Box Score

CHARLESTON, Ill. _ The opportunistic University of Central Arkansas Bears took advantage of five Eastern Illinois turnovers and got two rushing touchdowns each from sophomore tailback Terence Bobo and redshirt freshman quarterback Wynrick Smothers to down the 16th-ranked Panthers 37-7 at O’Brien Field.

UCA (2-0) needed to cover just 94 yards for its four first-half scores, thanks to miscues by the Panthers (0-2). The Bears scored 20 points in the first half and had only 144 total yards of offense, after putting up more than 400 in the first half of their season opener against Elizabeth City State. UCA took advantage of four first-half EIU turnovers, including a pair of muffed punts by the Panthers deep in their own territory.

For the game, UCA forced a school-record five fumbles and intercepted two passes.

“When you play solid defense and then get four or five turnovers, good things are going to happen,’ said UCA head coach Clint Conque, who became the winningest coach in UCA history with his 75th career victory at UCA. “We didn’t capitalize on a few things early but defensively I thought we just played so consistently throughout. I thought the defense did a spectacular job, and we actually lost a couple of starters in the game.

“I thought we’d play well, we were pretty loose on the trip and had a pretty good week of practice. But I couldn’t be more proud of our players and our assistant coaches, to come into a ranked team’s field and play that well. We’ve done that before with past teams and it never gets old.’

UCA was forced to punt on its first possession of the game, but EIU’s Rashad Haynes mishandled the kick and UCA’s Desmond Wilcox recovered at the Panthers’ 20. UCA’s Nathan Dick was intercepted on the first play from scrimmage but the Panthers gave it right back after another UCA punt. This time Lamar Moore recovered Pete Houlihan’s fumble at the EIU 39 and the Bears got a 21-yard field goal from senior Eddie Carmona for a 3-0 lead with 8:10 left in the first quarter.

On Eastern’s first play following the kickoff, UCA junior linebacker Frank Newsome sacked EIU quarterback Brandon Large and forced a fumble that senior Markell Carter covered at the 13. Six plays later, sophomore tailback Terence Bobo went over the right side for a 3-yard touchdown. Carmona’s PAT made it a 10-0 UCA lead with 5:29 remaining in the period.

EIU got a 2-yard pass from Large to Von Wise for a touchdown and Kevin Cook made the point after to close the gap to 10-7 at the 2:28 mark. After another UCA punt, Houlihan fumbled another punt but recovered. However, on the first play from scrimmage, Large was intercepted by UCA sophomore safety Radarius Winston at midfield.

UCA redshirt sophomore quarterback Wynrick Smothers completed a 12-yard pass to senior Willie Landers, then went the final 19 yards himself for the touchdown. Carmona made it 17-7 in the opening minute of the second quarter. UCA got a final 39-yard field goal from Carmona with 7:42 left in the half. That score came after a 26-yard punt by EIU that went out of bounds at the UCA 48.

Smothers, who added another rushing touchdown from 5 yards out in the fourth quarter, led the Bears on the ground with 76 yards on just six carries. Dick completed 22 of 30 passing for 167 yards, while Smothers was 7 of 7 for 46 more yards. UCA finished with 376 total yards, including 162 on the ground.

“They really complement each other, and the great thing about it is they are each other’s No. 1 fan,’ Conque said of his quarterbacks. “That type of chemistry is such a positive thing. Wynrick brings tremendous dynamics off the bench and he can do a lot of things. And Nathan was very effective in leading us today. We’re asking a lot of him on a daily basis.

“It really looked like a mixed bag out there on offense,’ Conque said, “but there is some method to the madness. We’re asking Nathan to do a lot of things with our entire offense, then we’re asking Wynrick to come in for a change of pace. No question that he has the ability to do that.’

The Panthers actually had more yardage on kickoff returns (218) than on offense, finishing  with just 120 total yards of offense. They had only 93 yards through three quarters of play. Large finished 10 of 24 for just 52 yards and two interceptions, by UCA's Seth Allison and Radarius Winston.

UCA hosts a second consecutive Ohio Valley Conference team in Murray State next Saturday at First Security Field at Estes Stadium. Kickoff is 6 p.m.