New year, similar result

Don’t let the score fool you. The Bears were far better than the 39-6 final showed Thursday night against Henderson State.

Some parts of the game started off with a crisp feel as the Bears quickly forced two HSU punts, both led to touchdowns and a quick 14-0 lead.

The first came on a five play drive where four different players ended up with the ball.

Ross Brown got the two of his 15 carries for a quick 16 yards. Nathan Brown threw two short passes to newcomers Cedric Logan and David Robinson before finding Aaron Fairooz for a 48 yard touchdown catch.

The next UCA possession lasted just 23 seconds. Ross Brown’s third carry of the game was a 57 yard run to the endzone, giving him 73 yards midway through the first quarter.

"Really happy for [Ross]," head coach Clint Conque said. "Probably in the first half could have gone to him a little more. He was rolling."

After a missed Reddie field goal, several stalled drives for both teams, and a missed UCA field goal attempt early in the second quarter, Ross Brown took the ball four yards for his second touchdown of the game, giving the Bears a 20-0 lead.

Because of some things the UCA coaching staff had seen on film and during the game, they decided to attempt a fake field goal. Nathan Brown, the holder, took the snap, rolled left and found Charles Twilley for the two-point conversion.

Kicker James Paul got another chance with three seconds remaining in the half and made a 27 yard attempt, putting UCA on top 25-0 heading into the half.

"The offensive line I thought did a very credible job in the first half in particular," Conque said. "Play got a little sloppy in the 2nd half obviously."

The third quarter started with three failed drives for UCA, and HSU was able to turn a blocked pooch punt attempt by Nathan Brown into their first points of the game. Although the Bear defense forced the Reddies to just three plays, the third field goal try was a charm for HSU kicker Brian Giambastiani.

The Bears weren’t able to answer immediately, but did take advantage of Ahmad Brown’s second interception of the game to set up a touchdown pass on the first play in the fourth quarter.

Another newcomer, transfer Chijuan Mack from Oklahoma State, caught his second pass as a Bear and scampered 39 yards for the touchdown.

"We’re pretty deep at receiver," Conque noted. "We’ve got some talent there."

The play and extra point put UCA up 32-3 and was the last time the offense would score as the coaching staff was able to substitute a lot of players to get experience.

"We played an awful lot of people," Conque said.

The defense was solid for the Bears, holding HSU to just 203 yards of total offense. Contributing to that were three forced fumbles, although only one was recovered by UCA. And the secondary, that allowed just eight completions in 20 attempts, caught half that many themselves.

Adding to Ahmad Brown’s two interceptions, James Lancaster set the final score with his 36 yard interception and return. Lancaster didn’t have a tackle in the game, but came up with an interception and touchdown in his first college game.

The following play senior Jasper Johnson’s interception at the two yard line ended HSU last real scoring opportunity.

But Conque was quick to point out that the Bears have a long way to go.

"Third down conversions were very poor. We had four 15 yard penalties in this game, and that’s just unacceptable.

"Hopefully we learned some lessons."

With a long week to prepare for Illinois State next Saturday, the team must make some improvements before they make their first road trip to a fellow I-AA opponent.

"We’ve got to get better. We need to get better. We’re gonna get better. We’re going to see it on film and then go back and make the corrections either by scheme or with personnel."

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A look at the baseball schedule

The first year in Division I baseball will include 56 games against DI teams, zero against lower level clubs.

“I’m happy that we have 56 Division I games,” head coach Doug Clark said. “It was a big process. The Southland schedule helps us a bunch.”

The Bears will play 10 teams in their new conference. The only SLC baseball school not on the schedule in 2007 is Texas-Arlington. UTA is the closest conference member to Conway according to Clark.

The non-conference schedule features two teams that reached the NCAA tournament last season. St. Louis University set a school record for wins last season. The Billikens finished with a 32-29 mark a trip to the Fullerton Regional.

On paper, the scariest team on the schedule is definitely Oral Roberts. ORU made it through the Fayetteville Region with a perfect 3-0 record. They were then swept in the Super Regional matchup with top-seeded Clemson. ORU returns six starters in the field. If there’s any bit of good news, it’s that ORU lost three of their top four pitchers, a group that dominated with a 30-9 record.

Coach Clark said that the 2007 team will be considered a “counter.” A counter means opponents will receive credit towards their Ratings Percentage Index (RPI).

“It also means you go somewhere and get a guarantee,” Clark said.

The counter part of the equation makes UCA attractive to top-tier teams. The guarantee part makes those top-tier teams attractive to UCA.

The Bears finished the season with a 30-18 season, but with the upgrade in competition must come an upgrade in the talent and on-field play.

“We lost a bunch of arms. Pitching definitely was a strength, but we do have [Matt] Whitaker back and [Jonathan] Ashworth will pitch more.”

Daniel Price, who pitched mostly in relief last season, also returns, and Clark is looking to some redshirts to step up and help the team out. But admits there will be “growing pains.”

“It is about the pitching. We feel confident about our ability to develop pitchers.

“We’ve also got a few returners in the field. [Payton] Seelinger wasn’t named freshman of the year, but should have been.”

Clark said the team is going to work their way into bigger competition, but ORU and SLU will definitely be a part of the breaking in process. That doesn’t even take into account the quality of competition within the Southland.