CONWAY, Ark. _ Playing on "The Stripes" for the first time in a month, the University of Central Arkansas Bears exploded for 42 second-half points in romping to a 49-20 ASUN Conference victory over the Top 25 Austin Peay Governors on Saturday at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

UCA (2-3, 1-0) led 7-6 after an eventful but low scoring first half, but then scored three times in the opening five minutes of the third quarter to blow the game open. The Bears had a season-high in points despite gaining just 311 yards on offense, They did it by getting touchdowns from six different players, including four different receivers. The Bears opens the inaugural ASUN football season 1-0.

"We took a 0-0 approach this week," Brown said of his team who was coming off a tough four-game stretch against ranked teams, with three on the road. "We knew if could come out and handle business we would be at the top of the ASUN mountain. And that's where we're looking. We're looking down at everyone else, we control our own destiny. So let's handle business and keep getting better.  We feel like we're as good as anybody in this conference when we're playing at our best. 

"And our guys went out and proved that tonight. "

The Bears took advantage of a short field after the No. 16/23 Governors (4-2, 1-1) gambled and failed to convert a fourth down in their own end of the field on their first possession of the game. UCA drove the 32 yards in five plays, capped by a 14-yard touchdown pass from junior quarterback Will McElvain to junior receiver Christian Richmond at the 11:38 mark of the first quarter.
 

UCA had several other opportunities in the opening half but could not capitalize. The Bears had just 99 total yards in the half, including 106 passing by McElvain but a -7 yards on the ground. APSU, which had won four straight games since an opening loss at FBS Western Kentucky, had 174 yards of offense, but only a pair of field goals _ and one miss _ from Maddux Trujillo to show for it.

The Bears struck quickly after halftime, beginning with a three-play, 61-yard drive that ended with a 44-yard touchdown pass from McElvain to sophomore Myles Kitt-Denton _ his first career touchdowns _ good for a 14-6 advantage. On APSU's second play from scrimmage after the kickoff, UCA cornerback T.D. Williams stripped the ball from receiver Joshua DeCambre after a reception and junior defensive end Logan Jessup recovered for the Bears.

Four plays later, sophomore running back Darius Hale went in from the 1 for the score at the 11:54 mark of the third quarter. Hayden Ray's point after gave the Bears a 21-16 lead. APSU went three and out and punted to UCA. Junior Jarrod Barnes fielded the kick at the 36 and went the distance for a 28-6 margin with 10:18 remaining in the quarter.

UCA punted on its next two possessions before scoring three consecutive touchdowns in the fourth quarter to put the game away. After a 92-yard punt return by APSU's Kam Thomas answered Barnes' return, UCA scored 21 consecutive points. Redshirt freshman receiver Myles Butler was on the receiving end of a 32-yard strike from McElvain early in the fourth period.
 

Transfer Trustin Oliver made the most of his second career reception, a 37-yard touchdown catch from McElvain that pushed UCA's lead to 42-13 with 6:17 left to play. Hale, UCA's leading rusher last year and again this season, broke off a 30-yard touchdown run, his second touchdown of the day and the 24th of his young career.  The Governors added a late rushing touchdown to set the final.

"We knew we were going to get some one-on-one matchups, so we had to go make plays at wide receiver," said Brown. "We needed to make one-on-one plays and we were able to put ourselves in that situation several times throughout the second half. Myles Kitt-Denton had a big first-drive touchdown where he spun the corner around and got in the end zone.

"And then Myles Butler had a big one in the second half. And then Trustin Oliver kind of capped it off. And all of those were just one-on-one plays. And on top of that, if we get the ball in there, good things usually happened. And then we had two pass interference calls as well that kept the drives going. We knew that was something we had to do because we knew they were going to be stingy on the run game because they had been all year.

"They were bringing seven, eight guys at times, stacking the box. When you have Darius Hale and Kylin James running the ball, people are going to hone in on that. So you have to be able to make one-on-one plays, whether that's Will making good throws or receivers running great routes and catching the ball. And I thought we did that the second half.'

UCA's defense was disruptive the entire game, totaling 11 tackles for loss, including three sacks of APSU quarterback Mike DiLiello, who entered the game with 1,032 passing yards and 14 touchdowns, with just four interceptions. Sophomore safety TaMuarion Wilson and sophomore linebacker Demetrias Charles had 12 tackles apiece, with Wilson registering 10 solo stops. Jessup finished with 8 tackles, 3 for loss, 1.5 sacks, a fumble recovery and a pass breakup. 

Junior safety Cameron Godfrey grabbed UCA's only interception late in the first quarter on a pass broken up by Wilson, while transfer defensive end David Walker had two of UCA's tackles behind the line and had six total tackles.

"I think we controlled the line of scrimmage," said Brown. "The bottom line is our defense played big-time winning football tonight, and that was exciting to see, especially when the offense wasn't clicking as much (in the first half). For them to hold us in game throughout the first half was big.

"Then obviously we got a lot of momentum and got the ball rolling in the second half. "

McElvain, a transfer from Northern Iowa, completed 20 of 31 passes (64.5 percent) for a UCA-high 261 yards and four touchdowns, hitting nine different receivers. UCA did its damage while possessing the ball for just 24:29, compared to 35:31 for APSU.

UCA continues its home stand at 4 p.m. Saturday, hosting Lindenwod out of the Ohio Valley Conference.