NORTHWESTERN (LA.) STATE AT CENTRAL ARKANSAS
WHEN 6 p.m.
WHERE Estes Stadium, Conway
RECORDS UCA 4-2, 3-1 Southland Conference; Northwestern State 2-4, 1-3
COACHES Nathan Brown (4-2 in first season at UCA and overall); Brad Smiley (2-4 in first season at Northwestern State and overall)
SERIES UCA leads 8-3
LAST MEETING 2017: UCA 45, NSU 17 RADIO KUCA-FM, 91.3, in Conway; KKPT-FM, 94.1, in Little Rock
INTERNET ucasports.com/KUCA
WHEN UCA HAS THE BALL Redshirt freshman quarterback Luke Hales is set to make his third career start. A third-teamer when the season began, Hales has passed for a total of 530 yards and 6 touchdowns in his first 2 starts — UCA’s 66-35 victory at Houston Baptist on Oct. 6 and a 27-17 victory over Stephen F. Austin last Saturday. UCA hopes to establish a ground game first behind three running backs: junior Carlos Blackman, sophomore Kierre Crossley, and senior Cedric Battle. Through six games, Blackman has rushed for 451 yards and 7 touchdowns. Crossley has rushed for 353 yards and 2 touchdowns. Senior Lester Wells leads UCA’s receivers with 38 catches for 402 yards and 2 touchdowns. Sophomore Brandon Myers and senior Jakari Dillard have each caught four touchdown passes.
WHEN NSU HAS THE BALL NSU passes first, led by junior quarterback Shelton Eppler, who has completed 61.2 percent of his passes for 1,679 yards and 14 touchdowns. Senior Clay Holgorsen has thrown for 319 yards and 1 touchdown. Junior Jazz Ferguson leads NSU’s receivers with 32 catches for 654 yards and 6 touchdowns. NSU’s top rusher is junior Jared West with 419 yards and 2 touchdowns.
WHAT’S AT STAKE UCA is currently in a three-way tie for second place in the Southland Conference. UCA, Sam Houston State, and Incarnate Word are all 3-1. McNeese State leads at 4-0 and will play at Incarnate Word today. UCA plays at McNeese State next Saturday
UAPB AT MISSISSIPPI VALLEY STATE
WHEN 2 p.m.
WHERE Rice-Totten Stadium, Itta Bena, Miss.
RADIO None
INTERNET uapblionsroar.com
RECORDS UAPB (1-5, 0-2 SWAC); Mississippi Valley State (0-5, 0-2)
COACHES Cedric Thomas (1-5 in first season at UAPB and overall); Vincent Dancy (0-5 in first season at MVSU and overall)
SERIES UAPB leads 26-22-1
LAST MEETING Mississippi Valley State won 38-31 on Oct. 7, 2017, in Pine Bluff COMMENTS Mississippi Valley State has beaten UAPB in back-to-back seasons for the first time since the Delta Devils won three in a row from 2005-2007. The Golden Lions have won eight of the past 10 meetings between the two. … The teams have each had three different head coaches since 20015 (UAPB: Mo Forte, Monte Coleman, Cedric Thomas; MVSU: Willie Totten, Rick Comegy, Vincent Dancy). … Since 2014, the Delta Devils have gone 6-43, while the Golden Lions are 10-40. … UAPB has beaten Mississippi Valley State more than any other team in the SWAC. The Golden Lions own a 26-22-1 advantage in the all-time series with the Delta Devils and have won 18 of their past 23 meetings. The only other team in the league that UAPB hold a series lead over is Alcorn State (21-16-4). … Running back Taeyler Porter has run for 638 yards this season for the Golden Lions and trails league-leader Dawonya Tucker of Prairie View by 74 yards. Tucker, however, has played in one more game than Porter. … UAPB wide receiver Josh Wilkes appeared in three games before suffering a season-ending injury against South Dakota State. Yet, the junior is still second in the conference in receiving yards (500) and touchdown catches (4). … UAPB senior Jamie Gillan leads the SWAC in punting with a 43.4 yard/ punt average. … Mississippi Valley State linebacker Tadarius Davis and safety Jemaurri Bailey are second and third in the SWAC in tackles per game with 8.4 and 8.2, respectively.