CONWAY -- Somewhere around 1869, the first year of organized American football, coaches likely began telling players to take their schedules one game at a time, but no one has to tell players for the Central Arkansas Bears that, at least not this week.
They aren't looking ahead.
The UCA Bears, the defending Southland Conference champions, are in a three-way tie for first place with the McNeese State Cowboys and the Incarnate Word Cardinals just past the midway point of the conference schedule, and UCA plays at MSU today. Kickoff for the game, known as the Red Beans & Rice Bowl, is scheduled for 6 p.m. at Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, La.
True to form, UCA's players and coaches waited until moments after UCA's 38-17 victory over Northwestern State at Estes Stadium last Saturday to bring up today's game. They were aware that Incarnate Word had just knocked MSU out of first place with its 45-17 victory in San Antonio, Texas, and by then it had become a permissible topic to broach.
"Next week against McNeese, we're going to try to play our best game yet," redshirt junior safety Juan Jackson said.
UCA Coach Nathan Brown said he began to think ahead after UCA held an 18-point halftime lead over Northwestern State, a lead it built to 35-10 with 9:59 left in the third quarter. He sat many of his starters and most of his defensive line through the second half.
"We were just trying to keep them fresh," Brown said. "We got up early and those first defensive linemen probably only played 25 snaps. That's a win in our book, getting to rest those guys. It was great to get the opportunity to rest them, and then obviously to get some young guys some more experience is huge. We're going to need those guys as we push forward in this deal."
Brown knows the top challenge against McNeese State is to somehow overcome its defense that has surrendered an average of 334.3 yards a game, fewest in the 11-school Southland and 26th of 124 NCAA FCS schools nationwide.
"McNeese has a tradition of playing great defense, and they're doing it again this year," Brown said.
Redshirt freshman quarterback Luke Hales, junior running back Carlos Blackman and redshirt sophomore Kierre Crossley, senior receivers Lester Wells and Jakari Dillard and sophomore Brandon Myers, work along with an offensive line led by sophomore Adrian Harris, its lone returning starter from last season's champions. UCA leads the Southland in points scored and is third in total offense.
"Our guys know what they're up against," Brown said. "We're on a nice run right now, but this will be a big challenge."
With UCA's offense set to face its sternest test of the season, Jackson said he knows he and his defensive teammates have to do their best to limit MSU's offensive output. It is a task aided by an MSU offense that has averaged a mere 300.0 yards a game, the fewest in the Southland.
"McNeese is always a competitive team," Jackson said. "They always come out and play hard. You can see from the film that they're not going to give you anything. They're going to come out and play hard and do what they do. They just have a swagger to them. They definitely have the ability to make some plays if you don't focus in and do your job."
Jackson, a former teammate of Chicago Bears running back Jordan Howard at Gardendale High in Gardendale, Ala., leads UCA with 44 solo and 63 total tackles.
"We funnel a lot of our fronts toward Juan," Brown said. "He's sort of our last line of defense, and he does a great job the majority of the time making those tackles. He's a really smart football player. He understands what offenses are trying to do, and he's a really good guy to have out there."
Brown said his players have not been misled by UCA's 47-17 victory over MSU last season at Estes Stadium, a game in which they scored touchdowns on a blocked punt and a fumble return.
"McNeese has the sort of ball-control offense that makes it very hard for them to come from very far back," Brown said. "Last season, we got some breaks, some big turnovers, and then it kind of snowballed on them. Our kids understand how good that team was and how good it is this year."
MSU Coach Lance Guidry said his team, which lost to UCA 35-0 in 2016, also knows what it's up against.
"They know who UCA is," Guidry said. "UCA has beaten us up pretty good the last two years, so they know they will have to come out with their dukes up and ready to fight."
Brown said UCA should be ready, particularly in light of its three-game winning streak after a 34-31 overtime loss at Sam Houston State on Sept. 29.
"The Sam Houston loss wasn't that long ago, just three and a half weeks, but it feels like three months ago," Brown said. "When you get in the grind of the season, it's almost like our team has forgotten what a loss feels like. I think that's a good thing. When you have that winning taste in your mouth, that's the way you practice and the way you pursue games each week. That's infectious, and it can carry us a long way."
Sports on 10/27/2018