LITTLE ROCK — When Central Arkansas Coach Clint Conque saw his team’s 2012 schedule, his immediate concern went to September.
That’s because the Bears had to play at Mississippi and Murray State in nonconference games and then had to face Sam Houston State and Stephen F. Austin in their first two Southland Conference games.
A victory today against Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas, would give UCA a 4-1 record going into October and a 2-0 mark in the Southland Conference for the first time since 2008, when it won the league.
UCA, ranked No. 16 in Football Championship Subdivision poll, is coming off a come-from-behind 24-20 victory against defending Southland champion Sam Houston State last Saturday in Conway. The Bears trailed 20-10 with 5:24 remaining before junior quarterback Wynrick Smothers ran for a touchdown and threw a 26-yard go-ahead scoring pass to senior receiver Dominique Croom with 57seconds left.
Conque said the Bears have “dumped that game in this building” this week and have moved on to the Lumberjacks (1-3), who have lost consecutive games at SMU, FCS No. 2 Montana State and Texas State.
UCA beat Stephen F. Austin 38-28 last season at home to begin a seven-game winning streak that put it in the FCS playoffs. The Lumberjacks went on to win five of their final six games but missed the playoffs after winning the previous two Southland championships.
UCA trailed in the first half of all four of its conference road games last season before winning three of four. Slow starts on the road are a habit this year’s team doesn’t want to pick up.
“I couldn’t put my finger on the slow starts last year,” Conque said. “The good news is we finished fast most of the time on the road, but we’ll need to come out and play well and neutralize the crowd and gain confidence.”
Led by junior quarterback Brady Attaway (116 of 192 passing, 1,330 yards, 9 touchdowns, 8 interceptions),the Lumberjacks have the fifth-best offense in the FCS and are averaging 486.75 yards per game.
“They’re one of the most prolific offenses in college football,” Conque said. “We’ve seen that the last three or four years.
“He [Attaway] is making better decisions. I know there’s a couple against SMU he would like to have back. They reeled five wins in a row to finish 2011. That gave their team a lot of confidence, and certainly him.”
Stephen F. Austin must win its final seven games to be eligible for the FCS playoffs. Conque said he hopes it doesn’t start that run today.
“They’re a very good football team and their backs are against the wall,” Conque said. “They’re sitting at 1-3 with no Division I wins. They have to put everything on the conference games. They played a difficult schedule.
“This is a capable football team. A lot of those kids who were part of those championship teams in 2009 and 2010 are still there. They’re not going to be intimidated by us coming there.”
THURSDAY’S GAME Sam Houston St. 50, Texas Southern 6 TODAY’S GAMES All times Central SE Louisiana at Lamar, 3 p.m.
Cent. Arkansas at S.F. Austin, 6 p.m.
Northwestern St. at McNeese St., 7 p.m.
Today’s game
CENTRAL ARKANSAS AT STEPHEN F. AUSTIN WHEN 6 p.m. Central
WHERE Homer Bryce Stadium, Nacogdoches, Texas RECORDS Central Arkansas 3-1, 1-0 Southland Conference; Stephen F. Austin 1-3, 0-0 RANKINGS Central Arkansas No. 16 in The Sports Network FCS Top 25 poll, No.
14 in coaches’ FCS Top 25 poll COACHES Central Arkansas: Clint Conque (92-52 in 13 seasons); Stephen F. Austin: J.C. Harper (30-33 in five seasons) SERIES Central Arkansas leads 4-2 RADIO KHLR-FM, 106.7, in Benton/Little Rock; KUCA-FM, 91.3, in Conway; KCNYFM, 107.1, in Conway INTERNET ucasports.com
Sports, Pages 24 on 09/29/2012