NO. 22 CENTRAL ARKANSAS 35,
McNEESE STATE 0
Central Arkansas scored 21 points off five McNeese State (3-4, 2-3) turnovers on its way to a 35-0 victory in front of 9,253 at Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, La.
It was the annual Red Beans & Rice Bowl and marked the first time that McNeese State was shut out at home since 1987 and the first time the Cowboys failed to score against a Southland team since 1988. It also was the first shutout for the Bears since a 70-0 victory over Houston Baptist in Conway in 2014.
The 4-0 conference start is the best for the No. 22 Bears (5-1, 4-0 Southland Conference) since they joined the Southland in 2006. The victory was UCA's fourth consecutive and evened the overall series with the Cowboys at 5-5.
UCA capitalized on a first-quarter fumble and a second-quarter interception to take a 14-0 halftime lead. The Bears then scored on their first possession of the third quarter to lead 21-0 and took advantage of the second Cowboy fumble of the game later in the quarter to jump in front 28-0 when Hayden Hildebrand found Jatavious Wilson on a 33-yard touchdown pass.
Hildebrand's 83-yard touchdown to Roman Gordon with 8:01 left in the fourth quarter capped a three-play, 87-yard drive, which concluded the scoring.
The Bears managed 483 yards of total offense to the Cowboys' 309. UCA had 252 yards through the air behind Hildebrand's 12-of-21 passing, 2-touchdown effort. The Bears had 231 yards rushing, led by Antwon Wells' 105 yards and 16 carries, which included touchdown runs of 10 and 8 yards. It was Wells' second 100-yard game of the season.
"Very, very proud of the way that the team played," UCA Coach Steve Campbell said. "Turnovers were huge. It kept them off the board and set us up in real good shape on a couple of them. I just wish we could have capitalized on a few more of them.
"There's always stuff. You know, we won 35-0, but in all honesty, at the half it should have been more. We missed a field goal, we got down to the one and didn't execute a short-yardage deal. We should have got seven more there, so that's 10. It was 14-10 at the half and it should have been 24 anyway. We let too many opportunities slip away from us.'
UCA's defense controlled the Cowboys for most of the night, recording six tackles for loss and two sacks, along with the three forced fumbles by Terrance Partee, Fernando Van Hook and Jaylon Lofton, who also had one of UCA's two interceptions along with Raphael Garner. The Cowboys gained 309 yards, with sophomore James Tabary completing 17 of 35 passes for 151 yards. Tabary, who transferred from Arkansas State, completed 8 of his first 9 passes but was 9 of 26 the remainder of the game.
In other Southland Conference games Saturday, Carson Earp passed to Dewan Thompson in the back of the end zone with six seconds left in the game to complete a comeback as Lamar topped Northwestern (La.) State (1-5, 0-4) 32-31 in Beaumont, Texas. Lamar (3-3, 3-1) trailed 31-18 with 6:44 left in the game. Earp hit Marcus Daggs on a 36-yard scoring pass with 1:43 remaining. The Cardinals recovered the ensuing onside kick and drove 58 yards, following a penalty, in nine plays to win on Earp's pass to Thompson. Earp was 29 of 52 for a career-high 412 yards passing and 4 touchdowns. Thompson pulled in 4 for 139 yards and 2 touchdowns. Zae Giles grabbed 10 for 118 yards. ... Jeremiah Briscoe threw for six touchdowns as Sam Houston State remained undefeated, beating Abilene Christian (0-7, 0-5) 48-21 in Huntsville, Texas. Briscoe had 404 yards on 31-of-39 passing for the Bearkats (6-0, 5-0). Nathan Stewart had 129 yards receiving and 2 touchdowns and Tyler Scott had 130 yards receiving and a score. Remus Bulmer, Deon Hutchinson and Hayden Cagle also caught scoring passes. Bulmer also ran for a touchdown. ... Courtney Rutledge ran back a blocked field-goal attempt 72 yards for a touchdown and Jacorey Fuller returned an interception 41 yards for another score in the fourth quarter as Southeastern Louisiana pulled away for a 58-34 victory over Stephen F. Austin in Nacogdoches, Texas. The Lions (3-3, 3-1), who have won two consecutive for the first time this season, led 30-17 at the half. SFA pulled to 37-34 going into the final quarter. Loren Easley led SFA (3-4, 2-3), rushing for 169 yards and three touchdowns.
Sports on 10/16/2016