CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will go from "The Stripes" to "The Inferno" this weekend when they take on the Eastern Washington Eagles in the second round of the NCAA Division I Football Championships.
The No. 14 Bears (10-2) advanced to face the No. 3 Eagles (10-1) with a 31-24 victory over Illinois State last Saturday at First Security Field at Estes Stadium, aka "The Stripes." Now the Bears will take face the No. 2 seeded Eagles on their solid red turf known as "The Inferno." EWU is 39-7 on its home turf since it was installed in 2010.
Kickoff is 3 p.m. from Roos Field in Cheney, Wash.
"That was a great win for our young men last week, winning at home on "The Stripes,' scoring 24 points in the fourth quarter,' said UCA head coach Steve Campbell. "The support we got in playing a home game was great. But every week is a new week and this week we've got a tremendous challenge. Eastern Washington is an outstanding football team but we're excited about the challenge. We're looking forward to this trip.'
The Eagles, one of eight national seeds who had a first-round bye last weekend, are making their 12th playoff appearance and will be hosting their 12th game at Roos Field. EWU is 14-10 all-time in the playoffs, including an FCS national championship in 2010 when it beat Delaware 20-19 in the title game in Frisco, Texas. UCA is making its third playoff appearance and has a 2-2 record, including its first home playoff victory over Illinois State last week.
"This is an outstanding FCS program with a lot of history,' said Campbell. "They won the championship a few years ago and they are a perennial playoff team. They are used to playing at this time of year.'
The Bears were runnersup in the Southland Conference with an 8-1 mark, trailing only unbeaten Sam Houston State, the No. 1 team in the two national polls. UCA has won 10 Division I games for the first time since making the move up in 2006. The Bears are one victory away from tying the school record of 11 wins set in 1983 (11-1) at the NAIA level and again in 2005 (11-3) at the Division II level. UCA had only won 10 games five previous times before this season.
The Bears, in a three-week span, will face all three finalists for the FCS Payton Award, which goes to the top FCS player in the country. EWU wide receiver Cooper Kupp and quarterback Gabe Gubrud, along with Sam Houston State quarterback Jeremiah Briscoe are the finalists. The Eagles' offensive attack will look similar to Sam Houston's in that it is one of the top passing offenses in the country. The Eagles have the top receiver in college football history in Kupp, who broke nearly every collegiate receiving record over the past two seasons.
Cupp and Gubrud were named co-Offensive Players of the Year in the Big Sky Conference, a first for that league.
"There quarterback is really, really good,' said Campbell. "He can really throw the football. But also, the thing he can do, for a throwing quarterback, is he can pull it down and run. When you get pressure on him, he can pull it down and get north and south. Very savvy guy, just a good quarterback.
"And they have a receiver that broke all the records. Now Jerry Rice had Nintendo numbers (at Mississippi Valley State), and he broke those records. This guy is really, really good. He's not a guy that's (going to be) a free agent, they're talking about him being a first or second round (NFL) draft pick. He's the real deal.'
The Bears' defense, No. 1 in the nation against the rush for most of the season, was tested mightily by the Bearkats' passing game, rated No. 1 in the nation. Campbell said that should bode well for this week's matchup.
"I think we learned a lot from that Sam Houston game,' said Campbell. "Their passing attack is similar in a lot of ways but then it's different in a lot of ways. Sam Houston is more of a vertical threat. They are a throw it down the field football team. They're going to hit you deep. This group (EWU) will do that, but they also like the underneath stuff, the throw it as a run type stuff. Throw to the back and let him get in the flat, throw the hitches.
"Sam Houston is more of a play-action, try to hit you deep. And Sam Houston's quarterback is not a mobile guy. They will move this guy around more in the pocket and allow him to create more down field stuff. They will throw a lot more short, controlled, west coast type passes.
"But I do think playing Sam Houston a couple of weeks ago will help us. We went into the Sam Houston game with a plan and we didn't execute it very well. That was my fault, it probably wasn't the best plan for our guys. Now we know that and we'll be able to adjust that plan and hopefully put our players in a better position to make some of those plays.'
Campbell also thinks the Bears can put up some points of their own, and will probably need to.
"They have given up some points,' he said, "so we need to do a good job offensively of scoring some points early and controlling the football and trying to keep their offense off the field. We need to limit the turnovers and get points when we have a chance. The challenge is going to come in stopping or limiting their receivers in the amount of big plays they have.'
Saturday's winner advances to the quarterfinals to face either 7th-seed North Dakota (9-2) or Richmond (9-3) at a site to be determined by the NCAA bidding process.
