Coach: UCA winners despite loss

Central Arkansas Coach Steve Campbell is shown in this file photo.
Central Arkansas Coach Steve Campbell is shown in this file photo.

CONWAY -- University of Central Arkansas football Coach Steve Campbell said a loss in the Bears' first playoff game does not detract from an outstanding season.

UCA finished the regular season undefeated in the Southland Conference, winning the school's first outright Southland championship with a 34-0 victory over Abilene Christian on Nov. 18.

UCA, ranked No. 3 in the NCAA Division I FCS coaches poll, received a bye through the first round of the FCS playoffs but lost in the second round Saturday at Estes Stadium to New Hampshire 21-15.

"We're disappointed we didn't win, but these guys had a great season," Campbell said. "I wish I had prepared them a little better for New Hampshire, and I wish we had played a little better.

"The lessons that we learned of the values, the work ethic, all that, I don't need a ring on my finger, and they don't to know that no one has anything on us. I don't care, someone could walk in here with four Super Bowl rings. Tell them to come on. They don't have anything on us."

Senior quarterback Hayden Hildebrand, on schedule to graduate this month, passed for two touchdowns and a career-high 361 yards against New Hampshire. As the full-time starter at quarterback, he directed UCA to records of 10-3 in 2016 and 10-2 this season.

"It's been fun," Hildebrand said. "It's a surreal feeling, but it's been fun. I've learned a lot playing here, and I've enjoyed my time in Conway. I've enjoyed the coaches and the relationships that I've had with these players. That's the stuff that will stick with you."

UCA had four turnovers to New Hampshire's one on Saturday.

"I'm disappointed that I didn't do a better job of preparing us for the final game, but I don't want any of these guys to hang their heads," Campbell said. "This senior class, they led us to 20 Division I wins over the last two years, the most in school history. They had two 10-win seasons. They went undefeated in the Southland Conference, and they have gone through so much adversity."

UCA senior guard Stockton Mallett, a preseason FCS All-American, and senior defensive lineman Cardell Best were both lost for the season to injury in summer drills.

"They made a poster at the beginning of the year, and there were five of our seniors on there," Campbell said. "Then two of them don't play a snap this season."

UCA followed up a 55-19 season-opening loss to Kansas State, then ranked No. 19 among FBS schools, with 10 consecutive victories. Campbell said highlights included a 47-17 victory over McNeese State, which finished the season 9-2, and a 41-30 victory over Sam Houston State, which defeated South Dakota 54-42 on Saturday to advance to the quarterfinals of the FCS playoffs.

"The Sam Houston win was big," Campbell said. "They hadn't been beaten in a long time, and they were No. 2 in the nation, and we beat them by 11."

Campbell said his players are champions regardless of the outcome of their final game.

"It's all about showing up every day and doing the very best that you can," he said. "We wanted to win, and sometimes you do and sometimes you don't, but that doesn't change who you are.

"Just because you win a game, that doesn't make you a better person. If you lose a game, that doesn't make you a worse person. If you're a champion, then win, lose or draw, you're a champion. Don't let the circumstances of one game define you. That's what we'll come out of this thing with."

Sports on 12/06/2017

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