RICHMOND, Ky. _ This time, the University of Central Arkansas' patented comeback came a little too quickly.

The No. 11 Bears rallied to take a 28-24 lead over Eastern Kentucky with 1:21 left, but left just enough time for the Colonels to drive 77 yards in eight plays and score the game-winning touchdown with six seconds to play for a 31-28 victory at Roy Kidd Stadium. The Bears (3-4) had scored twice in a three-minute span to overcome a 24-14 deficit, but left the door open for the Colonels, who were led in the second half by back-up quarterback Dakota Allen after an injury to starter Parker McKinney.

The Colonels (2-4) were aided by a pair of costly penalties by the Bears on the final drive, a late hit on the sideline and a roughing the passer penalty. Both helped the EKU drive stay alive and gave Allen the opportunity to connect with Matt Wilcox for a 21-yard touchdown with :06 left.

"We've just been so accustomed to winning games like that, just tough late games,' said UCA head coach Nathan Brown. "Accustomed to making those big two-minute drives and (our) defense being on the field and making the plays late to make it happen. It just caught up to us tonight, and credit goes to Eastern Kentucky.

"It caught up to us tonight and we'll learn from it. You either got two ways to go from it, you either learn from it and get better from it, or we'll just continue to be a good football team. We're trying to push to be a great football team and we still have some ways to go.'

UCA's go-ahead drive definitely looked familiar for a team that has come from behind to win nine of its last 19 games, including last week's road victory over Missouri State. After cutting a 24-14 deficit to 24-21 with a 4-yard pass from junior quarterback Breylin Smith to junior receiver Lujuan Winningham with 4:35 remaining, UCA's defense forced a punt _ a solid 54-yarder by EKU's Thomas Cook _ and took over at its own 37 with 3:03 on the clock.

Smith completed consecutive passes to sophomore tight end Austin Elldridge, who has subbed the past two weeks for UCA's top three tight ends who are all battling injuries. The passes covered 7 and 4 yards to move the Bears out near midfield. Smith then perfectly dropped a 50-yard pass to sophomore wide receiver Tyler Hudson, who was brought down just short of the end zone. After an official's review, the Bears got the ball at the 2. An offsides penalty on EKU moved it a yard closer and Smith took it in for the touchdown on a keeper, giving UCA a 28-24 advantage with 1:21 showing.

As it turns out, that was too much time. The Colonels threw back-to-back incomplete passes and had a third-down run by Allen that came up a yard short of the first down. However, a late hit on UCA gave EKU new life at midfield. The Colonels converted a fourth-and-1 at the UCA 44 before Allen threw incomplete on the next play but got a roughing the passer call on UCA and a first down at the UCA 21. On the next play, Allen found Wilcox for the 21-yard touchdown.

"Credit to their backup quarterback, he came in and led them to a second-half victory,' said Brown. "It took us a drive or two to get used to what they were trying to do, they started really running the quarterback with some designed runs and some zone reads. He did a good job. He's a big kid, a physical kid and he did a good job running the football.

"But they (UCA defense) did adjust to it and gave us an opportunity to stay within the game, and offense executed up until that final drive and gave us a chance to win when it was all said and done.'
 

UCA trailed 17-7 at halftime after turning the ball over twice, including an interception in the end zone and another one in EKU territory. The Colonels scored off both of those turnovers, while UCA failed to take advantage of a muffed punt that Leandre Rucks recovered at the EKU 20 late in the first quarter. The Bears also had a touchdown pass from Smith to running back Marhshun Douglas called back because of an illegal man downfield.

"We turned the ball over in the red zone early in the first quarter, we had a touchdown called back because of a penalty in the first quarter,' said Brown. "Both of those hurt. And then on that final drive, we had 30 yards of penalties that really gave them the opportunity to keep the drive alive. But credit goes to Eastern Kentucky though. They had poise, they stayed with it and made big plays in the end. 

"Just not very good. We're just killing ourselves, it's the same story every week. We're killing ourselves with opportunities. It was nothing they necessarily did on defense _ they were good on defense and they made some plays _ but I thought we ran the ball pretty well, we threw and caught the ball when we needed to. We just hurt ourselves, whether it was a penalty or just a missed assignment or just simple things. That was something we got cleaned up at halftime and I thought we played a lot better second half on offense.'

Hudson and Winningham both topped 100 yards receiving. Winningham, from Humble, Texas, caught nine passes for 103 yards and his team-high ninth touchdown of the season. Hudson, from Spring, Texas, had seven receptions for 106 yards, including an 11-yard touchdown catch in the second quarter. Smith completed 30 of 45 passes for 320 yards, with two touchdowns and two interceptions.

"They're both just playmakers,' said Brown. "Breylin trusts them, they got into some matchups, we took advantage of some of their corner play. That gave us an opportunity to drop the ball down the field to them and they made plays when it mattered.

"We trust those guys, especially Breylin and those good wide receivers, Tyler and Lujuan. They made big plays when it mattered and they've done it time and time again. They do it every week and we see it happen, but we just left too much time on the clock.'

UCA's defense, which recorded seven sacks, 13 tackles for loss and forced six turnovers a week ago against Missouri State, had zero sacks and just two tackles for loss while forcing a pair of fumbles.Sophmore free safety Cameron Godfrey led the unit with nine tackles and a fumble recovery.  

The Bears closed out a four-game road swing Saturday and finally return home for the first time since Sept. 26 next Saturday when they host Missouri Western for Homecoming. Kickoff is set for 3 p.m. on "The Stripes" at First Security Field at Estes Stadiuim.

"We've been six of our first seven games on the road,' said Brown. "It's been a difficult run but we knew what we signed up for. Our guys are ready to get home for the next two football games.'