Conque calms Bears hysteria

CONWAY — At the beginning of his weekly Central Arkansas Bear backers luncheon address Monday afternoon, Coach Clint Conque waved off the standing ovation he received from fans and boosters in the Hall of Fame Room at Estes Stadium.

“It’s one football game,” Conque said of the Bears’ come-from-behind 24-20 victory over defending Southland Conference champion Sam Houston State on Saturday.

But that game gave UCA a 1-0 record in the Southland and elevated the Bears in The Sports Network’s Football Championship Subdivision Top 25 poll.

UCA, which was ranked 25th entering the Sam Houston State game, moved up to No. 16 on Monday. The Bears are one of three Southland teams in the poll, as Sam Houston State dropped from No. 3 to No. 9 and McNeese State fell five spots to No. 24 after losing at Southeastern Louisiana 25-24 Saturday.

Beating Sam Houston State was a signature victory for the Bears, Conque said.

“It gets us on a national radar,” said Conque, whose team finished 15th in the Football Championship Subdivision poll after last season’s FCS second-round appearance. “If we handle our business here at the end of September and in October and November, it’s not like we’ll be coming from some place in right field. That’s what we’re striving for - each and every year to be a player on the national level.”

The Bears trailed 20-10 with 5:24 remaining, but scored 14 consecutive points in 4:27 to stun the Bearkats. Junior quarterback Wynrick Smothers ran 17 yards for a touchdown to get UCA within 20-17 and threw a 26-yard scoring pass to senior receiver Dominique Croom with 57 seconds left to give the Bears their first lead.

Strong safety Karl Brady intercepted Sam Houston State quarterback Brian Bell on a Hail Mary attempt to seal the victory for UCA, which has won three consecutive after losing at Mississippi on Sept. 1.

“It may be one of the great 5 minutes and 24 seconds in our history, our school,” Conque said. “I’m not going to say the greatest.

“I’m telling you, I saw more teaching. You want to talk about education going on? Some of the finest education was going on that sideline, at a school of higher learning. There was more encouraging. There was no finger-pointing. There was more talk about strategy. Every young man on that sideline that was wearing a purple jersey and those black pants, they believed.”

Smothers completed 24 of 41 passes for 318 yards and 2 touchdowns and threw 1 interception against the Bearkats. He was named the Southland’s offensive player of the week Monday.

“He showed growth and maturity at that [quarterback] position,” Conque said. “He showed tremendous maturity coming down to the check down when the vertical routes, particularly in the fourth quarter, weren’t there. That’s a credit to him and his preparation.”

Conque and the Bears must move forward, though, as they head to Stephen F. Austin on Saturday. The Lumberjacks (1-3) have lost three in a row, including 43-35 at FCS No. 2 Montana State on Sept. 15 and 41-37 at Texas State on Saturday.

But Conque said he recognized the importance of getting off to a 1-0 Southland start compared to last season when the Bears lost to the Bearkats and had to win their final seven games just to reach the FCS playoffs.

“I’m not going to downplay the fact that this was a tremendous win,” Conque said. “This team that we just beat won 14 games last year and were predicted by most to win the [FCS] national championship this year with all the starters they had coming back.

“I’m sure they felt like they could have played better. But I’d like to think both offensively, defensively and the kicking game, we impacted that game. It’s not so much that they played down, but it’s that we played up.”