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    CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears will try to make it two in a row Saturday afternoon when they host the Lindenwood Lions in non-conference action at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

    The Bears (2-3, 1-0) are coming off an impressive 49-20 victory over Austin Peay in their ASUN Conference opener last Saturday on "The Stripes." UCA had six different players score touchdowns and had a stifling defensive effort that produced 12 tackles for loss, four sacks, two fumbles and one interception. UCA also threw in a special teams touchdown on a 64-yard punt return by Jarrod Barnes.

    "We were a 0-0 football team going into the ASUN Conference, and the goal at the end of the week was to be a 1-0 football team in the ASUN Conference. That was the message we had all week, and our players did a great job preparing.
    
    "When Saturday was over, we're standing on top of the ASUN mountain, and that's where you want to be."

    The win over the Governors was UCA's most complete victory of the season. Sophomore running back Darius Hale had a pair of rushing touchdowns, junior quarterback Will McElvain completed 20 of 31 passes for 261 yards and four touchdowns, with scoring passes to Christian Richmond, Myles Butler, Myles Kitt-Denton and Trustin Oliver. Senior Hayden Ray was a perfect 7 of 7 on point-after attempts in UCA's highest scoring game of the season.

    "We knew coming in Austin Peay was a Top 25 football team, so we knew it was going to be a great challenge," said Brown, whose team led just 7-6 at halftime before exploding for 42 second-half points. "They had the sixth-ranked offense in the country at the time. As a whole, probably the most balanced team we've played all yea. So we challenged our players. And once again, they responded in a positive way.

    "I thought defensively, and I've said this for weeks now, I think our defense has played winning football in four out of the five games. You throw the Ole Miss game out, because obviously they're pretty darn good. They basically kept us in the game in the first half. Offensively, we were treading water a little bit, so kudos to our defense for keeping us in the game."

    The second half was all UCA.

    "Halftime adjustments were big," said Brown. "We knew at halftime if we challenged our wide receivers, and challenged Will to make catchable passes, we could win one-on-one matchups. And that's what we were able to do in the second half.

    "It was good to see those guys make some of those catches and get some confidence about them, because we know we're talented in there. It's just experience and putting ourselves in a situation to succeed."

    Lindenwood (2-2, 0-2) is a former NCAA Division II school transitioning to Division I FCS this season, and competing for the first time in the Ohio Valley Conference. The Lions, coached by Jed Stugart, won their first two games of the season, beating Houston Baptist 21-20 on the road and knocking off Keiser 37-3 at home in St. Charles, Mo.

    The Lions then lost to a pair of ranked FCS and OVC teams in consecutive weeks, dropping a 56-26 decision at UT Martin, then losing 49-28 to Southeast Missouri last Saturday at home. UCA also lost to SEMO 35-27 two weeks ago in Cape Girardeau, Mo.

    Senior quarterback Cade Brister, from O'Fallon, Mo., eclipsed the 400-yard mark in total offense last week against SEMO, with 346 passing yards and 80 rushing yards. For the season, Brister has completed 93 of 152 passes (61 percent) for 1,210 yards and seven touchdowns, with four interceptions. He has also rushed for 140 yards and another touchdown.

    The Lions average 460 yards of total offense per game, with a league-high 322 of that coming through the air. Lindenwood ranks third in the OVC in scoring offense (28.0 ppg) and scoring defense (32.0).

    "Lindenwood is a great program," said Brown. "Their coach, Coach Stugart, has won at a high clip everywhere he's been. At Sioux Falls and now Lindenwood, where they have been a Division II playoff team the past few years. It's going to be a challenge."

    Brown, a former All-American quarterback for the Bears, speaks from experience on transitioning to NCAA Division I.

    "I lived it. We made the transition to the Division I level when I was a redshirt sophomore here in 2006," he said. "We were a really good Division II playoff football team in 2005. And I promise you, from '06 to '08, you didn't want to play this transitional UCA football team. You didn't. We has as good a players, we had as good a talent, we were coached as well as anyone. And we won most of those games.

    "Lindewood is no different. They are a very talented team with very good players. So it's going to be a good football game."    
    
    The game will be carried live on The Bear 91.3, The Point 94.1 and ESPN+

    UCA returns to ASUN Conference action next week on the road at Kennesaw (Ga.) State.