CONWAY, Ark. _ The University of Central Arkansas Bears lost only four football games in 2011, which is an impressive feat.
When you consider who beat the Bears, the feat is even more remarkable.
The Bears lost to four conference champions, at both the FCS and FBS levels. They lost to the No. 1 team in the nation at the FCS level. They lost to two teams who are playing in bowl games. They lost to two teams who have reached the semifinals of the FCS Playoffs. They lost to teams that currently sport a combined 42-8 record.
“All our losses were to conference champions or co-champions,’ said head coach Clint Conque, “and that’s pretty remarkable. And as we continue to progress in Division I, we’re certainly learning the landscape of being able to compete with those teams week in and week out, and year in and year out. It will be great experience moving forward, having gone into some of those venues and competed as well as we did.’
UCA opened the season 1-3 with a brutal September schedule, possibly the toughest in school history. In the opener, the Bears beat old rival Henderson State 38-14 before a stadium-record crowd of 12,755 on their new striped artificial surface field at First Security Field at Estes Stadium. UCA would finish the season a perfect 5-0 on “The Stripes,” a field that The Sporting News called “The Coolest Field in College Football.”
UCA forced overtime the next week at Louisiana Tech before falling 48-42. The Bulldogs went on to win the Western Athletic Conference and will play TCU in the Poinsettia Bowl. The Bears then opened the Southland Conference season at Sam Houston State, losing 31-10 to a team that would eventually finish the regular season 11-0 and No. 1 in the nation. The Bearkats (13-0) host Montana in the FCS semifinals this weekend.
The finale of the September gauntlet was a trip to in-state foe Arkansas State. Playing without injured starting quarterback Nathan Dick, a first-team All-Southland Conference selection and one of the top quarterbacks in school history, UCA fell 53-24 in the first meeting between the teams since 1997. Arkansas State went undefeated in the Sun Belt Conference, finished 10-2 overall and will take on Northern Illinois in the GoDaddy.com Bowl on Jan. 8.
“We knew it was going to very difficult with three very quality football teams,’ said Conque. “We looked at those games in the preseason, all on the road in consecutive weeks, it was going to be tough. As it turned out, it was three great football teams. A couple of them have had the best seasons in the history of their schools.
“And then it was kind of a negative perfect storm for us. As difficult as the schedule and the competition and the travel was, we were then hit with critical injuries. And that’s with front-line guys and guys within our depth. But as we moved into the first week of October, we were able to get a great number of these young men back and with that, we got our confidence back.’
The first of eight straight victories came at home against Stephen F. Austin on Oct. 1 in Southland Conference play.
“We really were in playoff mode all the way through October and November,’ said Conque. “We were a very talented team, but maybe not the most talented we’ve fielded in the 12 years we’ve been here. But it was maybe one of the most cohesive teams, with a strong sense of chemistry. I’m proud of the senior leadership we had. They just really liked being around each other and rallying around each other, on the field and off. They enjoyed practicing, they enjoyed the competition.
“I think our coaching staff made some really strategic decisions on how we were going to practice, because we were injury-plagued at the beginning of the year. Making sure we could get our best players to the starting gate on Saturdays. From a staff perspective standpoint, I think we pushed a lot of the right buttons, we got healthy at the right time, and these kids just liked competing and playing and being around each other. And once we got a little healthier and got our confidence back, we really got on a significant run.’
UCA finished 9-4 overall and 6-1 in SLC play, winning on eight consecutive Saturdays during October and November. They earned their first-ever bid to the FCS Playoffs in just their second year of eligibility.
“We reached another benchmark,’ said Conque. “It seems like every year we’re able to push the program to a different level. This year’s team did that, too, making the postseason at the Division I level for the first time. And to go on the road and win a playoff game and make it to the round of 16. And really, found ourselves only two games away from playing for a Division I national championship. It’s really quite remarkable what this team was able to accomplish.’
UCA opened the playoffs at Tennessee Tech, a tri-champion of the Ohio Valley Conference. The Bears won 34-14 behind a stingy defense and the efficient passing of Dick. The Bears’ defensive unit held Tech’s 1,000-yard rusher Dontey Gay to just 36 yards on 10 carries. Dick completed 23 of 29 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns as the Bears rolled into the second round.
In that second round, UCA traveled to what is arguably the hardest place to play in FCS football for a game at Montana’s Washington-Grizzly Stadium. With kickoff temperatures hovering around the 20-degree mark and 22,000 rabid Grizzly fans holding court inside the stadium, UCA closed out the season with a 41-14 loss. The Bears suffered three turnovers in the first quaerter, which in turn spotted the No. 5 Grizzlies a 17-point lead they would never relinquish.
“Montana is certainly one of the five Mt. Rushmore programs traditionally at the FCS level,’ Conque said. “What a great experience for our team, our program, our fans and our alumni. Such a rich playoff tradition there. One of the loudest venues in all of college football, and it certainly didn’t disappoint. We made an historic walk across the pedestrian bridge there to the stadium before the game in about 18-degree weather. Definitely one of the coldest games we played since I’ve been here at UCA.
“We just didn’t play well the first 10 minutes and that was really the difference in that game. But I was really proud of our young men because we competed all the way to the end, and actually outscored Montana in the second half. And so many teams have gotten down in Missoula, in that atmosphere, that temperature, and have just completely let go of the rope. Our kids got down but we didn’t quit competing and didn’t quit playing. That’s a tangible legacy our seniors will leave behind, something we can build on here at UCA.’
Along the way, UCA had 14 players named to the first, second or honorable mention All-Southland Conference teams. First-team selections included Dick, sophomore offensive lineman Dominique Allen, senior defensive end Jermayne Lett and junior linebacker Seth Allison. Second-team picks were junior running back Jackie Hinton, junior receiver Jesse Grandy, senior center Logan Roubique, redshirt freshman kicker Eddie Camara and sophomore safety Jestin Love.
Honorable mentions were junior receiver Dominique Croom, senior linebacker Frank Newsome, sophomore noseguard Matt Hornbuckle, senior cornerback Jerrel McKnight and senior receiver/kick returner Isaiah Jackson.
Dick and Jackson placed their names in the UCA record book, Jackson as the No. 1 kick returner in school history and Dick as the No. 3 passer.
The Bears had seven players named SLC Player of the Week during the season, with Dick earning the honor twice. Two Bears, running back Anthony Blackmon and offensive lineman Brad Jakel, were named to the CoSIDA Capital One Academic All-District 6 team for the second consecutive year for their work in the class room.
Conque, who has been at UCA since the 2000 season, was named one of 20 finalists for the 25th Eddie Robinson Award, that goes to national coach of the year at the FCS level. Conque, the winningest coach in UCA history with an 89-51 record, was also a finalist in 2008 when he finished seventh overall.
All in all, a quite memorable and rewarding season for the UCA Bears.
