The place to be for the best college football last weekend was Abilene. That’s right. In the heart of Big Country, or what Hardin-Simmons head coach Jesse Burleson called “God’s Country,” were two of the best football games on the weekend slate.

In Week 6 of the college football season, there were 10 games throughout all three NCAA Divisions, featuring both teams ranked inside their respective top-25 in national polls. North Dakota, Idaho, and Pennsylvania were the site of one game each, while Wisconsin held two contests.

The state of Texas was the site for three of the top games. Two of those were a mere 2.2 miles apart on Ambler Avenue.

The action began at Hardin-Simmons, where the No. 7 Cowboys hosted No. 12 Endicott in front of 3,741 fans. By my approximation, 3,700 of those fans filled the home side to watch their beloved Cowboys gain a measure of revenge against the Gulls in a 35-27 victory, with a HOOYAH sign noticeably in the distance from the press box.

Two hours after the Cowboys kicked off, Abilene Christian began the second premier game in Abilene in front of 7,853 fans against Central Arkansas – a team the Wildcats had lost seven straight games against in the series and had never beaten in Abilene.

By the time the action ended, the city was celebrating two massive wins for each program when Will Shaffer sealed a 41-34 win for the Wildcats with an interception in what has been a wild and wacky 2024 season for ACU. Meanwhile, the third collegiate football team in Abilene, McMurry, was enjoying a bye week while sitting atop the Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference standings.

What about the high school level? Abilene rests comfortably inside the top 10 places for non-FBS football in Texas. While some will be surprised to see Abilene as one of the top places for high school and college football in Texas, neither head coach on Saturday was surprised.

“Honestly, I did know Abilene was one of the best places for football,” Burleson said. “The problem is there aren’t as many of us out here. When you visit the big cities and the high schools, there are a million kids there. We don’t have the numbers of students, but we’re still getting good football players.”

“Both (Hardin-Simmons and McMurry) have things going this year, and now we have some momentum after today,” Abilene Christian head coach Keith Patterson said. “We have great high school football in our city with Abilene High, Cooper, and Wylie, but we also have great football across the Big Country with Jim Ned, Brownwood, and Stephenville right down the road.”

While Abilene high schools have consistently churned out college football talent, one would’ve been laughed at for suggesting the city was a hotbed for college football.

Hardin-Simmons has been a consistent winner, with six playoff appearances since 2015. However, hosting top-10 games against non-conference opponents has been a rarity for the Cowboys. Saturday’s contest against Endicott was the first game at Shelton Stadium against a fellow top-25 opponent since No. 4 Linfield visited in 2013.

“We haven’t had a lot of these top-10 matchups at home, so I couldn’t be more pleased with our fans who showed up and showed out,” Burleson said. “Thankfully, we were able to take care of business.”

At McMurry, the 2023 campaign was the first season they posted a winning record since Hal Mumme led the War Hawks to an 8-3 record in 2012. Head coach Jordan Neal has wholly rebuilt the McMurry program over his six seasons and has the War Hawks favored to win their first conference football championship since 1983.

ACU hasn’t been viewed as a national powerhouse since leaving NCAA Division II in 2013. The Wildcats posted 24 wins since 2015 with only three seasons at .500 or better before Patterson arrived in 2022. The Wildcats won a Division I record seven games in his first season, and ACU entered the national rankings earlier this year for the first time since transitioning to DI.

One common theme among the head coaches is continually looking to improve each day. They all know they have more work to do this year, and Patterson nicely summed up the sentiment for all three head coaches in Saturday's postgame press conference.

“This (win) feels good, but we’re not there yet," Patterson said. "Our goal wasn’t to beat Central Arkansas. Our goal was to go 5-0 at home this year, and we had to recalibrate after stubbing our toe against Idaho. We have to keep going forward and put ourselves in a position to play meaningful football in November.”

It’s a good time to be in “God’s Country.”