University of Central Arkansas Athletics

JONESBORO, Ark. _ The Arkansas State Red Wolves used a flurry of points late in the first half and early in the second to take down the University of Central Arkansas Bears 50-27 on a rainy, windy Saturday afternoon at Centennial Bank Stadium.

The Red Wolves (2-2), leading just 16-13, scored a touchdown with 29 seconds left in the second quarter, then added touchdowns on three consecutive possesions to start the second half to pull away from the Bears (2-3), who did manage to get within 43-27 early in the fourth quarter with consecutive touchdown passes to junior receiver to Lujuan Winningham. 

"The end of the first half killed us,' said a disappointed UCA head coach Nathan Brown. "Giving them a touchdown with under a minute left, and they had the ball coming out in the second half and made it a 14-point swing. And then if you look at third quarter on offense, we should have scored. We should have had three possessions and had three touchdowns, but we just didn't capitalize and turned the ball over.

"Bottom line, they handled the weather better than we did. No excuses, we've got to be better. I have to coach better, our players have to respond better. But they neutralized us with some big plays down the field. Credit goes to Arkansas State. Coach (Blake) Anderson had those guys ready to respond and react after a tough Coastal Carolina loss. It was tough conditions and they handled it better than we did when it's all said and done.'
 
The FCS Bears, who beat the FBS Red Wolves in the last meeting in 2016, struck first with a 36-yard field goal from junior Hayden Ray with 8:07 left in the first quarter. That came after Blake Grupe's 22-yard field goal attempt did not clear the ASU offensive line and was picked up and returned 72 yards by UCA linebacker Dre Matthews, setting the Bears up at the ASU 23. 

ASU punter Ryan Hanson pinned the Bears down at their own 2 and a fumbled snap by Smith resulted in a safety, making it a 3-2 UCA lead with 6:04 left in the first quarter. Ray added another field goal, from 42 yards out, with 10:44 left in the second quarter pushed the lead to 6-2.

The Red Wolves, who had 238 total yards of offense in the first half and finished with a season-high 573, got a 4-yard touchdown pass from Layne Hatcher to Jonathan Adams, good for ASU's first lead of the half at 9-6 with 5:22 to play. The teams then combined for four touchdowns in the final 5:22 of the half.

ASU's Samy Johnson returned an interception 60 yards for a 16-6 lead, but UCA answered after defensive end Logan Jessup forced a fumble and deep in ASU territory and safety Cameron Godfrey recovered for UCA at the 23. On the first play from scrimmage, Smith connected with Lujuan Winningham for the 23-yard touchdown, drawing the Bears within 16-13 with 1:31 to play.

But the Red Wolves, facing a fourth and seven at the UCA 24 in the final minute, got a pass interference call and scored on a 15-yard touchdown pass from Hatcher to Brandon Bowling with :29 remaining for a 23-13 halftime margin.

"I thought at times in the first half we were playing fast, playing with a purpose,' said Brown, who's team was coming off an emotional loss as well, at FCS No. 1 North Dakota State last Saturday. "I thought a big turning point was the pick six by Samy Johnson, that was a big play that really kind of shifted the momentum to them. What we did do was we were able to seize it back and score late in the half, and I thought we were going to have some momentun going into the second half. 

`"But we gave up a big play on a two-minute drive and they were able to punch the ball in. Then they turned their first possession of the second half into a touchdown as well. That was a 14-point swing and we never could get our head above water after that.'

The Red Wolves took control early in the second half, putting up 262 yards of offense in the 15-minute period, scoring a pair of touchdowns in the opening 5:41, the second after a UCA fumble deep in ASU territory, that made it a 37-13 advantage. A third ASU touchdown with just 29 seconds left in the third period stretched the margin to 43-13.

But as usual, the Bears fought back, with Smith completing 17 of 23 for 212 yards and a touchdown in the second half. UCA scored twice in a two-minute span, with Smith hitting Winningham from 2 yards out, and redshirt freshman tailback Marshun Douglas completeing a 31-yard halfback pass to Winningham after Corbin Humphrey recovered Seren Hughes-Ford's onside kick, cutting the Bears' deficit to just 43-27 with 11:32 remaining.

"If we drive and get eight points there, a touchdown and go for two, we're in a one-possession game with six minutes left,' said Brown. "We had kind of shifted the momentum after getting that onside kicks and taking it down and scoring a touchdown, and then stopping them and having an opportunity to make it a one-possession game. 

"But that's one thing you know about our guys, they're going to fight until the last whistle. That's been evident of the last few years. I do know that football team in the locker room behind me is better than a 2-3 football team. That's the frustrating part. Obviously we haven't lost to any slouches if we're honest here, but again, we're not happy with being 2-3. We were down but our guys stepped up and they made it a four-quarter game.'

The Bears were already short-handed entering the game due to injuries, playing without starting linebacker Malik Wilson, defensive end Nathan Grant and All-American cornerback Robert Rochell, and then lost several more players throughout the game.

"We traveled five receivers, and they fought their tails off. We traveled four corners. Our tight end was depleted really fast, especially when Jack (Short) went down,' said Brown. "But again, our guys fought. We have some young players that we've recruited that are really good players and they've got to step up. Their time might come a little quicker than they expect, but we've got a lot of football ahead of us this season.'

Hudson, the Southland Conference Freshman of the Year in 2019, caught a career-high 12 passes for 154 yards, while Winningham, an All-SLC selection, caught four for 93 yards, three of those going for touchdowns. Smith finished 24 of 49 for 302 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions while being sacked four times.

"Your talking rough conditions in the first half, but they had to deal with it, too,' said Brown. " It wasn't a clean day to just sit back and throw the football. I thought we figured it out there toward the middle of the third quarter, and really the second half, and we started throwing some good throws and making some plays.'

The Bears have a return matchup with Missouri State next Saturday in Springfield, Mo. UCA won the first meeting 27-20 in Conway on Sept. 26.