ABILENE – The ACU Wildcats closed their spring drills Friday night by re-acquainting themselves with an explosive offensive playmaker and with, perhaps, the discovery of a new defender that can create havoc for opponents in 2018.The final score – the offense defeating the defense 24-22 – mattered little to anyone other than to defensive coordinatorand the members of the "212" defense, who were on the losing end by two points. However, for ACU's second-year head coach, the spring finale was the culmination of more than a month of work that saw his team make steady progress over 14 practices and one scrimmage."We had some good things and some bad things (Friday night), but overall I'm proud of our team," Dorrel said. "We put some things on tape that we can learn from, and we will. I don't think you can put too much stock into one practice or one scrimmage. We put together a pretty good body of work since we started, and I think this is a team that's exponentially better now than it was at the end of last season."Two of the reasons Dorrel believes that are wide receiverand outside linebacker. Fuller – who caught 51 passes for 749 yards and six touchdowns in 2016 – missed the 2017 season to get his academics in order, which he has done. Washington spent last season bouncing between tight end and running back before making the switch to the defensive side of the ball this spring.Fuller has the kind of speed and deep-ball play-making ability the Wildcats didn't have last season, and that was on display Friday night as he caught eight passes for 146 yards and two touchdowns, both from starting quarterback. Fuller's TD catches were from 23 and 70 yards out as he and Anthony showed off a chemistry that will be crucial to whatever success the Wildcats have in 2018."D.J. will be a big weapon for us in the fall, and I think we saw (Friday nigh) how special he can be for us," Dorrel said. "I'm proud of the way he's bounced back, first in the classroom, and then on the field. He had a great fall in the classroom and he's trending that way this spring. On the field we'll have to move him around quite a bit so teams can't roll coverage his way or let defensive backs get their hands on him. For someone to be able to do what we want to do with D.J., that player has to have a high football IQ and he has that."Anthony did throw an interception in the game, but the pick was more the result of a great play by Washington than a poor throw by the Wildcats' sophomore signal-caller. Washington was in coverage on tight enddown the sideline and he simply made a terrific play to pick off a pass and give his team four points in the scrimmage.Washington finished the scrimmage with game-high 10 tackles (one tackle for loss), one interception and one pass breakup."I've always tried to look at kids and see where they fit and not be afraid to move kids to the other side of the ball if that's what is best for the player and the team," Dorrel said. "He's taken to the strongside linebacker position extremely quickly and done a great job. It took about three practices and I knew. He just looked like a seasoned veteran at the position."• Quarterbackran the Wildcats' offense very effectively, completing 20 of 28 passes for 291 yards and three touchdowns: two to Fuller and one to• Junior wide receivercaught four passes for 67 yards and one score, a 42-yard slant pass from Anthony on third down. Fink caught the ball, turned it upfield, split the defense and carried it into the end zone for the game-winning score with 5:46 left in the game.• Backup quarterback– who will be a redshirt freshman in 2018 – displayed some nice open-field moves and will be a threat in short-yardage situations when he goes into the game in place of Anthony to give the defense a different look.• Placekickerhad a nice night, hitting all three of his PATs – including one into a 40 mph north wind – and a 33-yard field goal into a 40 mph north wind in the fourth quarter. He also hit a 50-yard field goal with the wind in the special teams portion of the scrimmage.• The Wildcats' defense had nine sacks for 59 yards in losses and 15 tackles for loss for 70 yards in losses.had one sack and three tackles for loss, whilehad three tackles, 1.5 sacks and 2.5 tackles for loss from his defensive tackle spot, finishing off a very strong spring.• Other players who collected sacks in the game were(one sack, seven tackles),(one sack and two tackles for loss),(one sack), Byron Robinson (one sack),(1.5 sacks), and Brian Miller (one sack).• Transfer running back Billy Ray McCrary (hamstring) missed the game after missing most of the last half of spring practice.• RB• OL• DL Daytreion Dean• LB Johnathan Picone• Dorrel said the Wildcats will get back to work next week in the weight room and then "Captains Practices" will begin the next week, leading up to graduation. After a couple of weeks off, players will be back June 1 to begin summer workouts before fall workouts begin in late July.