No one should feel like they should have to disguise their pride in Angelo State's victory over Abilene Christian on Saturday at San Angelo Stadium.

Not the players, coaches or Ram fans.

Angelo State plays Eastern New Mexico in just six days, but the win over the Wildcats should not be relegated to archived status. It's the signature home win for head coach Will Wagner and his coaching staff at ASU and came at a time when a victory was needed following losses to Chadron State and Valdosta State. The whispers of “here we go again” were about to turn into everyday unfiltered dialogue, but the victory forces the conversation to be turned into cautious renewed belief in the program. Is the ASU football program's consistency where it is striving to be? No. But it is clearly making progress to get there.

“Abilene Christian is one of our rivals and we respect them,” ASU senior Alvin Johnson said. “To come out here and get a win like that at this period of our season means a lot. It gives you hope for the rest of the season.”

It shouldn't be understated what No. 19 Abilene Christian came into San Angelo with. The Wildcats had a six-game winning streak over Angelo State, winning those games by a combined score of 240-93. They were ranked in the top-20 of every national poll and on their farewell tour of the Lone Star Conference after announcing last month that they will be exiting stage left to the world of Division I athletics and the Southland Conference. By all accounts, ACU was the overwhelming favorite to win the game and to leave no doubt which football program was more elite.

“The main thing we wanted to do was earn our respect,” ASU senior Samir Baker said.

As the final score of 28-23 illustrates, Angelo State football is not inferior to Abilene Christian. The Rams defense stepped up its game, sacking the LSC's Preseason Offensive Player of the Year Mitchell Gale seven times and picking him off late in the fourth quarter to give ASU quarterback Blake Hamblin the opportunity to take a kneel down in the victory formation.

The Ram defense limited the Wildcats to a minuscule 9 yards rushing with Rush Seaver leading the way with 2.5 sacks and Clayton Callicut, Austin Benson, Shiloh Hickman and Riley Davis also bringing down the ACU quarterback. Courtney Moore recovered a fumble for ASU, while Ryan Clapsaddle's interception ended any hopes still residing on the Wildcats' sideline.

The offense responded from a 9-0 early deficit by accumulating 409 yards of offense with 274 coming from the passing game and 135 yards rushing from six different runners. Hamblin, who was witness to Gale receiving the preseason award first hand at the LSC football media days in August, threw for the 274 yards and also ran for two touchdowns. Donavan Roberts ran for an 8-yard touchdown where he realistically ran 30 yards with his cross-field cutback and Joey Knight and Dakarai Pecikonis each had seven receptions with C.J. Akins adding six.

It wasn't a flawless game, and the team will find aspects to improve on, but everyone wearing blue and gold should have left Saturday's game feeling a rejuvenated level of excitement.

“The atmosphere was great,” Wagner said. “This is what I envisioned doing and we are going to continue plugging along and we just hope that our fans and the community keep supporting us on the same level. Great things will happen.”

There are still seven very challenging regular season games remaining for the Rams and the win over ACU is forced to become a memory within the program. While the coaches immediately returned to the athletic offices in the Junell Center following the game to start looking at film and preparing for this week's game at ENMU, fans are not put under those same pressures of moving on so fast.

Yes, the five-point margin of victory is in the past, but it is now a part of our history that we should all be proud of. Feel free to enjoy it for the next six days and beyond.