (OL), UNLV
Landon Roaten (OL), Washington State
Luke Roaten (OL), Washington State
Transfers Lost To The FCS (3)
Sean DuBose Jr. (OLB) to Houston Christian
Elijah Sims (DE) to Northwestern State
Tristan Golightly (WR) to Prairie View A&M
Transfers Lost To The FBS (6)
David Oke (DL) to Arkansas
Jerry Lawson (DT) to Louisville
Trent Pullen (OL) to Memphis
Tay Yanta (OL) to North Texas
Dylan Kinney (OL) to TCU
Maverick McIvor (QB) to WKU
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Offensive Outlook
After scoring 33.7 points per game, ACU loses its starting quarterback, top two running backs, top two wide receivers, and five starting offensive linemen. The unit returns its All-Conference tight end, No. 3 and 4 WRs, and brought back an FBS transfer QB who started eight games at ACU in 2021.
ACU lost standout QB Maverick McIvor to the FBS (Western Kentucky). But the Wildcats got an addition via the FBS, and it’s a familiar name.
Stone Earle returns after spending three seasons in the FBS. He began his career at ACU and started eight games as a freshman in 2021, throwing for 1,216 yards, 13 touchdowns, and four interceptions. Earle played at North Texas in 2022 and 2023 before transferring to Marshall in 2024, where he started five games and threw for 673 yards, seven touchdowns, and two interceptions.
Carson Haggard is back from last year’s team to enhance the QB competition. He started in place of an injured McIvor in ACU’s 24-0 first-round win over Northern Arizona, going 23/29 for 244 yards, two touchdowns, and three interceptions.
Despite losing its two 1,000-yard receivers, the Wildcats expect to have a talented group of pass-catchers.
J.J. Henry returns after finishing third on the team with 42 catches for 485 yards and four TDs. Javon Gipson is another returner, finishing as the No. 4 WR with 23 receptions for 335 yards and two scores. Henry transferred in from Ole Miss last offseason, and Gipson arrived from Baylor.
Six-foot-7 tight end Jed Castles returns as a back-to-back All-UAC selection. Last year, Castles caught 15 passes for 223 yards and four TDs. In 2023, he recorded 25 catches for 241 yards and three touchdowns.
ACU struck gold with some of its 2024 D1 transfer additions. Leading tackler Will Shaffer, top rusher Sam Hicks, and top wide receiver Nehemiah Martinez were each 2024 FBS-to-FCS transfers, including other key contributors.
The Wildcats bolstered their roster again with 25+ FBS/FCS transfers, and many look to make an impact.
Needing to replace its top two rushers, ACU added B.K. Jackson from East Texas A&M. Last season, he led the Lions with 91 rushes for 443 yards (4.9 YPC) and five touchdowns. E.J. Wilson is an FBS addition with past production. He had over 500 rushing yards in 2021 and 2022 as a freshman and sophomore at FIU. Wilson transferred to Temple in 2023 with limited action in the last two years.
At wide receiver, J.B. Mitchell III arrives from Eastern Michigan. He played in only four games in 2024. But in 2023, Mitchell made 11 starts and finished second on the team in catches (35) and receiving yards (398).
The o-line will see a whole new starting five.
George French II is back after making one start at right tackle last year. Seven transfer linemen hope to make an impact, including six coming from FBS programs — Kaden Carr (Texas Tech), Anthony Rosas (UNLV), Landon Roaten and Luke Roaten (Washington State), Brady Stephenson (Texas A&M), and Luke Farr (Nevada). River Gordon arrives from UIW.
The Roatens are twin brothers. They saw limited action in their first three seasons at WSU, but they were both three-star high school recruits out of Texas in the class of 2022. Landon was ranked the No. 55 guard in the country by ESPN.
Defensive Outlook
ACU returns seven of its top 12 tacklers from last season, led by two preseason All-Americans, and gets its 2023 leading tackler back from injury. The returning experience looks to strengthen a defensive unit that allowed 30.6 points per game in 2024, which ranked No. 90 in the FCS.
Linebacker Will Shaffer and defensive end Kaghen Roach are two preseason All-Americans to lead the unit. Shaffer was the top tackler last fall, racking up 123 stops, including 9.5 TFLs, two sacks, two interceptions, and five pass breakups as an All-UAC First Team selection. Roach earned Second Team accolades with his 64 tackles, 10 TFLs, three sacks, one interception, three pass breakups, and six QB hurries.
Chris Wright is another returning All-UAC Second Team performer, coming off a season where he had 84 tackles, 11 TFLs, three sacks, and six QB hurries.
The Wildcats get a boost from linebacker Darius Moore, who missed last season due to injury. In 2023, Moore led ACU with 78 tackles.
ACU returns four experienced players in the secondary.
Safety Dorian Plumley finished No. 4 on the team with 81 tackles, including 2.5 TFLs, one interception, and two pass breakups. Safety Harold West added 28 tackles and three pass breakups. Cornerback Tyson Williams played the second-most defensive reps (919) last year and had 44 tackles, two TFLs, one interception, and eight pass breakups. Jordan Mukes added nearly 800 snaps at cornerback with 60 tackles, three TFLs, one interception, and three pass breakups.
ACU needs to enhance its defensive depth for better late-season success. Twelve players played 440 or more snaps last season. The No. 13 leader in snaps, returning cornerback DeAngelo Ponder, saw a dropoff in reps with 150. A strong rotation will lead to a tougher defense deeper into the season.
Double-digit D1 transfers come in on defense, potentially strengthening that depth.
Some notable additions include DB Noah Mangham, who played more than 500 snaps at Northern Colorado in the last two seasons and last year totaled 22 tackles and seven pass breakups. LB Zion Fonua is a former JuCo All-American who was most recently at Eastern Michigan. DB Vilay Nakkoun Jr. was a three-star high school recruit who spent his first two seasons at Rutgers with no game action. Isaiah Crawford is another redshirt sophomore who didn’t see much action at Texas Tech, but he isn’t far removed from being a four-star high school recruit.
2025 Preseason Preview Central
ACU Football Schedule
8/30 at Tulsa
9/6 vs No. 21 Stephen F. Austin
9/13 at TCU
9/20 vs Austin Peay
9/27 at No. 5 UIW
10/4 vs North Alabama
10/11 at West Georgia
10/18 at RV Southern Utah
11/1 vs No. 6 Tarleton State
11/8 vs Utah Tech
11/15 at Eastern Kentucky
11/22 at Central Arkansas
Bold indicates UAC games
HERO Sports’ rankings
RV = Received votes
