LIVE VIDEO
LIVE STATS
LIVE AUDIO
 
CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will open the 2021 season on the road Saturday against a familiar foe in the Arkansas State Red Wolves.

    The 2021 season opener was already scheduled before the Bears and Red Wolves agreed to meet a year ahead of time in Jonesboro. ASU beat UCA 50-27 on a rainy night at Centennial Bank Stadium on Oct. 10, 2020. The teams were both piecing together a schedule after covid-19 hit and both found an open date to renew the in-state rivalry a year early.

    UCA, which competes at the FCS level of NCAA Division I, won the previous meeting in 2016, taking down FBS ASU 28-23 by outscoring the Red Wolves 15-7 in the second half. The final score was an 18-yard touchdown pass from quarterback Hayden Hildebrand to wide receiver Brandon Cox on a broken play with 6:26 left in the game. Cox, who played at Conway High School, had ironically transferred from ASU to UCA two years before.

    UCA's defense then got an interception by cornerback Tyler Williams and held on downs on ASU's final two possessions to close out the victory.

    "That was a huge win for our program,' said UCA head coach Nathan Brown. "You win those kind of games for your fans and your alumni base. It's bragging rights. I think anybody that was there that night understands the magnitude of that win. That's still, to this day, one of the biggest wins I've been a part of at UCA as a coach.'

    "We really played well the whole night. We protected the ball, we made some big plays, defensively we caused a few turnovers. You could just feel that if we could get late into the fourth quarter that we would have shot. You could just sense it and feel it throughout the night. That team had a quiet confidence about them in 2016 and I feel similar about the team we're about to take the field with on Saturday.'   

    The Bears, who finished 5-4 last season playing a complete fall schedule, have transitioned from the Southland Conference to the ASUN Conference as that league debuts football for the first time. The Bears and the other three active football schools are partnering with the WAC _ which is also bringing football back for the first time in nine years _  to form the ASUN/WAC AQ7 for this season, to assure an automatic qualifier for the FCS Playoffs.

    UCA, ranked in the Top 15 in every preseason FSC poll, will play both Eastern Kentucky and Jacksonville State from the ASUN, along with former SLC foes Lamar, Stephen F. Austin, Abilene Christian and Sam Houston State, the defending FCS national champion, as conference matchups in 2021.

    UCA's remaining non-conference games are at Missouri State next Saturday (Sept. 11), at home versus Arkansas-Pine Bluff (Sept. 18), home against Texas Wesleyan (Nov. 6) and at Tarleton State (Nov. 20) to close out the regular season. The Bears swept a two-game series with MSU last season in Bobby Petrino's first season in Springfield, Mo. UCA and UAPB last met in 2008, with the Bears winning 41-17 in a game played at War Memorial Stadium in Little Rock.

    UCA will be meeting both Tarleton and TWU for the first time.

    The Bears return nine "Super Seniors" who are taking advantage of the NCAA ruling that allowed all student-athletes another year of eligibility due to the pandemic in 2020-21. Those include: center Toby Sanderson, defensive ends J.W. Jones and Nathan Grant, wide receiver Tobias Enlow, tight ends Sam Camargo, Jack Short and Justin Morris, defensive lineman A'Javius Brown and linebacker Trenton Dunn. UCA also has 16 players who have already earned a degree from the school.

    "I think it's huge, and especially early in the year,' said Brown. "When you're talking about fielding a bunch of super seniors that you don't anticipate having back this time last year. That's so big. And it's made for such a clean, consistent fall camp and leading up to game planning for the first game. So anytime you play an unknown team like Arkansas State, with a brand new staff, it's nice to have this veteran leadership.

    "I think by midseason every team in the country kind of figures out who they are and they understand who is going to take what role. But your first two or three games, its so nice to have these veterans. It makes my life so much easier because those guys have been there and done that. They've won huge games here, they've won conference championships, and they understand what our brand of football is about. And that's what makes it so easy for me to go out and coach this team because you've got those kinds of guys.'   

    Key returnees for the Bears include junior quarterback Breylin Smith and the wide receiver duo of junior Lujuan Winningham and sophomore Tyler Hudson. Smith, from Conway, is No. 4 in career passing yards (6,652) and career passing touchdowns (58). Winningham led the nation in receiving touchdowns (12) a year ago, while Hudson was fourth in the country in receiving yards (845).

    The pair has combined for 204 career receptions for 3,314 yards and 40 touchdowns.

    "I truly believe those two guys are as good a receiver duo as there is in the country,' said Brown. "They are as good as any we've had come through UCA, and everyone knows what kind of receivers we've had here in the past.'

    Defensively, the Bears had to replace NFL draftee Robert Rochell, who went in the fourth round to the Los Angeles Rams, and linebacker Dre Matthews, the teams' second-leading tackler before an injury ended his season last year. The rest of the defense is back, along with a couple of key transfers in defensive backs Willie Langham (Tulane), Kylan Stribling (Middle Tennessee) and Nathan Page (Austin Peay). They will join an already talented and deep secondary that includes leading tackler Cameron Godrey (51 tackles, 2 interceptions) and No. 4 tackler Deandre Lamont (39/2), along with Nick Nakwaasah, TaMuarion Wilson, Wesley Anusiem, Laquez Embry and Christian Cain.
         

The Bears may be just as experienced in the defensive line, with the return of Jones, Brown and Grant, along with sophomore All-ASUN selection Logan Jessup, juniors Caden Brown and Jalen Bedell, and sophomores Marquez Casey and Jeremiah Gray. The linebacker room has plenty of experience and talent to choose from, including returnees Dunn, T.J. Campbell, Malik Wilson, Darin Davenport, Kendarrius Moore, Nicholas Gonzalez, Demetrius Charles and Dwain Hunt.

    UCA returns its offensive line nearly intact from a year ago, led by Sanderson, who has started more than 30 consecutive games for the Bears. Other experienced returnees include junior Jaylin Hendrix, sophomore Parker Ray and second-year freshmen William Mayo, Josh George and Justin Lairy. An added boost should come from graduate transfer Jaden Salley (North Little Rock/UA-Monticello).

    They running back position features several key returnees along with some bright newcomers. Sophomore Cameron Myers was UCA's second-leading rusher a year ago (263 yards) and was third in the nation in kickoff returns (29.5-yard average). Marshun Douglas and Corbin Humphrey also return with some action under their belts, and will be joined by highly touted freshmen Darius Hale (Pearland, Texas) and Kylin James (Dumas, Ark.).
 

    Tight end is also fairly stacked with experience, including two super seniors in Short and Camargo. They are joined by Austin Eldridge, Riyahd Ananda and Garrett Thomas among others. And there is more to the wide receiver spot than just Hudson and Winningham. Junior Mitchell Perkinson returns as UCA's third-leading receiver last season (29-268), along with Enlow, Jarrod Barnes, Christian Richmond, Myles Kitt-Denton and Chris Hightower, along with several talented newcomers.

    UCA's special teams lost just one player, holder Will Siler. All-Conference placekicker Hayden Ray is seventh in school history in field goals and is 77 of 79 on PATs over his career. Punter Seren Hughes-Ford is back after averaging 39.2 yards per punt a year ago. Myers is set at the kick return spot, as is Hudson (7.9-yard average) on punt returns. Snapper  Justin Keijers also returns, with Chandler Caughron taking over the holding duties.