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CONWAY, Ark. _ After a formidable non-conference schedule, the University of Central Arkansas Bears will open their first season in the United Athletic Conference (UAC) on Saturday when they host the Abilene Christian Wildcats on "The Stripes" at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

The Bears and Wildcats will kick off at 6 p.m., with live coverage on ESPN+, The Bear 91.3 and The Point 94.1.

UCA (1-2) is coming off a 49-31 loss at second-ranked North Dakota State last weekend, a game in which the Bears put up more than 400 yards of offense and had a 200-yard rusher in junior ShunDerrick Powell. But the nine-time FCS national champions did what they do best, winning at home for the 81st time in their past 83 non-conference games.

"I was proud of our fight, our effort," said UCA head coach Nathan Brown."It (atmosphere) was exactly what I thought it was going to be. From top to bottom, the way they run their program, just the game day vibes of the Fargodome, to the band, to the entrance... that's what it's supposed to look like.

"There's a reason why they've won nine of the last 12 (national championships). And that's what we want to strive to be. I told our team, we're not them yet. But that doesn't mean that we're not a very good football team. But we're not what North Dakota State is yet. But for us to go into their place, long trip and all that, was impressive."

The WIldcats (2-1) are also coming off a loss to a Top 10 team. No. 9 Incarnate Word beat ACU 27-20 last Saturday in Abilene, outgaining the WIldcats 517 to 320 yards. ACU owns wins over Northern Colorado (31-11) in Week 1 and Prairie View A&M (45-16) in Week 2. 

The Bears were picked second in the first preseason UAC poll, behind Eastern Kentucky, which is currently 0-3 on the season. The Wildcats were picked fifth.

The teams did not play last season, but UCA won the previous meeting in 2021 by a score of 42-21 in Conway. The Bears, behind quarterback Breylin Smith, rolled up 543 yards of total offense, including 358 through the air. Smith was 28 of 38 with five touchdown passes. 

The Wildcats, under second-year head coach Keith Patterson, have hit the transfer portal hard, with 23 transfers listed on their depth chart heading into Saturday's game, including quarterback Maverick McIvor (Texas Tech) and leading tackler Izaiah Kelley (SMU).

"We're excited to open the UAC season at home," said Brown. "Abilene is a great program. Obviously they're a hot team right now. A lot of people like them, they see the talent they have. They have reloaded (with transfers) and they are going to look the part. When they walk out here on Saturday, you're going to say that's an impressive looking team. Because a lot of those are Power 5 transfers.

"They are just littered with bounce-back players. They are at a spot in Texas where they get a lot of those, and they've taken full advantage of that. They are impressive on the hoof. We know they are going to run an attacking style defense, they're going to be very multiple on offense. Their quarterback is a very good player. They've got some really long wide receivers that they want to take shots with."

The Bears lead the overall series with the Wildcats 11-1-1 and have won the past six meetings, outscoring ACU by an average of 37-19. The closest matchup was a 31-30 UCA victory in 2019 at Estes Stadium, when the Bears came from behind with a Carlos Blackman 3-yard touchdown run with 1:30 remaining and the Wildcats missed a 46-yard field goal with 35 seconds remaining.

"We're battle-tested," said Brown. "So you hope, in playing two of the first three weeks against teams like Oklahoma State and North Dakota State, hopefully it bodes well for you starting this weekend and getting into conference play. We feel like we match up well in our conference. We feel like we have the talent, skills, speed and size that matches up very similar to a lot of our teams in this conference, and we feel like we can gain an edge in some areas as well."

UCA returns to the road next Saturday (Sept. 30) with its first trip to Southern Utah in Cedar City, Utah.