CHARLESTON, Ill. — Central Arkansas took advantage of five Eastern Illinois turnovers and got two rushing touchdowns each from sophomore tailback Terence Bobo and redshirt freshman quarterback Wynrick Smothers to defeat the Panthers 37-7 Saturday at O’Brien Field.
UCA (2-0) needed to cover just 94 yards for its four firsthalf scores, thanks to miscues by the Panthers (0-2), who are No. 16 in the NCAA Football Championship Subdivision. The Bears scored 20 points in the first half and had only 144 total yards of offense, after putting up more than 400 in the first half of their season opener against Elizabeth City State on Sept. 2.
The Bears took advantage of four first-half Eastern Illinois turnovers, including two muffed punts by the Panthers deep in their territory.
“When you play solid defense and then get four or five turnovers, good things are going to happen,” said Central Arkansas Coach Clint Conque, who became the winningest coach in UCA history with his 75th victory. “We didn’t capitalize on a few things early. But defensively I thought we just played so consistently throughout.”
Conque said it’s a good feeling to go on the road and beat a ranked team.
“We’ve done that before with past teams and it never gets old,” Conque said.
UCA punted on its first possession, but Eastern Illinois’ Rashad Haynes mishandled the kick and UCA’s Desmond Wilcox recovered at the Panthers’ 20. UCA’s Nathan Dick was intercepted on the next play, but the Panthers gave it right back after another UCA punt. This time, Lamar Moore recovered Pete Houlihan’s fumble at the Eastern Illinois 39, and the Bears got a 21-yard field goal from senior Eddie Carmona for a 3-0 lead with 8:10 left in the first quarter.
UCA junior linebacker Frank Newsome sacked quarterback Brandon Large on Eastern Illinois’ first offensive play after the kickoff and forced a fumble that senior Markell Carter covered at the 13. Six plays later, Bobo went over the right side for a 3-yard touchdown. Carmona’s extra point made it 10-0 with 5:29 remaining in the first quarter.
Large hit Von Wise with a 2-yard touchdown pass to close the gap to 10-7 with 2:28 left in the first quarter. UCA punted on its next possession, but got the ball back when UCA sophomore safety Radarius Winston intercepted Large at midfield.
Smothers completed a 31-yard touchdown pass to senior Willie Landers in the opening minute of the second quarter to make it 17-7.
Carmona kicked a 39-yard field goal with 7:42 left in the half to make it 20-7. That score came after a 26-yard punt by Eastern Illinois that went outof bounds at the UCA 48.
Smothers, who added a 5-yard touchdown run in the fourth quarter, led the Bears on the ground with 76 yards on six carries. Dick completed 22 of 30 passes for 167 yards, while Smothers was 7 of 7 for 46 yards. UCA finished with 376 total yards, including 162 on the ground.
“They really complement each other, and the great thing about it is they are each other’s No. 1 fan,” Conque said of his quarterbacks. “That type of chemistry is such a positive thing. Wynrick brings tremendous dynamics off the bench, and he can do a lot of things. And Nathan was very effective in leading us today. We’re asking a lot of him on a daily basis.
“It really looked like a mixed bag out there on offense, but there is some method to the madness. We’re asking Nathan to do a lot of things with our entire offense. Then we’re asking Wynrick to come in for a change of pace. No question that he has the ability to do that.”
The Panthers finished with just 120 total yards of offense. Large was 10 of 24 for 52 yardsand 2 interceptions.
UCA hosts a second consecutive Ohio Valley Conference team in Murray State next Saturday at Estes Stadium.
In other Southland games, Chris Evans rushed for 109 yards and one touchdown as Samford used a balanced attack to defeat Northwestern State 19-7 in Natchitoches, La. The Bulldogs (1-1), coming off a season-opening 59-6 loss to Florida State, jumped out to a 19-0 lead in the first-ever meeting between the schools. Samford outgained the Demons 459 yards to 215, with 239 yards rushing and 220 passing. Northwestern State had only 47 yards rushing on 22 carries. ... Southeastern Louisiana had four interceptions, including one for a touchdown by Tommy Connors, in a 24-10 victory over Tennessee-Martin in Hammond, La. The Lions (1-1) gave up 525 yards of offense, but five Skyhawks turnovers, including a fumble, helped them win the first meeting between the schools since 1981. The Skyhawks (0-2) were paced by Derek Carr with 390 yards and 4 interceptions on 20-of-41 passing. Jason McNair had 132 yards on 24 carries for Tennessee-Martin.
...Alex Carder passed for 298 yards and five touchdowns and Western Michigan beat Nicholls State 49-14 in Kalamazoo, Mich. Carder completed a 74-yard touchdown pass to Jordan White for the Broncos (1-1). White also caught a 5-yard scoring pass and had six catches for 130 yards. The Colonels (0-2) scored when Jesse Turner rushed 52 yards for a touchdown in the second quarter and after an interception when LaQuintin Caston completed a 4-yard touchdown pass to Joshua Warren.
Sports, Pages 37 on 09/12/2010