CONWAY - Steve Campbell wants Central Arkansas to play faster and more up-tempo this fall.
The Bears’ first-year coach had to like what he saw for the most part Saturday afternoon at Estes Stadium in the team’s spring game.
UCA’s 15th and final practice of spring lasted 1 hour, 14 minutes, with 94 plays being run, including about 60 in the first half alone. The format for the game featured four 15-minute quarters, but Campbell decided to shorten the clock to 12 minutes for the third and fourth quarters.
“We got 94 plays in 74 minutes, and we took a 10-minute break,” Campbell said. “That’s a play and a half a minute. I was trying to hold them and let the clock run or else we would have run 120 plays.”
The purple team beat the gray team 48-6 behind three rushing touchdowns by senior running back Willie Matthews, who scored on two 1-yard runs and a 2-yard run and finished with 108 yards on 18 carries.
Matthews was the Bears’ leading rusher last season with 564 yards and 5 touchdowns on 128 carries in 10 games.
“Willie has had a great spring,” Campbell said. “He’s a big-time back and has worked extremely hard to put himself into position to have a big year.”
Offensive coordinator Nathan Brown, one of three assistants retained by Campbell from former coach Clint Conque’s staff, called the running backs group that includes Matthews, juniors Blake Veasley and Danzel Williams and redshirt freshman Jeff Anderson the “MVP” of the spring.
“You could tell we have play-makers at that position,” Brown said. “They run hard. They hit the hole. It’s also a testament to our offensive line. They’re a year older, a year stronger. They’re more mentally advanced.
“We’ve got a long way to go, but we like the way things are rolling right now.”
Quarterbacks Ryan Howard and Taylor Reed continued their battle for the No. 1 spot. Howard, a senior, threw for 103 yards while Reed, a junior, finished with 90 yards passing that included a 48-yard touchdown to senior receiver Dezmin Lewis. Reed also had an 8-yard scoring run.
Howard and Reed platooned during the second half last season after Wynrick Smothers injured his ankle Oct. 12 against Nebraska-Kearney. Brown was noncommittal as far as who will be the starter going into fall camp, but he said he was impressed with Howard and Reed as well as redshirt freshman Hayden Hildebrand.
“We had such good effort at the quarterback position this spring. We can’t go wrong,” Brown said. “We’re going to play the one that gives us a chance to win. We’re not ready to name a starter, but we do know we have three guys that we can ride their backs and win a conference championship.”
Sophomore receiver Jatavious Wilson added a 26-yard touchdown run in the second half.
Campbell, a former assistant under Pat Dye at Auburn and under Jackie Sherrill at Mississippi State, said he hopes the Bears will run the ball more this season. The play of the running backs made a good first impression on Campbell.
“I’m a big believer in running the ball and stopping the run,” Campbell said. “You win a lot of football games that way.”
Matthews said he is ready to take the reins.
“We always need a run game,” Matthews said. “I felt like that was the main thing we were lacking in all the years I’ve been here is a strong, consistent run game. I feel like with the new coaches and the playbook that we’ll be a lot better this year.”
Sports, Pages 31 on 04/13/2014