CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears are opening the 2012 season with a bang Saturday, a really big bang, facing the Ole Miss Rebels at 6 p.m. at Vaught-Hemingway Stadium.
The matchup with a Southeastern Conference foe will be the first for UCA.
“We realize what a challenge this will be,’ said Bears head coach Clint Conque, entering his 13th season at the helm of the UCA program. “But with that being said, we also realize what a great opportunity this is for our football team.
“This will be an opportunity for our student-athletes to play an SEC team in a magnificent atmosphere at Vaught-Hemingway, in front of a great crowd, on a big stage. I know our guys are looking forward to the opportunity.’
The Bears are coming off a 9-4 season when they made their first trip to the NCAA Division I Playoffs, winning a road game at Tennessee Tech before losing in the second round at perennial power Montana. UCA is the winningest college football team in the state of Arkansas since 2001 with an 86-43 overall record.
The Rebels are coming off a 2-10 season which saw the ouster of head coach Houston Nutt. Ole Miss is now coached by Hugh Freeze, who led the Arkansas State Red Wolves to a 10-2 mark last season, including a victory over UCA in the first meeting between the in-state teams since 1997.
“We know Coach Freeze will have his guys ready to play,’ said Conque. “It’s their first game under a new coaching staff, playing at home in front of 55,000 people, the season opener. We expect to face a very quality SEC team with very talented SEC athletes on Saturday.’
Junior quarterback Wynrick Smothers will be starting just his second game at UCA, the first being the ASU game last season in which he completed 16 of 31 passes for 224 yards and a touchdown and rushed for 37 more yards.
“This is Wynrick’s time,’ said Conque. “He had a great spring and an outstanding summer. He’s matured into the role of starting quarterback at UCA and I think he will respond to the challenge on Saturday.’
Surrounding Smothers is a bevy of talented skill players, including three fifth-year running backs (Jackie Hinton, Terence Bobo, Anthony Blackmon) and two All-Southland Conference receivers (Jesse Grandy, Dominique Croom). Grandy, from Pine Bluff, played his first two seasons at Ole Miss.
“We have very good skill position players around Wynrick,’ said Conque. “Our offensive line is young but talented. We will need a couple of guys to step up there. But I’m confident our offense can score some points this season.’
The Bears are experienced and deep on the other side of the ball, with seven returning starters, including All-SLC linebacker Seth Allison and All-SEC safety Jestin Love.
“We definitely have some experience over there,’ said Conque. “We have some guys who have been around awhile and have played a lot of football for us. I think we have good speed and athleticism. We’ll get a very good test against the Rebels.’
Those Rebels lost seven straight games to end the 2011 season under Nutt. Freeze, who is 30-7 as a collegiate head coach, was a former assistant coach at Ole Miss before head coaching stints at both Lambuth University and Arkansas State.
UCA will follow up the Ole Miss game with another tough road game at Murray State next week before playing its home opener on Sept. 15 against Bacone College, and then welcoming defending SLC champion Sam Houston State on Sept. 22.
