CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears scored 24 unanswered points and their defense pitched a second-half shutout on another soggy Saturday night in a 34-14 win over the Nicholls State Colonels at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.
The No. 20/24 Bears trailed 14-10 early in the second quarter but got a 42-yard field goal by Eddie Camara with 29 seconds left in the half, tying the second longest kick of his career, and drawing the Bears within 14-13 at halftime. That little bit of momentum sparked the Bears to a 21-0 second-half blanking of the Colonels as UCA improved to 8-0 on “The Stripes” of Estes Stadium.
The Bears (4-2, 2-1), coming off their first Southland Conference loss of the season last week at Stephen F. Austin, piled up 511 yards of total offense. The UCA defense held Nicholls (1-3, 0-1) to just 70 yards of offense in the second half. The win was UCA’s fourth straight in the series and gives the Bears a 5-2 advantage.
UCA got on the board first when senior running back Jackie Hinton went in from the 1, capping a 13-play, 76-yard drive with 4:46 left in the first quarter. Nicholls answered quickly when a 69-yard pass from Landry Klann to Jesse Turner set up a 4-yard touchdown run by Marcus Washington just 1:33 after UCA’s score.
Camara connected on a 22-yard field goal for a 10-7 UCA lead with 11:49 left in the second quarter, but Klann found Erik Buchanan for a 79-yard touchdown pass less than a minute later for a 14-10 advantage. Klann was 6 of 9 for 214 yards in the first half. UCA’s Wynrick Smothers was just as solid, completing 16 of 21 passes for 155 yards.
Senior tailback Terence Bobo got UCA’s offense started in the second half with an 18-yard touchdown run around the right end, giving the Bears the lead for good at 20-14 with 10:46 left in the third. UCA forced Nicholls to punt and senior Jesse Grandy bobbed and weaved his way for an apparent 53-yard touchdown but it was called back by penalty.
Smothers and Grandy then went to work, combining for three consecutive completions, totaling 28 yards. Grandy tied the school single-game record with 13 receptions for 111 yards. After a pair of runs by Hinton, Smothers found senior Dominique Croom in the left corner for a 13-yard touchdown and a 27-14 lead with 6:15 remaining in the third period.
UCA freshman cornerback Dillion Winfrey intercepted his first career pass at the 3:00 mark of the fourth quarter, setting up UCA’s final touchdown, a 2-yard run by quarterback Jacoby Walker with nine seconds to play.
Smothers, a junior from Destrehan, La., completed 31 of 43 passes for 289 yards, while Hinton rushed for 106 yards on 18 carries. Klann finished 12 of 18 for 268 yards, while Washington rushed for 66 yards on 11 carries.
Defensively, UCA redshirt freshman end Jonathan Woodard, the reigning SLC Defensive Player of the Week, was all over the field for the second consecutive week with three sacks among his six total tackles. Nicholls senior linebacker Jordan Piper had a career-high 23 tackles and also recovered a fumble for the Colonels.
UCA goes back on the road next week, facing the McNeese State Cowboys in Lake Charles, La. Kickoff is 7 p.m.
