CONWAY, Ark. _ University of Central Arkansas' defense held the Houston Baptist Huskies to 242 total yards in last week's season-opening 56-13 victory at First Security Field at Estes Stadium. The Bears will need to do every bit as good this Saturday when they host the high-powered offense of the Samford Bulldogs at 6 p.m. on "The Stripes."
Samford, from the Southern Conference, beat NCAA Division II Mars Hill College 77-7 in its opener last Thursday in Birmingham. The Bulldogs ran 96 offensive plays and gained 573 yards, averaging 5.9 yards per play. The Bulldogs, coached by former Valdosta State, Murray State and Georgia Southern head coach Chris Hatcher, will be a stern test for UCA's defense, one that held HBU to just 90 yards in the second half on Thursday.
"This week we're playing Samford and it's a totally different animal,' said UCA head coach Steve Campbell. "Samford is a very good football team. They dismantled Mars Hill. You know, you watch Mars Hill on film, they have a pretty good football team. If you remember back in the D-II days, Mars Hill was always ranked in the Top 20. So that's a good football program.
"Samford jumped out on them and wound up beating them 77-7, but midway through the second quarter it was 17-7. But all in all, they really got after them and Samford had a really good night. They are very explosive offensively. They have one receiver that caught 14 balls (T.D. Marshall). They threw the football for 350 yards and rushed for 220. They are a spread offense, tempo, lot of screens, lot of quick passes, getting the ball out of the quarterback's hands.'
Campbell compared the Bulldogs' offense to the old Valdosta State attack from the Gulf South Conference days, as well as what the Bears faced at Texas Tech two years ago.
The Bears' offense should provide a quality test for Samford's defense as well. UCA piled up 554 yards of offense and got touchdowns from eight different players against the Huskies, including two defensive touchdowns on a blocked field goal returned 54 yards and a 2-yard fumble return.
UCA won two of the three Southland Conference player of the week awards on Monday. Junior quarterback Hayden Hildebrand of Bossier City, La., was the offensive player of the week after completing 17 of 21 passes for 238 yards and two touchdowns, and rushing for 52 yards and another score. Junior rover George Odum earned SLC defensive player of the week after recording six tackles, including a half sack, and blocking the field goal attempt that Tyler Williams returned for the touchdown.
"Coming into last week, we had some new players at some spots, but we also had some we felt really good about,' said Campbell. "And the guys that we felt really good about really played well. Hayden Hildebrand, I thought, played exceptionally well. He did a great job of controlling the offense and a great job of protecting the football. He did a great job of getting the football to the playmakers.
"And George is a guy who has played a lot of football over the past couple of years. He really played well in helping shut down what is a good Houston Baptist team. The defense did a tremendous job of shutting them down and turning the football over. And then special teams with the scoop and score was really big.
"I was really pleased with the way the guys came out of the gate, how we jumped up to a 42-0 lead. And in that, you saw some guys make some plays on offense and you also saw some defensive plays. All three phases, the guys came out and played well early.'
Samford won the first meeting between the teams 45-16 in last year's season opener at Seifert Stadium in Birmingham, Ala. The Bears attempted a school-record 69 passes, completing 46, but had no touchdown passes between quarterbacks Taylor Reed (43 of 63, 312 yards) and Hildebrand (3 for 4, 31 yards). The Bears, who rushed for only 119 yards, had a 29-yard rushing touchdown by Dominique Thomas and field goals from Jace Denker (26 and 34 yards) and Matt Cummins, a 50-yarder on his first career kick.
"Last year Samford was very good on defense, and they are always good,' Campbell said. "But last year they had a defensive tackle that wound up going to the NFL, and they had a corner(back) that wound up going to the NFL. Both of those guys are gone, which is a good thing for us. But they have replaced them with some very, very good football players. Very sound defensively, with a very explosive offense.'
Kickoff for UCA's second of three consecutive home games on "The Stripes" is set for 6 p.m. Family Day activities on the football practice field begin at 2 p.m.
NOTES:
The 1976 UCA football team, which was the first in school history to reach a national championship game, will be holding a 40-year reunion on Saturday. The team will be recognized prior to kickoff.
The 1976 Bears, coached by UCA Sports Hall of Famer Ken Stephens, went 8-2 during the regular season, then beat Elon College 10-7 in the first round of the NAIA Playoffs to reach the NAIA Champion Bowl. UCA lost 26-0 to Texas A&I (now Texas A&M-Kingsville) on the road in the title game. The Bears allowed just 7.5 points per game that season, recording three shutouts and allowing only a field goal in three other games.
