#11 CENTRAL ARKANSAS BEARS (4-4) vs. EASTERN KENTUCKY COLONELS (2-5) GAME 9 INFORMATION DATE: ....................... Saturday, November 14 2019 FINAL SLC STANDINGS TIME: ......................... 3:00 p.m. SITE: ......................... The Stripes / First Security Field SCHOOL ...................SLC .....% .............ALL .....% ..............STR at Estes Stadium • Conway, Ark. UCA ...............................7-2 ..........778 ............9-4 .........692 ............L-1 COVERAGE: KUCA 91.3 FM/The Point 94.1 w/Justin Acri, Nicholls ............................. 7-2 .......... .778 ............. 9-5 ...........643 ..............L-1 SE Louisiana ...................6-3 ......... 667 ............8-5 .........615 ............L-1 Chris Kane & RJ Hawk Sam Houston...................6-3 ..........667 ............7-5 .........583 ............W-1 ESPN3 - John Liddle/Shea Walker/Taylor Verrico McNeese State ..............5-4 ..........556 ............7-5 .........583 ............W-1 SERIES: EKU leads 1-0 Incarnate Word ..............4-5 ..........444 ............5-7 .........417 ............L-5 Abilene Christian ...........4-5 ..........444 ............5-7 .........417 ............L-3 Northwestern St. ............3-6 ..........333 ............3-9 .........250 ............L-1 THE SERIES: Stephen F. Austin...........3-6 ..........333 ............3-9 .........250 ............W-1 The Colonels lead the overall series 1-0 after last month’s 31-28 victory in Houston Baptist .............2-6 ..........250 ............5-7 .........417 ............L-1 Richmond, Ky. Lamar ............................2-7 ..........222 ............4-8 .........333 ............L-5 LAST MEETING: The UCA had another fourth-quarter comeback against Eastern Kentucky but left too much time on the clock as the Colonels came back and scored the • 2020 BEARS SCHEDULE • game-winning touchdown with 6 seconds left in a 31-28 victory at Roy Kidd Stadium in Richmond, Ky. • SATURDAY, AUG. 29 • The Bears overcame deficits of 17-7 and 24-14, scoring two touchdowns vs. Austin Peay - 8:00 - Montgomery, Ala. - WON 24-17 in the final 4:35, including a 4-yard pass from Breylin Smith to Lujuan Win- • THURSDAY, SEPT. 3 • ningham (4:35) and a 1-yard keeper by Smith (1:21). But the Colonels drove @. UAB - 7:00 - Birmingham, Ala. - L, 35-45 77 yards in eight plays and got a 21-yard touchdown pass from Dakota Allen L, 35-45 to Matt Wilcox to win it. • SATURDAY, SEPT. 26 • Smith finished 30 of 45 passing (66.6%) for 320 yards and two touchdowns. vs. Missouri State - 7:00 - Conway, Ark. WON 27-20 Winningham caught nine passes for 103 yards and Tyler Hudson added sev- en for 106 yards, including an 11-yard TD reception in the second quarter. A • SATURDAY, OCT. 3 • combination of two EKU quarterbacks completed 24 of 34 for 301 yards and @ North Dakota State - 2:30 - Fargo, N.D. L, 28-39 3 touchdowns. UCA’s defense, which forced six turnovers and had 7 sacks and 13 tackles • SATURDAY, OCT. 10 • for loss the previous week vs. Missouri State, forced a pair of fumbles (Cam- @ Arkansas State - 2:30 - Jonesboro, Ark. L, 27-50 eron Godfrey, Leandre Rucks recoveries) but had just 2 TFLs and zero sacks. EKU finished with 460 yards of total offense while UCA had 419. • SATURDAY, OCT. 17 • @ Missouri State - 7:00 - Springfield, Mo. WON 33-24 LAST GAME: • SATURDAY, OCT. 24 • The Bears spotted the Division II Missouri Western Griffons a 7-0 lead then @ Eastern Kentucky - 2:00 CT - Richmond, Ky. L, 28-31 scored the next 45 points en route to a 52-10 victory on Halloween afternoon at Estes Stadium. • SATURDAY, OCT. 31 • The Bears got five touchdown passes from junior QB Breylin Smith, tying vs. Missouri Western • 3:00 • Conway, Ark. WON 52-10 his career high, and the Bears rushed for a season-high 235 yards (58 more than previous high). Junior Lujuan Winningham and sophomore Tyler Hudson • SATURDAY, NOV. 14 • each caught two touchdown passes, with Hudson going 4 for 137. Sophomore vs. Eastern Kentucky - 3:00 - Conway, Ark. TE Austin Eldridge caught his first career TD pass, while redshirt freshman RB Marshun Douglas had his first career rushing TD (67 yards). Sophomore DE • SATURDAY, NOV. 21 • Logan Jessup also had his firstrcareer TD with a 26-yard fumble recovery. @ Louisiana - 1:00 - Lafayette, La. • ESPN+ UCA’s defense held MWSU to 198 yards of total offense (3.4 yards per THIS IS UCA FOOTBALL 3 National championships 2008, 2012, 2017, 2019 SLC Champions 2011, 2012, 2016, 2017, 2019 NCAA FCS Playoffs 544 All-Conference selections 120 All-Americans 28 Conference Titles 22 posteason appearances1 64 NCAA All-Academic picks play) while the Bears piled up a season-high 539 yards (8.6 per play). Against MSU, the Bears trailed 20-7 midway through the third quarter before scoring 20 unanswered points to win 27-20. In the second meeting with MSU NEXT GAME: last Saturday, UCA was down 24-17 at halftime on the road, but outscored UCA will close out the 2020 season with a visit to Lafayette, La., to take the home Bears 16-0 in the second half. on the Top 25 Louisiana Rajin Cajuns at 1 p.m. next Saturday at 1 p.m. on UCA had six comeback victories a year ago, including another APSU win ESPN+. on the road. The Bears outscored their opponents 217-130 in the second half The Bears and Rajin Cajuns will be meeting for the first time. It will be in 2019. The numbers are even more impressive in the fourth quarter, with UCA’s third matchup with an FBS team this season, a program high since UCA winning that period 134-70. moving to FCS in 2006. In the 2020 season opener, UCA topped APSU 18-7 in the second half, scoring the game-winning TD with 34 seconds remaining. REESE’S SENIOR BOWL: THE GAUNTLET: UCA senior CB Robert With the Southland Conference voting to shift fall 2020 sports to the spring Rochell received his invite semester, it left open the option for schools to play a selection of non-confer- to the 2021 Reese’s Senior ence games. UCA took that one step further, putting together a formidable Bowl on Tuesday. He will 10-game slate, beginning Aug. 29 against Austin Peay, the only game that be the third UCA Bear since was on the Bears’ original schedule. 2009 to play in the presti- UCA, which lost a guarantee game at SEC Missouri when the SEC voted gious All-Star game, join- to play only conference games, added three FBS programs to the schedule, ing his head coach Nathan a first for a single season. UCA will take on UAB (Sept. 3) at Legion Field in Brown (2009) and wide re- Birmingham, Ala. in-state rival Arkansas State (Oct. 10) in Jonesboro, Ark., ceiver Dezmin Lewis (2015). and close the season at Louisiana-Lafayette (Nov. 21) in Lafayette, La. The 72nd annual game UCA was scheduled to renew its rivalry with ASU next season in Jonesboro, will be played Saturday, Jan. 30 at 1:30 p.m. at Hancock Whitney Stadium in but added a matchup this year as well. The schools are located just two hours Mobile, Ala. It will be televised on the NFL Network. apart. The Bears won the last meeting 28-23 in 2016. The game was orginally Rochelle, a 6-foot2-, 185-pounder from Shreveport, La. (Fair Park HS), is scheduled for Sept. 19 but was moved to Oct. 10 because ASU could not field an All-American and first-team All-Southland Conference selection and is a a full two-deep due to COVID-19 issues. three-year starter for the Bears. He has 10 career interceptions, 28 career UCA also scheduled rare home-and-home series with Missouri State (Sept. pass breakups and 101 career tackles. 26 in Conway, Oct. 17 in Springfield, Mo.) and vs. Eastern Kentucky (Oct. 10 This season, despite missing two games with an injury, he has 24 tackles, 3 in Richmond, Ky./Oct. 31 in Conway). The exclamation point was added to the pass break ups, a forced fumble and a fumble recovery returned for a 35-yard schedule when UCA released a three-game series with three-time defending touchdown against UAB. FCS national champion (and eight of last nine) North Dakota State. The Bears and Bison will meet on Oct. 3 at the Fargodome in Fargo, N.D. Ironically, the THE SENIORS: Bison are playing just one game this fall after the Missouri Valley Football Conference (MVFC) also shifted fall sports to the spring. UCA-NDSU will UCA will officially recognize 20 seniors prior to Saturday’s final home game. meet again in Fargo in 2023 and in Conway in 2025. The senior class of 2020 has combined to win 29 games, has won a pair of UCA will be facing five programs (EKU, UAB, Louisiana, Missouri Western, Southland conference championships and has made two appearances in the NDSU) for the first time. Louisiana is receiving votes in the Top 25 polls. The FCS Playoffs. Rajin Cajuns are 4-1 with a win over No. 23 Iowa State. UAB is 4-2 with the The seniors, who have all been granted another year of eligibility by the only losses to Miami and Louisiana. Arkansas State has a win over Top 25 NCAA due to Covid-19, include: Kansas State. wide receivers Dwight Blakey and Tobias Enlow; defensive backs Robert The Bears will face a unique trip in the first two weeks of the 2020 season. Rochell, Leandre Rucks, Chris Kershner, Davis Harrison and Justin Meadows; UCA travels to Montgomery to face Austin Peay on Saturday (Aug. 29) and tight ends Sam Camargo, Josh Nix and Jack Short; running back Kierre Cross- rather than return to Conway, will instead stay in Birmingham in preparation ley; linebackers DJ Reed, Trenton Dunn and Victor Hill; snapper/holder Will for Thursday night’s matchup at UAB.