JACKSONVILLE, Ala. _ A pair of interceptions returned for touchdowns were nearly enough to carry the University of Central Arkansas Bears past the Jacksonville Gamecocks on a rainy Saturday afternoon at Burgess-Snow Stadium.

For good measure, the UCA offense did its part as well, chipping in three more touchdowns and a field goal as the Bears improved to 4-4 on the season in the first meeting between the FCS programs. UCA outscored JSU 14-0 in the first quarter and 17-0 in the fourth quarter to pull away from the Gamecocks (3-5, 1-2). UCA won its second consecutive rainy road game and scored at least 34 points for the sixth time in eight games, following up last week's 49-point effort at Lamar.   

"Unreal by our defense,' said UCA head coach Nathan Brown. "Bottom line is, we gave up 14 points on defense to a capable offense but they countered that by scoring 14. You can't ever count on that in a game, so that's huge.

"I think (defensive coordinator) Coach Matt Kitchens has done a great job just keeping our guys grinding. He's got those guys playing hard, and our guys believed today. I thought offensively, we left some stuff out there. But when we needed big plays, Lujuan Winnigham made plays on that last drive. Tyler Hudson all night. Darius Hale, on my gosh. 

"And Breylin Smith, in these conditions, two weeks in a row we've had rainy, windy conditions, and that ain't easy to play quarterback in those conditions. So my hat's off to Breylin. And great job by our offensive line and tight ends, you can't give them enough credit.' 

The Bears easily won the turnover battle, intercepting JSU all-conference quarterback Zerrick Cooper three times and capitalizing on all three, while not turnig the ball over themselves. The Bears got two big ones in the first half, the first by sophomore safety Cameron Godfrey deep in JSU territory and another by senior linebacker Trenton Dunn at midfield that he returned 51 yards for a touchdown with 1:15 left in the half that gave the Bears a 21-7 halftime lead.
   

UCA dominated the opening quarter offensively, getting a 13-yard touchdown pass from Smith to senior tight end Sam Camargo at the 10:15 mark of the period. Smith then followed Godfrey's interception with a 1-yard touchdown push that capped a three-play, 12-yard drive and made it a 14-0 advantage with 8:55 left in the quarter.

The Bears finished the first quarter with a 131 to 11 advantage in total offensive yards and an 11:46 to 3:14 lead in time of possession.

The Gamecocks put together an eight-play, 80-yard scoring drive to get on the board late in the second quarter, with Cooper connecting with Ahmad Edwards for a 9-yard touchdown with 5:25 remaining. But the Bears, after their second field goal miss of the half, got pressure from Logan Jessup and Caden Brown and forced Cooper into mishandling the ball at midfield. Dunn grabbed it our of midair and went the distance for the touchdown and the two-score lead.

"Defensively, Cameron Godfrey went down after the interception with an ankle and didn't play the rest of the game,' said Brown. "Christian Cain stepped up big. Nick Nakwaasah. TaMuarion Wilson, I could go through all those guys. Deandre Lamont... the whole dang roster. 

"To win a game like this, this is a special place to win a game, I don't care what the circumstances are. This is a program-type win.'

The Gamecocks, who began the season in the FCS Top 25, closed the gap to 21-14 early in the third quarter with a three-yard touchdown run. But that was the last score for the home team as UCA added a 22-yard field goal from Hayden Ray early in the fourth quarter, then poured it on with a Hale 3-yard touchdown run and an 87-yard pick six by junior safety Christian Cain that sealed it with 4:18 remaining.

On the drive that ended with Hale's score, Smith connected with Winningham for passes of 23, 11 and 14 yards and got a big unsportsmanlike conduct penalty on the Gamecocks on fourth and goal at the 6 that gave the Bears a first down at the 3. Hale scored on the next play to give UCA a 31-14 advantage. Before Cain's interception, Cooper completed four straight passes to get the Gamecocks down to the UCA 34. An apparent fumble recovery by Nakwaasah was overruled on review but Cain picked off the pass and went the distance on the very next play, good for a 38-14 lead.

The Bears finished with 379 yards of total offense, with Hale topping the 100-yard mark for the second straight game with 25 carries for 125 yards. Smith completed 22 of 35 passes for 229 yards, with Winningham hauling in seven receptions for 83 yards and Tyler Hudson adding six for 80 yards.

Cooper, the career passing leader at JSU, was 22 of 40 for 248 yards, with 1 touchdown and 3 interceptions.

Cain, who entered the game with 14 tackles on the season, led the Bears with nine tackles. Sophomore linebacker Darin Davenport had 7 tackles, including 1.5 tackles for loss. As a team, UCA totaled 161 yards with the three interception returns. 

JSU was also penalized 10 times for 52 yards

The Bears return home next Saturday for a two-game homestand, beginning with Texas Wesleyan at 4 p.m. Saturday for Homecoming.