BEAUMONT, Texas – Fresh off their thrilling overtime win at Northern Colorado, the Lamar University Cardinals return to Provost Umphrey Stadium for the first time in three weeks to host Abilene Christian. In a unique scheduling quirk, Saturday's contest will be one of two against ACU this season and will serve as a non-conference contest (the game in Abilene on Oct. 16 is a WAC contest).
 
The Cardinals enter Saturday's contest with a 2-1 (.667) record having played a non-Division I opponent, an FBS opponent and an FCS opponent. LU is riding the wave of a 17-10 overtime decision at Northern Colorado last week that saw the Bears take their first lead of the game on a school record 57-yard field goal with 2:30 left. The Cardinals responded to the lead change by marching the ball down to the UNC nine-yard line to set up a Bailey Giffen field goal with six seconds remaining to force overtime.
 
In the overtime period, LU got the ball first and in four plays muscled their way into the end zone behind Chaz Ward. The defense was just as impressive recording two sacks to keep the Bears out of the end zone in the extra stanza. For the Cardinals, it was their first non-conference road win since the 2013 season (2013) and just the second since bringing back the program.
 
The Wildcats are also 2-1 on the season and enter the week looking for a three-game win streak. After opening the year with a 56-9 loss at SMU, the Wildcats rolled up easy wins over Louisiana College and UT Permian Basin. ACU has outscored its previous two opponents, 96-16.
 
The Cardinals are six games over .500 all-time against ACU but have played much better in the series away from Beaumont. LU holds a 6-5 (.545) record against the Wildcats in Beaumont and are 7-2 (.778) all-time in Abilene. The Cardinals have won six straight in the series, and the previous two meetings in Provost Umphrey Stadium. The Cardinals last loss came in 1970, but the two schools have only met six times since then.
 
Saturday's game will kick off at 6 p.m. from Provost Umphrey Stadium. It will be broadcast live on Newstalk 560 KLVI and streamed live on ESPN+.