The University of Central Arkansas missed an opportunity to take the outright Southland Conference lead Saturday night as the Bears lost 23-21 to McNeese State at Cowboy Stadium in Lake Charles, La.
The Bears (5-3, 4-2 Southland Conference) came into the contest tied for the league lead with McNeese State (6-2, 5-1) and Incarnate Word (4-4, 4-2), which lost 48-21 at Nicholls State on Saturday.
UCA (No. 14 FCS Coaches Poll) fell behind McNeese State (No. 16) 20-7 midway through the second quarter but took a 21-20 lead when Carlos Blackman rushed for a 39-yard touchdown with 13 seconds left in the third. Blackman's touchdown followed Luke Hales' 24-yard touchdown pass to Brandon Myers which got the Bears to within 20-14 with 4:07 left in the second quarter.
Gunnar Raborn's 24-yard field goal with 7:27 left in the fourth quarter gave the Cowboys their go-ahead points.
The Bears tried to respond on their ensuing possession, but the drive stalled at the McNeese State 25. UCA's Matt Cummins then missed right on a 43-yard field goal attempt with 5:11 left in the contest.
The teams then traded three-and-out possessions before the Cowboys ran out the final 2:19.
"We just didn't play very clean tonight,' said UCA Coach Nathan Brown. "We had a couple of special teams errors, early in the game we had some unorthodox penalties that hurt us, kept some drives alive for them. And they are a good football team. They made a change at quarterback that gave them a spark. It took us a little bit to figure them out. Once we did, I thought the defense played great in the second quarter and the second half.
McNeese State jumped out to a 7-0 lead on its first series on David Hamm's 1-yard touchdown run.
UCA struck back quickly when Hales found Jakari Dillard for a 75-yard touchdown on their initial play of the contest. Cummins' extra point made it 7-7 with 10:39 left in the opening quarter.
After the Cowboys upped the lead to 20-7 on Cody Orgeron's 16-yard touchdown run, Raborn kicked field goals of 34 and 33 yards to give the hosts a 20-7 lead with 2:46 remaining in the first.
The Bears had 402 yards of total offense, including 290 through the air, while limiting the Cowboys to 294. McNeese State won the time of possession battle, holding the ball for 38:03 to UCA's 21:57.
Blackman led all rushers with 86 yards on 12 attempts, while Dillard led all receivers with 4 catches for 103 yards.
Hales was 13-of-33 passing for 290 yards, but suffered 2 interceptions.
The Bears have three regular-season games remaining, including their next two at home against Lamar and Incarnate Word before closing on the road at Abilene Christian. They are the defending Southland Conference champions and earned the No. 4 overall seed in last year's NCAA FCS playoffs, a destination Brown believes the Bears can still achieve with a late-season run.
"We can take these next three games whatever direction we want," Brown said. "If we handle our business the next three games, then we can have a conversation on selection Sunday, and maybe have enough to get in [the FCS playoffs].
Sports on 10/28/2018