CONWAY - Homecoming takes on a whole new meaning tonight at Estes Stadium.
After playing five of its first seven games on the road, Central Arkansas starts a threegame homestand with Nicholls State.
It's homecoming for the Bears, but it's also a homecoming of sorts for their coach.
Central Arkansas Coach Clint Conque was an All-American linebacker for the Colonels and graduated from the Thibodaux, La., school before serving as a graduate assistant there in 1984. In 2005, he was selected to the Nicholls State Hall of Fame.
"I have wonderful memories of the time I spent down there," Conque said. "I was married on that campus. My oldest son [Chasse] was born 250 yards behind John L. Guidry Stadium."
Nicholls State Coach Jay Thomas said Conque is still well-regarded in the small south Louisiana town. Thomas was defensive coordinator when the then-NCAA Division II Bears traveled to Nicholls State in 2000, Conque's first year inConway.
"I was here when they came down here," Thomas said. "We were lucky to win back then. I know what kind of ballclub Clint and his staff put together."
The Colonels (5-2, 2-1 Southland Conference) at least have some familiarity with what the Bears do.
Nicholls State runs a doubleslot triple-option attack, a stark contrast to the rest of the offenses the Bears (4-3, 3-1) haveseen this season.
"As a coaching staff, we had a real strong idea of how we were going to approach this game plan," said Conque, pointing out that Central Arkansas defensive coordinator Denzil Cox is well-versed in the triple option. "That being said, a lot of these kids had never seen it before, so it took some effort to get ready for it."
Thomas and Conque said the uniqueness of the Colonel's offense is, in part, what makes it so successful. The No. 18 Colonels' lone conference loss this season came to No. 5 McNeese State, and Nicholls State boasts a victorythis season over Rice, a member of the Football Bowl Subdivision, formerly Division 1-A.
"We are what we are on offense," Thomas said. "We've been that way for a number of years now. Throwing the football is something we work on daily, and we've had to throw the football a little this year, but that's just not what we do."
The double-slot triple option offense is predicated on running the football. The quarterback takes the snap and has three options. He can hand the ball off to the fullback behind him, keep the ball and run it himself or hand the ball off to one of the two slotbacks lined up to either side of him.
What makes the option so difficult to defend is the play doesn't have a predetermined outcome. The quarterback reads the defense and decides which of the three options to take.
"[The Colonels] do it every day. We generally see it once a year," Conque said. "That's what makes it an effective offense. You have less than a week to get ready for it, and it's different from anything else we'll see."No. 18 Nicholls St.
at Central Arkansas WHEN 6 p.m. Central today WHERE Estes Stadium, Conway RECORDS Central Arkansas 4-3, 3-1 Southland Conference; Nicholls State 5-2, 2-1 COACHES Clint Conque (56-32 in his eighth year at Central Arkansas and overall); Jay Thomas (20-18 in his fourth year at Nicholls State and overall) SERIES Nicholls State leads 1-0 RADIO KKPT-FM, 94.1 in Little Rock; KUCAFM, 91.3, and KCNY-FM, 107.1, in Conway INTERNET www.ucasports.com
Sports, Pages 28 on 10/27/2007