LITTLE ROCK — Central Arkansas can credit its defense for its first Southland Conference victory last week at Nicholls State.
The Bears had a schoolrecord-tying 10 sacks, intercepted 2 passes, recovered 2 fumbles and blocked 1 field goal attempt in a 31-7 rout of the Colonels.
UCA (4-3, 1-2 Southland) ended a three-game losing streak with the victory and returns home today for a homecoming game against SoutheasternLouisiana. Kickoff is 2 p.m. at Estes Stadium in Conway, and the game will be televised on KARZ-TV, Channel 42.
Another good defensive effort could help the Bears contain Southeastern Louisiana.
“I’ve said this for the last three years, [their] size and athletic speed is the best in the conference,” UCA Coach Clint Conque said of the Lions.
Tyler Beatty, a Baylor transfer, has completed 88 of 170 passes for 1,026 yards with 10 touchdowns and 3 interceptions for Southeastern Louisiana (2-5, 1-2).
Simmie Yarborough leads Southeastern Louisiana’s receiving corps with 41 catches for 510 yards and 7 touchdowns, and Texas transfer Brandon Collins has caught 31 passes for 420 yards and 1 touchdown.
The Lions lost 13-10 at home last week against Mc-Neese State when Josh Lewis kicked a 52-yard field goal with no time left.
“They have a lot of speed, a lot of athleticism,” Conque said. “They’ve been a little bit snakebit. Make no mistake, they are an extremely talented football team coming to Conway. We’ll need to play our most complete game of the year.”
At Nicholls State, the Bears’ defense rose up early.
Sophomore safety Seth Allison returned a fumble 10 yards for a touchdown in the opening minute. In the third quarter, redshirt freshmansafety Jestin Love returned an interception 98 yards for another score to give UCA a 24-0 lead. Love, who picked off another pass in the end zone, was named Southland defensive player of the week.
“I thought it really ignited us in the game,” Conque said. “Any time you can score defensively once, it’s a super, positive momentum play. But to do it twice was awesome. I thought the scoop and score from Seth Allison really ignited our football team and the defense and gave us confidence moving forward.”
Despite staying on the field for 39:59, the Bears’ defense helped the offense overcome several three-and-outs, which was encouraging to Conque.
“We bent but only broke one time,” said Conque, referring to Nicholls State’s onlytouchdown early in the fourth quarter. “I knew the defensive staff and players were disappointed that happened. I’ll take touchdowns over offensive plays, and twice on Sundays.”
Senior receiver Kenneth Robey had another solid game for the Bears, catching eight passes for 124 yards and scoring on a 15-yard pass from quarterback Nathan Dick with 30 seconds left in the first half to help UCA take a 14-0 lead.
Robey has 48 receptions for 612 yards and 5 touchdowns in 7 games.
“He has chemistry with Nathan Dick as well as the other quarterbacks,” Conque said. “You see him catch bubble screens. He’s really become a go-to guy, and we hope he can play big this week.”
With UCA being eligible for the Football Championship Subdivision postseason for the first time, Conque is thinking about a playoff spot for his team, regardless of whether the Bears win the Southland Conference. In order to qualify for the FCS postseason without winning a conference title, a team has to win at least seven games.
“[A victory today] would get us to .500 and keep us on track for many goals that we have to accomplish,” Conque said. “We can’t move forward without playing very well against Southeastern Louisiana.”SE Louisiana at Central ArkansasWHERE Estes Stadium, Conway WHEN 2 p.m. Central today RECORDS Central Arkansas (4-3, 1-2 Southland Conference); Southeastern Louisiana (2-5, 1-2) COACHES Clint Conque (77-46 in 11 seasons at Central Arkansas); Mike Lucas (16-28 in four seasons at Southeastern Louisiana) SERIES Central Arkansas leads 2-1 RADIO KKPT-FM, 94.1, in Little Rock;
KUCA-FM, 91.3, and KCNY-FM, 107.1, in Conway; KDXE-AM, 1380, in Little Rock;
KFFK-AM, 1390, in Rogers INTERNET ucasports.com
Sports, Pages 28 on 10/30/2010