Central Arkansas scouting report
9/15/2011 11:02:00 AM | Football
The Bears stand No. 18 in the NCAA Division I Football Championship Subdivision national rankings and were tabbed to finish third in the 2011 Southland Conference race in the preseason poll of the league's head coaches.
Senior quarterback Nathan Dick was named the Sports Network NCAA Division I "Offensive Player of the Week" after completing 29 of 52 passes for a career high 372 yards and four touchdowns in a 48-42 overtime loss to Louisiana Tech last Saturday.
"Coach Clint Conque is in his 12th season at Central Arkansas and has had a lot of good teams there," Sam Houston head coach Willie Fritz said. "He believes this team is one of his best and his quarterback and their offense certainly is going to present us with a number of challenges. With this being the opening Southland Conference game of 2011, the winner of this game will be a leg up on the rest of the league."
For the season, Dick has completed 56 of 88 passes for 652 yards and seven touchdowns. He ranks sixth in the nation in passing yards. UCA boasts the number two passing offense in the Southland Conference, averaging 346.5 yards per game.
UCA quarterbacks have thrown passes to 11 different receivers in two games. Leading the way is junior Jesse Grandy with 14 catches for 224 yards. He is tops in the Southland in receiving yards per game (112.0).
The Bears also field a formable special teams weapon in senior Isaiah Jackson who stands at the No. 1 kickoff returner in UCA history with 1,691 yards on 73 attempts. He set the single season kickoff return yards record last year with 699 yards on 31 attempts.
Linebacker Seth Allison leads the UCA defensive with 15 total tackles in two outings including three for losses.
Central Arkansas leads the all-time series with Sam Houston three victories to two but Sam Houston has won the last two meetings including a 20-13 thrilled in Conway last year.
Sam Houston's tilt with UCA Saturday is one of seven Southland Conference games on the schedule. The other six games are non-conference contests with Nicholls at Louisiana-Lafayette, Southeastern Louisiana at Southern Mississippi, Stephen F. Austin at Baylor, Incarnate Word at Lamar, Sioux Fallas at McNeese State and Northwestern State at SMU.
Tickets for the Parents' Weekend SHSU-UCA football game are available online now at www.gobearkats.com/tickets or at the athletic ticket office located in the Ron Mafrige Field House at Bowers Stadium. Ticket office hours are 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Monday through Friday. The ticket office telephone number is (936) 294-1729.
