CONWAY -- Central Arkansas lost a starting quarterback, its leading rusher, a wide receiver who may get drafted in the NFL and three starters on the offensive line after last season.
Sounds like a cause for panic heading into spring practice, right? Not quite.
"We've got play-makers out there," Coach Steve Campbell said.
That was apparent throughout Saturday's 90-minute scrimmage in which the Purple team beat the Gray team 56-7 at Estes Stadium.
Taylor Reed threw touchdown passes of 42, 48 and 69 yards, Hayden Hildebrand connected on scores of 15, 17 and 77 yards, and Dominique Thomas ran unofficially for 95 yards as UCA's offense wrapped up spring practice about as fluidly as it could have hoped.
Five different receivers caught touchdown passes, two running backs and a receiver ran for scores and no offensive unit committed a turnover. Granted, all that came against largely defensive reserves, but Campbell is exiting his second spring as the Bears coach pleased with the progress of the offense.
"We're excited about what we've got coming back," Campbell said
Receiver Desmond Smith turned in a big day at a position that looked like a concern for Bears heading into spring practice after the loss of Dezmin Lewis.
Lewis caught 64 passes for 945 yards and 9 touchdowns last season to earn first-team All-Southland honors and will likely end up with an NFL team in a month, but Smith showed in the second quarter Saturday that UCA has capable receivers returning.
During a two-minute drill, he took a pass from Reed in the flat, broke a tackle, stepped back to avoid another tackler and then sprinted down the sideline for a 69-yard touchdown. Reed said afterward that he was yelling for Smith to get out of bounds but was pleased with Smith's alternate plan.
"I turned to the sideline to get the next play, I hear the crowd start screaming, I turn around and he takes off," Reed said. "He's a really good player for us."
Blake Gardner caught two touchdown pass, while Courtney Whitehead, Jose Moore and Brandon Cox also had touchdown receptions.
"Losing Dez hurts, but I believe since we've been here we've had the best wide receiver corps in the region, in the state, all of that," Smith said. "That's just how I feel."
Campbell was equally pleased with his running backs, a position that is looking for a leader after the departure of Willie Matthews. That role appears to have been filled by Thomas, who rushed for 340 yards and five touchdowns as a freshman last season and broke off runs of 14, 18, 20 and 21 yards Saturday.
Kelton Warren rushed for touchdown of 1 and 24 yards and receiver Jatavious Wilson scored on a 4-yard run off a sweep. Jeff Anderson, a sophomore from Conway, didn't score but unofficially gained 89 yards on 19 carries.
"Jeff showed that there can definitely be a role for Jeff Anderson," Campbell said.
He could fill in as a short-yardage back in UCA's rotation, which Thomas said will likely involve several backs considering the preference of running backs coach Mike McCarty.
"He doesn't really want a starter," Thomas said. "He says he wants as many ones as he can get. It's a lot of competition. That keeps you sharp at practice."
It seemed to work Saturday for the running backs, and at just about every other position on offense.
"We've got a lot of guys we can get the ball to," Reed said. "We can distribute it all around, whether it's running or passing."
Sports on 04/12/2015