CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears won a big game last weekend, knocking off FBS Arkansas State 28-23 in front of a crowd of more than 28,000 at Centennial Bank Stadium in Jonesboro.

    This week's game is even more important, even though it's against a winless Abilene Christian team (0-4, 0-2).

    The Bears (3-1 overall) return to Southland Conference play against the Wildcats in Abilene, trying to move to 3-0 in league play for the third consecutive season. 
 
    "They are all important,' said UCA head coach Steve Campbell, "but this is a conference game and they are even more important than an FBS win. We need to take care of our business in the Southland Conference and it starts Saturday with Abilene Christian.'

    UCA is 1-1 against ACU since the Wildcats moved into the SLC two years ago. ACU, coached by former UCA quarterback and assistant coach Ken Collums, dominated the Bears in 2014, winning 52-35 at a neutral site in Plano, Texas, when UCa turned the ball over seven times. UCA returned the favor last year, winning easily 42-14 at Estes Stadium.

    "Abilene Christian is a good football team, despite their record,' Campbell said. "They played Air Force close (37-21 loss), they nearly beat a good Northern Colorado team (55-52), they lost to Houston Baptist in overtime (27-24) and they played Stephen F. Austin close (41-30).

    "We have to be ready to play Saturday and ready to take care of our business because Abilene can beat anybody.'

    UCA features the top overall, rushing and scoring defense in the league, while ACU has the No. 2 passing and total offense. The Bears are allowing just 54.8 yards rushing per game, to lead the nation's FCS teams. UCA held Arkansas State to just 45 yards on 34 attempts last Saturday.

    ACU throws for 332.5 yards per game, led by sophomore quarterback Dallas Sealey, who ranked second in the conference in passing yards per game (329.2) and first in total offense (366.5). UCA's defense is first in opponent's third-down conversions (18.3 percent) and third in opponent first downs (15.0 per game).

    The Bears have six players (Jordan Toliver, Eric Jackson, George Odum, Terrence Partee, Chris Chambers, Dalvin Simmons) ranked in the Top 20 in the league in sacks. Five of those are also in the Top 20 in tackles for loss. UCA has 14 sacks and has allowed just four. The Bears have 41 tackles for loss and have allowed 30.

    Odum, a junior rover from Millington, Tenn., and Toliver, a senior tackle from Duncanville, Texas, lead the Bears with 2.5 sacks and 5.0 tackles for loss each. Odum, the reigning SLC Defensive Player of the Week, is UCA's top tackler with 32 total stops, followed by senior safety Devin Spurlock of Dallas with 20.

    The game, with a 2:30 p.m. kickoff, will be an American Sports Network broadcast and can be seen on the following channels:

KATV-DT3 (Grit TV)
Antenna 7.3
Comcast 208
Conway Corp 176 
Altitude
DirecTV 681
Dish 413