SOUTHLAND CONFERENCE

Turnovers say it all in UCA loss

CONWAY - It was a gray Saturday at Estes Stadium in more ways than one for Central Arkansas.

Decked out in their new gray jerseys and pants, the Bears saw their 13-game home winning streak snapped by McNeese State in a 59-28 loss in their Southland Conference opener in front of an announced crowd of 10,247.

UCA (2-3, 0-1 Southland) had not lost at Estes Stadium since Nov. 13, 2010, againstSam Houston State and won its first 12 games on the purple and gray artificial turf surface at the stadium, which was installed in 2011.

“We got outcoached and outplayed,” UCA Coach Clint Conque said. “They were more physical than we were. It was a really humbling and embarrassing situation.

“This will be a true gutcheck for our football team, our coaching staff and our program moving forward.”

The Bears outgained the Cowboys 644-595 and ran 106 plays to McNeese’s 65, but three turnovers helped doom UCA’s chances of winning Saturday.

“We were able to move the football,” Conque said. “We just couldn’t get it in the end zone.”

Senior quarterback Wynrick Smothers completed 35 of 65 passes for 484 yards and 1 touchdown, but threw 3 interceptions. Smothers left briefly in the third quarter because of a right shin contusion, but was fine. The preseason Southland Conference first-team quarterback and reigning offensive player of the year took responsibility for Saturday’s loss, on the offensive side.

“We have to play better, starting off with myself overall,” said Smothers, who has thrown nine interceptions this season, matching last year’s total. “I can’t keep having turnovers and expecting the team to win. They got their momentum off of me with the turnovers. I have to play better for us to get on that winning track.”

Tight end Chase Dixon caught 9 passes for 149 yards and 1 touchdown and receiver Courtney Whitehead added 108 yards on 8 catches.

“All those stats mean nothing when we have a big L in the conference,” Dixon said.

UCA lost receiver Dezmin Lewis to an ankle injury Saturday and the junior will be out for a couple of weeks, Conque said. Lewis entered Saturday with 26 catches for 331 yards and 2 touchdowns.

McNeese State senior quarterback Cody Stroud threw 3 touchdown passes and finished 13 of 19 passing for 277 yards. Running back Marcus Wiltz ran for 181 yards on 17 carries and 1 touchdown.

Midway through the second quarter, McNeese State (5-1, 1-0, 11th in FCS Sports Network poll) took control and went on to beat UCA for the first time since 2009, earning the game’s Red Beans & Rice traveling trophy given to the winner.

“I thought we really played well in all phases of the game,” McNeese State Coach Matt Viator said. “The offense did a really nice job of moving the ball down the field while the defense made some really big plays for us.”

The game was tied at 21-21 when the Cowboys took a 28-21 lead with 4:12 left in the second quarter when receiver Diontae Spencer threw a 46-yard touchdown pass to Jereon McGilvery. UCA then turned the ball over on downs at the McNeese 24, but it had a chance to get the ball back when Wiltz fumbled at the McNeese 28. Dillon Winfrey forced the fumble, but several UCA defenders couldn’t jump on the ball and the Cowboys’ Zach Hetrick recovered.

”Turnovers are right there and present themselves,” UCA senior defensive tackle Matt Hornbuckle said. “We have to take advantage of opportunities like that. Opportunities like that don’t present themselves very often.”

McNeese needed two Javaris Murray runs to score. Murray ran 68 yards to the UCA 12 and scored from 12 yards out on the next play to make it 35-21.

Smothers’ pass was batted by Chris Loveless, then intercepted by Kevin Dorn at the UCA 44. McNeese State went for the big play and got it as Stroud threw a 40-yard touchdown pass to Spencer for a 42-21 advantage with 59 seconds left in the half.

McNeese State was outgained 496-410 in the first half and ran only 28 plays, but took advantage of two turnovers, including a 98-yard interception return for a touchdown from Ryan Bronson that gave the Cowboys a 21-14 lead at the 8:33 mark in the second quarter.

In the third quarter, Winfrey’s fumble return for a touchdown was called back because of an unsportsmanlike conduct penalty. But the Bears responded, as backup quarterback Ryan Howard threw a 3-yard touchdown pass to Dixon to pull the Bears within 42-28 with 11:52 remaining.

UCA forced McNeese State to punt, but the Bears couldn’t take advantage, as Eddie Camara’s 40-yard field-goal attempt was no good. Four plays later, Stroud threw a 28-yard touchdown pass down the right sideline to Wiltz to increase the Cowboys’ lead to 49-28 with 5:53 remaining in the third quarter. Dylan Long had a 3-yard touchdown run and Ryan Rome made a 39-yard field goal in the fourth quarter to cap the Cowboys’ scoring.

UCA hosts NCAA Division II member Nebraska-Kearney on Saturday before traveling to Lamar on Oct. 19. With tougher Southland games against Stephen F. Austin (Oct. 26), Southeastern Louisiana (Nov. 9) and Sam Houston State (Nov. 23), the Bears will have to put Saturday’s rout behind them or else they could be in danger of missing the FCS playoffs for the first time since 2010.

“We’ll see if we can handle adversity,” Conque said, “or if we’re going to be frontrunners.”SE LOUISIANA 35, INCARNATE WORD 3

HAMMOND, La. - Bryan Bennett completed 19 of 30 passes for 267 yards and 2 touchdowns as Southeastern Louisiana (3-2) beat Incarnate Word (3-3).

Bennett, an Oregon transfer, threw touchdown passes of 41 yards to Marquis Hayes and 17 yards to Jeff Smiley. He also had two rushing touchdowns, both for 1 yard in the third quarter.

FCS TSN TOP 25 NO. 1 NORTH DAKOTA ST. 24, NO. 4 NORTHERN IOWA 23

FARGO, N.D. - Sam Ojuri ran for 96 yards and the go-ahead touchdown as FCS Sports Network No. 1 North Dakota State (5-0, 2-0 Missouri Valley) rallied back from a 13-point fourth-quarter deficit to prevail over No. 4 Northern Iowa (4-1, 0-1) on Saturday at the Fargodome.

NCAA DIVISION III MILLSAPS 48, HENDRIX 37

Taz Watson ran for 143 yards and two touchdowns and Mike Barthelemy ran for 115 yards and another score Saturday afternoon as Millsaps College defeated Hendrix College at Harper-Davis Stadium in Jackson, Miss.

Millsaps (4-0, 1-0 Southern Athletic Association) took a 7-0 lead on Zak Thrasher’s 11-yard touchdown pass to Charlie Strauss on the Majors’ opening drive, but Hendrix scored 17 consecutive points.

A 12-play drive led to a 39-yard field goal by Steve Crenshaw that cut the lead to 7-3 with 3:35 left in the opening quarter, then quarterback Seth Peters gave the Warriors’ a 10-7 lead with a 64-yard touchdown pass to Dayton Winn with 9:30 left in the half.

Hendrix safety Caleb Shannon intercepted a pass by Thrasher and returned it 29 yards to the Millsaps 1. Two plays later, Peters hit Travis McMahon with a 3-yard pass for a 17-7 lead with 6:03 left in the second quarter.

Millsaps answered quickly. Barthelemy ran for a 2-yard touchdown that pulled the Majors within 17-13, and Thrasher threw a 2-yard touchdown pass to Trevor King to give Millsaps a 20-17 lead going into halftime.

Peters completed 25 of 37 passes for 310 yards with 5 touchdowns and 1 interception. Winn had 6 receptions for 85 yards and 1 score and rushed 9 times for 59 yards. Winn finished with 219 all-purpose yards.

  • Arkansas Democrat-GazetteSATURDAY’S GAMES McNeese State 59, Central Arkansas 28 SE Louisiana 35, Incarnate Word 3

Sports, Pages 23 on 10/06/2013

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