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All the injuries were a big blow to the Bears this season...which one do you think
Hurt UCA the most ?

IMO the loss of Chase Dixon was the hardest to overcome.

Who are the nine Coach referred to?

Wynrick Smothers, QB
Chase Dixon, TE/WR
Karl Brady, DB
Aum'Arie Wallace, LB
Kelton Warren, RB
Danzel Willams, RB
Blake Veasley, RB (made it back for a few plays vs SHS)
??
??

Hard to say which was worst.

Dixon was far and away the best player we lost but I would think we overcame that fairly well.

Losing two DB's early in the season probably cost us more.

Dominique Brown. DB
REDSHIRT FRESHMAN H BACK FROM W. Memphis ( HS coaxes son)

I think Dixon was the biggest to lose, but Wallace was up there as well.

Loss of WS was huge as we lost his on-field confidence and experience......other QBs played far better than anyone thought they would but losing an All-American level senior QB is more than the stats....

Dixon was really coming on strong exponentially each game....

Wallace.. we will never know how much this hurt.........with the Heard suspension it would have been great to have Wallace

Loss of Brady was important loss of experience at a very important position...losing Brown compounded his loss....

Loss of Veasley, Warren and Williams at RB melted away depth in area we have been short on..... had to change the play calling as we could not run Matthews as much with so little depth....

Wynrick Smothers, QB
Chase Dixon, TE/WR
Karl Brady, DB
Aum'Arie Wallace, LB
Kelton Warren, RB
Danzel Willams, RB
Dominique Brown. DB
Blake Veasley, RB (made it back for a few plays vs SHS)
????

Wynrick was a huge loss, the other two QBs were limited in areas so they used both. I thought the coaches did a great job with them.
Dixon was a bad loss. He probably will be playing on Sundays still IMO.
Cody Dauksch is the other season ending injury. From what I understand he was a pass catching TE like Dixon. He has a bright future i believe.

Howard and Reed combined for 174 of 271, 2163 yds.,4 ints.and 23 TD"s.
Pretty darn good IMO. That's a 6 to 1 ratio...

I think those numbers would have been even better with a pass catching
Threat at tight end, but in the end if the Bears could have pulled out a victory
At Northwestern State they finish 8-4 and probably earn a playoff bid, and
This is all a mute point.

SELA was obviously a better team this year than UCA was. I personally
Didn't think McNeese was any better...that game just unraveled late in the first
Half for the Bears.. But that happens...just ask Sam Houston.

With all the injuries, this team could easily have been 9-3.

KEEP THE FAITH
_______________________________
GO BEARS

The future is bright. I can see this team being very good in the years to come. I would a lot rather be in UCA seat than a lot of teams in this conference. Coach Conque has built a nice thing here. He said he want to win a National Championship here (With some things bouncing our way next year we could make a run) I know SFA/Nicholls/NWLA/SELA would kill for our consistency. Kudos to the CC and staff for gutting it through this year. Tough year with injuries and bounces.

I agree 110% It took me a few years to see the light, but I can honestly say I am "all in" now. The Bears for years used to take a back seat to the Hogs with me, but since about 2005, I have dug my heels in with UCA. I just love the gameday atmosphere in Conway. I would like to see more local support, but nothing I can do about it.

First, don't misunderstand me re QBs. Both Howard and Reed played very well, far better than most everyone suspected. Most teams would give next year's recruits for a backup that good, much less two.

Second, agree wholeheartedly coaches used the QBs about as well as I could have ever hoped. WS could run really well and throw even better and that is one reason defenses were often stymied in how to stop him. Howard/Reed should be at a very high level next year from the start with the game experiences they had this year.

Third, Dixon was really coming on when he got injured. Other than Marquez Branson, I have not seen a receiver at this multi-talent level at UCA (ie, TE, slot and WR). Dixon plays very similar to Tony Gonzalez (certainly not at that level but similar styles). I wish we would have used Thomas Hart more as a receiver from TE position.

We have lots of good looking athletes on the field and sidelines. O-Line is the most impressive in size I have seen for Bears. Defense keeps runnning quality players onto the field. DEs continue to excel.

With the RB talent that will be coming back from injury plus Matthews, we may finally have that put together. We still need a big strong FB who can score from the one (such as vs SELA).

At the outset I really thought we could win every game this year...have not thought that in years past. Everyone missed SELA...they are very good with LOTS of team speed. All in all, a winning season, a prolific offense and a close out win over #9 should tide us over until next year.

More bad news: Not sure who, but not good I'm sure.

I don't think you are interpreting that correctly.

#BearDown is a good thing.

I hope he was talking about the Russellville kid choosing UCA and not another player getting hurt weight training!