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I’ll eat crow

Not sure how we won, SHSU’s d line was in our kitchen the whole night. I guess when you have playmakers on the wings, it limits your blitzing power and breylin really feasted off a soft middle tonight. He finally took the top off the d in the second half a few times

Josh mix and winningham both out for a while. Several lineman went down...Lamar is going to be tough and we’re going to be limping into Beaumont.

1st place for now

Back from the game, and the adrenaline finally coming down.

How about them Bears!

This team has one thing most teams do not have: Pure grit. 6 come from behind wins, 5 of them in the 4th quarter. No quit. No giving up. Great adjustments. Keep grinding. Find a way to win. There are a lot of teams that would love to be 6-2 right now, and somehow we are.

Before I get into my game breakdown, can I gripe about the officiating?

Our first play from scrimmage and we get called for a hold. And several others at inopportune times. That's fine, we played a bit undisciplined and got caught.

BUT....their line was essentially tackling our guys, pulling them down, right in front of the ref, and no flag was thrown until late in the game. PI's not called, block in the back not called, and it was obvious that we were playing against the refs as well. The only call they consistently got right was when SHSU would jump offsides, and they even missed that once. SLC needs to get a reign in on this.

Offense

We moved the ball well. We just stalled out too much in the first half. The second half we made some adjustments, O-line gave Breylin some time, and he and the receivers lit it up. And let's not forget about Carlos. His yards were not huge, but he had great runs all night when his number was called.

I'm not going to complain a lot about the O-line. Their D is good. They got to Breylin barely more than most other teams have. We had a couple of injuries that hurt (fortunately Toby got to come back in pretty quickly).

I hate that Winningham broke his arm laying a hit on someone. He lowered his shoulder after the catch and ran through the guy. I was hoping it was a simple shoulder stinger, but when he ran off with the arm just hanging there, I knew something was up. Hope he heals fast.

Defense

We got burned deep a few times. They had some favorable match-ups. But once again, this unit won the game for us with big stops in the second half. I was sitting with a friend and told him that UCA games are fairly scripted: We go down early, we mount a heroic comeback, and we make a big defensive stop at the end to win. The forced fumble and recovery at the end was pretty much on cue.

There were a few times where we let great INT opportunities escape us by simply not turning around in time. A couple of picks and this game may have not come down to the wired.

Special Teams played great tonight. Great kicks, great punts, flipping the field when needed, and a huge contribution to this win.

I know we are all frustrated with the slow starts. We looked completely unprepared in the first half. But, this coaching staff is great about making the changes needed, keeping the team focused, giving them opportunities to execute the big plays. If we ever put together 4 quarters, we could make a great run in the playoffs.

GO BEARS!

Collums called a good game also. Their front 4 is serious and we gained 450 yards against them

“1st place for now”

Don’t be too happy buddy

Sweet double quote

Great adjustments after half! Props to the staff. And this is deepest WR room ever. Hampton is a threat. Should have been playing more. He took the opportunity and made most of it. Prayers for Willingham and Nix, hate that for kids. Was an amazing finish. That’s why every kid should be ready!! Never know when you gonna get a chance.

My understanding is that Hampton was banged up a bit in fall camp and is just getting back to full speed. He is definitely a weapon.

Regardless of what happens the rest of this year, I think the next two years will be our best in school history. We have young talent and are winning with them. Let them have another off-season to grow and improve and then I think we see a lot less of the first half heartburn.

My compliments to the players and coaches. Sam is a tough opponent no matter the year. I too will eat crow regarding my statements last week, perhaps our youthful team just has more endurance and can out hustle the opposing team as they grow tired in the second half?

I believe many of us following along since the transition to Division 1 have high expectations. We’ve shown we can recruit well, compete in tight games, upset FBS Schools, rank in the top 15 nationally, and consistently finish in first or second place in the Southland for the last decade.

If you spend anytime on Katfan’s board you will see many of the same conversations. Sam fans expect to compete for a natty every single year, and while it’s impossible to live up to that, we fans (from the stands or our couch) are looking/questioning why we come out flat in the first half of games this year. No ones overlooking the next four conference games, were just hoping to see adjustments in the first half of games that eliminate the nail bitters in 4Q.

I’m proud of this team and those before it, Let’s carry the momentum to south Texas and clobber Lamar!

Bears just beat the #25 team by 29-6 in the last half, a team that held Nicholls scoreless...….just think about that.

First half was better in some ways.....BUT a great run by Carlos on first play called back for a hold that really hurt...that led to great field position for Kats..... and a score...then we left a TD on the field in early Q2 when a penalty negated a TD by Carlos and then Breylin throws a pick into the endzone...then we get pinned on our 2 and make some yards then start going backward and give up a safety....

The 99 yard drive by Kats just before half was embarrassing if I had been a defensive player...

However, our drives in first half started at 9, 12, 27, 3, 8, 30......not ideal...

Not sure what was said at half but it worked...…

H2 was not just a comeback but an offensive explosion against what many think is the best defense in the Southland...the Kats' d-line was the best I have seen in a long time...they were strong and just exploded off the LOS....our o-line had its hands full trying to give Breylin a couple seconds to find a receiver...it never really got much better but just enough to hit some really nice passes....not too many teams can lose a top player like LW and have two others to take over without skipping a beat...same goes for losing Josh Nix and the guys just keep coming in and playing ball....the best TE rotation I have seen us with...cannot say enough about Carlos.....hard runs when we needed and the TD pass and 2-point conversion....and many, many blocks on Kats rushers....

Kudos to Ray and Wallace.....we take it for granted but they are excellent weapons….just remember, Ray was 3/3 and the Kats kicker missed a PAT....had he made that kick it would have been 29-26 at the end and they would have kicked a FG on the last play instead of Brock getting tackled and losing the ball...

Hampton and Hudson were more than Sam could cover and both have not only height but acceleration and raw speed....

I noticed in 2nd half that defense was rotating lots of D-line and LBs into the game.....twice had players looking at sideline when the ball was snapped.....fortunately Kats ran the other direction but there was some confusion...on the other hand, we had fresh legs in the game letting our 1s rest a little...

Hats off to Sam for their d-line and RB Donavan Williams....ran 33/170.....we had no real solution for his runs.....although we hit him hard a lot....they also had a good crew of receivers and Stewart caught 5/110...…

Enjoy being 1st place for about 20 minutes because Lamar will be yet another tough game.... thanks to Northwestern State and to ACU for their big wins...

Go Bears!!

PS - Breylin had a pretty decent night as well...….24/403/4/1.....POW type stats...and AA level cool headed….

PSS - TJ Campbell had a whale of game....14 tackles...a very near Pick 6....and lots of bone-jarring tackles....

PSSS - congrats to Joe Hampton for being the LB Jackman Award winner...

PSSSS....attendance of 9363.....pretty good.....two students sections 90% full much of the game....I suspect there were some not there who mistakenly thought they would see a football game on TV...

The "Heart Stopper" Bears

Yeah, that can't be good for us old folks...

https://ucasports.com/news/2019/10/28/football-career-night-nets-smith-southland-player-of-week-award.aspx

POW honors for #3...……..well deserved...…..

CONWAY, Ark. _ University of Central Arkansas quarterback Breylin Smith was named the Southland Conference Offensive Player of the Week on Monday for his efforts in UCA's 29-25 victory over Sam Houston State on Saturday.

Smith, a sophomore from Conway, completed 24 of 43 passes for a career-high 405 yards and tied his career high with four touchdown passes, all in the decisive second half. No. 10 UCA rallied from a 16-0 halftime deficit and outscored the No. 21 Bearkats 29-9 in the second half to move into sole possession of first place in the SLC. Smith completed touchdown passes of 40, 53, 28 and 15 yards to a combination of three different receivers. He completed 10 passes for 253 yards and four touchdowns in the second half against the Bearkats.

Smith is the 12th UCA quarterback to throw for 400 yards in a game, and the first since 2013. Smith is the seventh UCA player to win one of the SLC weekly awards this season. For the year, Smith has completed 65 percent of his passes for 2,414 yards and 20 touchdowns.