CONWAY — In just his second game as a full-time starting quarterback, Central Arkansas quarterback Robbie Park managed to do what Nathan Brown and Andy Rogers couldn't.
He beat a team from a higher classification.
After leading the Bears to a 28-7 victory over Western Kentucky last Saturday in Bowling Green, Ky., Park willmake his third start as the fulltime starter tonight when the Bears (1-1) take on Glenville State (2-2), an NCAA Division II team that was ranked in the Top 25 at the end of last season.
Park was the first Central Arkansas starting quarterback to beat a higher classification team since Henry Young led the Bears to a 42-28 victory overArkansas-Pine Bluff on Sept. 11, 2003.
The fifth-year senior from Keller, Texas, threw for 177 yards and two touchdowns in the victory over Western Kentucky - the first for a Central Arkansas team over an NCAA Division I Football Bowl Subdivision (formerly I-A) team.
Not bad for a 25-year-old, fifth-year quarterback who Central Arkansas Coach Clint Conque calls Bob.
"I call him Bob because he'stoo old to be a Robbie," Conque said.
Park said Conque is the only one who calls him Bob, but he isn't the only one who gives him grief about his age.
"A lot times, particularly the older guys on the team will joke with me about it," Park said. "They'll say something in the huddle like, 'Oh, don't worry about it. Robbie's 35 years old, he knows what to do.' "
From 2006-08, Park served as the backup to Brown, who earned All-America honors in 2008. Park played in 25 games and started three in 2006 for an injured Brown.
"He's just a calming influence on the field," Conque said. "He's mature, and he understands what we want him to do and he plays within himself. He's not trying to be anyone else when he steps out on the field."
Case in point: Park could have easily spun into a downward spiral after fumbling the ball on the Bears' last possession in their 25-20 season-opening loss at Hawaii, but he said he couldn't get downtrodden after seeing real despair during his two-year Mormon mission in Argentina.
"I'm a highly competitive person, but when you've seen kids sleeping on dirt floors and living in poverty, it puts things in perspective," Park said.
Park signed with Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas, out of Keller (Texas) High School and redshirted his freshman year in 2003 before leaving for a two-year mission. When he returned, his position coach at Stephen F. Austin, Scott Reed, had left to become the head football coach at Forrest City. Reed is now the coach at El Dorado.
Park was told his scholarship at Stephen F. Austin would be honored, but he also had been courted by Sun Belt Conference member Louisiana-Monroe, where former Stephen F. Austin defensive coordinator Kim Dameron was on staff.
Conque also had recruited Park in high school and let it be known through Park's family that he was welcome at Central Arkansas as well.
Park said he ultimately signed with Central Arkansas because that's where he felt comfortable.
Park said he's also comfortable with a Bears offense that is learning on its feet after losing two All-Americans (Brown and tight end Marquez Branson) at the end of last season and two All-Southland Conference players (receiver Willie Landers and fullback Nick Cowger) to injury before this season.
"When I think about how we are developing as an offense, it reminds me about the Malcolm Gladwell book, The Tipping Point," Park said. "It talks all about the point at which things change and what pushes them past the tipping point.
"I can't wait to see this offense when we reach that point. It's just going to open up."No. 12 UCA vs. Glenville State WHERE Estes Stadium, Conway WHEN 6 p.m. Central RECORDS Central Arkansas (1-1); Glenville State (2-2) COACHES Clint Conque (69-37 in 10th season at Central Arkansas); Alan Fiddler (34-24 in sixth season at Glenville State) SERIES First meeting RADIO KKPT-FM, 94.1 in Little Rock;
KUCA-FM, 91.3; KDXE-AM 1380 in Little Rock; KFFK-AM 1390 in Rogers;
and KCNY-FM, 107.1, in Conway.
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Sports, Pages 23 on 09/26/2009