CONWAY -- Turnovers don't get more costly than the ones Central Arkansas suffered Saturday.
A fumble and interception were returned for touchdowns -- making up half of Samford's four-touchdown uninterrupted run -- as the Bulldogs pulled away to a 25-point lead early in the third quarter against the Bears. It proved too much for UCA to overcome, as Samford held on for a 35-29 victory at Estes Stadium on Saturday night.
"You can't give up two turnovers that go for touchdowns and expect to beat a good football team," UCA Coach Steve Campbell said. "It's a six-point game, and we gave them 14 points."
On UCA's first possession after Samford (2-0) took a 14-10 lead late in the first half, UCA junior quarterback Hayden Hildebrand was hit and fumbled to sophomore defensive lineman Ahmad Gooden, who scooped up the ball and ran 28 yards to give Samford a 21-10 lead.
After a UCA punt, sophomore quarterback Delvin Hodges threw a 47-yard touchdown pass to sophomore Kelvin McKnight, giving Samford a 28-10 lead with 1:04 left in the half.
Late in the third quarter, Samford senior linebacker Tonne Osaigbovo intercepted a Hildebrand pass and returned it 38 yards to push Samford's lead to 35-10.
"I'll take the blame for this one," Hildebrand said. "I mean, I know it's a team sport, and there are different things we have to work on, but in my mind, if I don't fumble and they don't scoop and score on that, and if I don't throw that pick, then we win, 29-21. Almost 100 percent of the time, if you lose the turnover battle, you lose."
Hildebrand completed 26 of 48 passes for 346 yards and 1 touchdown.
Samford's offense did not score in the second half. For the game, UCA (1-1) had 577 yards of total offense gained on a school-record 115 plays. Samford gained 257 yards and was held to 49 in the second half.
"We basically just came out with a sense of pride and did what we needed to do to defend the stripes in the second half," UCA junior defensive end Cardell Best said. "We played our hearts out."
"The way the defense played, that was great inspiration for our offense to get our momentum kicking," said UCA senior receiver Desmond Smith, who caught 6 passes for 133 yards and 1 touchdown.
UCA pulled within 35-16 on a 3-yard touchdown run by senior Antwon Wells with 12:24 left in the fourth quarter.
On its next possession, UCA covered 85 yards on eight plays, a drive completed with another 3-yard touchdown run by Wells. A second consecutive failed two-point attempt left Samford's lead at 35-22.
An 18-yard touchdown pass on fourth-and-15 from Hildebrand to Smith pulled UCA within 35-29 with 2:11 left in the fourth quarter, but Samford recovered the Bears' onside kick.
UCA had a final possession with 28 seconds left that started at its own 15, but the Bears did not make it into Samford territory before the clock expired.
"This was a huge win for us," Samford Coach Chris Hatcher said. "I know how good Central Arkansas is. I knew it was going to be a tough game, and we had just enough there at the end."
"We shouldn't have been in that situation," Smith said. "A moral victory? I wouldn't say that, but the one thing we can take from this is that it shows us the potential we have if we play the way we played in the second half for every half."
UCA scored on its second possession of the game with a 35-yard field goal by sophomore Matt Cummins to take a 3-0 lead with 6:06 left in the first quarter.
Samford responded with a seven-play, 78-yard drive, highlighted by Hodge's fourth-down, 29-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Karel Hamilton.
UCA worked the ball from its 15 to the Samford 14 but was stopped after a dropped pass in the end zone. Cummins missed wide right on a 31-yard field goal attempt.
Campbell emphasized before the game the importance of his offense taking advantage of opportunities inside the Samford 20, but it managed just one field goal on its first two.
"We didn't execute well enough in the red zone," Campbell said. "That's where we hurt ourselves early."
The third was different. Set up at the Samford 21 after a diving 43-yard catch by Smith, UCA scored three plays later on a 1-yard run by Carlos Blackman, a freshman running back from Gosnell, to take a 10-7 lead with 7:48 left in the second quarter.
Samford replied with a 33-yard touchdown pass from Hodges to senior receiver Emmanuel Obajimi.
Sports on 09/11/2016