Box Score Final Stats (PDF)

RICHMOND, Ky. – The Eastern Kentucky football team opened its ASUN-WAC Challenge schedule in impressive fashion by defeating Abilene Christian 30-15 at Roy Kidd Stadium on Saturday night. 

The Colonels outgained the Wildcats 434-319 and racked up 232 rushing yards to ACU's 160. EKU's defense forced Abilene Christian into five punts, four three-and-outs, two turnovers, and two failed fourth-down conversions.

Eastern Kentucky opened the scoring with a 13-play, 66-yard drive, that ended on a five-yard quarterback keeper from Parker McKinney, giving the Colonels a 7-0 lead at the 4:18 mark of the first quarter. EKU pushed the lead to 10-0 on the quarter's final play as Patrick Nations converted a 24-yard field goal. 

Abilene Christian broke EKU's streak of five consecutive quarters without allowing a touchdown with a six-yard rushing score with 11:46 to go in the second period, but the Colonels answered quickly. McKinney found Dakota Allen for a 28-yard strike, then connected with him again on the next play for a 22-yard touchdown, the first receiving score of Allen's career, to give EKU a 17-7 advantage with 9:50 left before halftime. Nations tacked on a 21-yard field goal three minutes later to make the score 20-7. 

The Wildcats drove inside the red zone and threatened to cut the EKU lead to one score late in the half, but Joseph Sayles recorded his team-leading third interception of the season and returned the ball to the ACU 39-yard line. From there, the Colonels needed just 53 seconds to find the end zone as Jayden Higgins hauled in an 18-yard toss from McKinney with seven seconds remaining to give Eastern Kentucky a 27-7 halftime lead. 

Nations added his third field goal of the night with 1:36 left in the third quarter to put EKU up 30-7. 

Abilene Christian used a seven-yard quarterback run and ensuing two-point conversion to make the score 30-15 with 12:15 to go, but could pull no closer as Eastern Kentucky held the Wildcats to their lowest scoring output against an FCS opponent since a 35-14 loss to Southeastern Louisiana on Nov. 16, 2019. 

McKinney finished the night 15-of-27 for 202 yards, two touchdowns, and one interception, while adding a career-high 98 yards rushing on eight carries. Da'Joun Hewitt rushed 19 times for 88 yards, while Kyeandre Magloire tallied 53 yards on eight carries. Allen tied his career-high with four catches, finishing with a team-high 61 receiving yards. Jaden Smith caught four passes for 43 yards, while Higgins totaled three catches for 35 yards. 

Matthew Jackson led the defense with nine tackles, followed by Kyle Bailey's eight. Roland Walder recorded 2.0 tackles for loss and a sack.

The Colonels return to action Saturday, October 16 at Central Arkansas with kickoff slated for 5:00 p.m. ET.