NATCHITOCHES, La. _ The third consecutive road game for the University of Central Arkansas has a little more meaning than the previous two as the Bears open Southland Conference play this weekend in Natchitoches, La.
The Bears (0-2, 0-0) will face the Northwestern State Demons (0-3, 0-1) in their league opener at 6 p.m. Saturday at Turpin Stadium.
"Our guys are excited about starting the conference schedule,' said head coach Steve Campbell, who led the Bears to a 5-3 SLC record and third-place tie a year ago. "The way we're looking at it right now, we're 0-0. We have nine games left and each game is a conference game. Every goal that we started with (in the) preseason is still in front of us.'
The Bears are coming off their only open date of the season and will now play nine consecutive SLC games through Nov. 21. UCA last played at Oklahoma State on Sept. 12, losing 32-8 to the FBS Cowboys. Campbell said the open date before conference play came at a good time for his Bears.
"We had a great week of practice last week during the open week,' said Campbell. "I felt like we corrected a lot of mistakes we had made in the first two ball games. Made a lot of progress and really worked hard on fundamentals. The key to winning the football game is going to be winning the turnover battle, making sure that we have more explosive plays than the other team and making sure we're sound in the kicking game. Those are the things that in the open week, we really worked hard on.'
UCA beat Northwestern State 58-35 last season at First Security Field at Estes Stadium, rushing for 306 yards and scoring seven touchdowns on the ground. Three different running backs had at least 80 yards rushing, led by senior Willie Matthews with 114 yard and three touchdowns. Dominique Thomas and Blake Veasley, both back this year, scored two touchdowns each.
The Bears' best outing this season was 119 rushing yards at Samford. Thomas also had a season-high 69 yards in the same game.
"They are a team that beat Louisiana Tech last year,' said Campbell. "They're a team that beat Sam Houston last year, a playoff team. They were a very good football team last year. They came over here and we got after them pretty good. We scored 58 points on them and I know that hurt their feelings. I know they've been kind of gunning for this one for a full year. I'm sure they feel like if they won that game last year, they would have had a great opportunity to be in the playoffs.'
NSU's three losses this season were to Southeastern Louisiana, an FCS playoff team a year ago, and two FBS schools in Louisiana-Lafayette and Mississippi State.
"They are a better football team than their record would indicate,' said Campbell. "They are probably one of the better 0-3 teams in the country, given their schedule. They played a Southeastern team that's a very good football team. A very good SEC team (Mississippi State), a team that was ranked No. 1 in the country a year ago. And they did some good things against Mississippi State.
"They are very capable on both sides of the ball. They have good players on offense, good players on defense. We know going into this game that it's a game they're shooting for, as it is a game we're shooting for.'
UCA senior quarterback Taylor Reed leads the SLC in passing at 220 yards per game. He has completed 57 of 88 passes (64.8 percent) for 440 yards but has thrown just one touchdown pass. The Demons have played four different quarterbacks in three games and they have combined to complete just 31 total passes.
"Offensively, it is a very talented football team,' Campbell said. "They are playing four different quarterbacks, but each one of them brings a little something different to the table. We have to prepare for all four of them.'
UCA junior receiver/kick returner Jatavious Wilson leads the conference in all-purpose yards at 188.5 per game. He has 238 yards in kick returns, 122 receiving yards and 17 rushing yards. NSU's Ed Eagan is third at 105.7 yards per game as a receiver and kickoff and punt returner.
UCA leads the overall series with Northwestern State 5-3, and is 2-2 in games played in Natchitoches. The Bears are 5-3 in conference openers since joining the SLC in 2007, with two of the losses coming to the Demons.
"All that to the side, what we're focused on right now is us getting better and doing the things it takes to win a football game,' said Campbell.
Kickoff is set for 6 p.m. Saturday at NSU's Turpin Stadium. The game will be carried live on ESPN3, The Point 94.1 and The Bears 91.3.
