KENNESAW, Ga. _ Two teams that were picked to finish first and second in the preseason ASUN Conference football poll will square off for the first time Saturday in a key league matchup at Fifth Third Bank Stadium.

    The University of Central Arkansas Bears will take on the Kennesaw State Owls at noon (CST) on ESPN+, The Point 94.1 and The Bear 91.3. The Owls (2-3, 1-1) were picked to win the inaugural ASUN race this season, while UCA (2-4, 1-0) was tied for second in the preseason poll.

    Both teams have struggled more than was expected at the halfway point of the season, however the Bears are currently in a first-place tie with Jacksonville State after beating Austin Peay two weeks ago. The Owls are 1-1 in league play, with a overtime loss at Jacksonville State and a double overtime win over North Alabama last Saturday at home.

    "It's really about focusing on us," said UCA head coach Nathan Brown. "It's about what's in front of us. I talked to our guys on Sunday night, and man I love that group, I love the group that's down in that locker room. They are a good group of guys.

    "One thing they're going to do is they're going to fight, they're going to scratch and they're going to claw for this program. And they're going to do everything they can to their ability. Now are they going to do it right all the time? No, and that's why you lose games. And that's our job as coaches to correct that. And we've got a great coaching staff and great players that truly want to win.

    "And all it's going to take is turning the page this week and getting a win and getting to 2-0 in the ASUN. And we'll be feeling pretty dang good about ourselves if we can do that."

    The Bears are coming off a tough 52-49 loss to Lindenwood, out of the Ohio Valley Conference, last Saturday on "The Stripes." The teams combined for a whopping 1,231 yards of offense and combined to score 14 touchdowns. The difference was a fourth-quarter field goal by the Lions that allowed them to escape with the victory.

    Kennesaw, which just started its football program in 2015 but has been a perennial playoff team the last four years, topped the UNA Lions 40-34, scoring a touchdown in the second overtime and holding the Lions on downs. The ground-oriented Owls are averaging 214 rushing yards per game, while holding the ball for more than 36 minutes per outing.

    UCA counters with an offense that averages 254.8 yards through the air, and has averaged 322 passing yards over the past three games. In the past four games, junior quarterback Will McElvain has thrown for 1,145 yards, with 10 touchdowns  and one interception and has completed 80 of 120 passes (66.6 percent).
 

    The Bears had a season-high 341 passing yards against Lindenwood, with four different receivers combining for five touchdown receptions. Junior Jarrod Barnes had two touchdowns catches, while tight end Jordan Owens and running backs Darius Hale and Kylin James added the other scores.

    "They are a team coming off back-to-back overtime games," said Brown. "They have a returning All-American quarterback, and when I say quarterback, it's not your typical quarterback. They're like some of the teams we've played in the past, Nicholls, Georgia Southern, and the Navys and the Armys, they run the triple option.

    "(Xavier) Shepherd  was a first-team All-American quarterback. And not just because he's a great runner. They do enough in the pass game because they've got good enough athletes out there where they probably spread it out more than what you're used to seeing in from Navy and Army and some of those guys."

    UCA earned two of the four ASUN Player of the Week awards on Monday, with sophomore safety TaMuarion Wilson receiving the defensive award and Owens being named freshman of the week. Wilson, UCA's leading tackler again this season, had a career-high 13 tackles, a sack and an interception. Wilson turned his first career catch into a 10-yard touchdown reception.

    Wilson, from Bryant, Ark., leads the ASUN in tackles with 60 (10 per game), while Hale, from Pearland, Texas, is second in the league in all-purpose yards with 665 after amassing 248 last week (170 rushing, 78 receiving) against Lindenwood.

    The Bears will have their only open date of the season next week before returning home for homecoming on Saturday, Oct. 29 against North Alabama.