Bears head into territory in which they’ve never won

By DAVID MCCOLLUM

LOG CABIN STAFF WRITER

A couple of things will be old, and one aspect will be new during the University of Central Arkansas Bears’ trip to Thibodaux, La., to face Nicholls this afternoon.

"Tough place to get to and tough place to play,” UCA coach Clint Conque about his alma mater said. 

Conque coached his first game at UCA in Thibodaux in 2000, with the Bears running out of gas in the face of a Colonel rally, 52-44, in the fourth quarter. Two years ago, one of Conque’s best teams in his UCA career sustained one of its two defeats, 20-17, on a last-second field goal.

The Colonels are in their first year under multi-traveled, 31-year coach Charlie Stubbs, who has been an assistant coach at Brigham Young, Oregon State, Memphis, Tennessee-Martin, UNLV, Alabama, Tulsa and Louisville. He came to Nicholls from the offensive coordinator’s position at Central Missouri.

The Colonels won their first Southland Conference game last week upsetting Texas State, 47-45, in four overtimes at San Marcos, Texas.

Stubbs is trying to install a spread, pass-oriented offense but his team still has several players from the triple-option attack employed by former coach Jay Thomas, who is now on Bradley Dale Peveto’s staff at Northwestern State.

"The biggest thing is to stay with the plan,” Stubbs said. “I’ve realized all the players we have don’t fit right now where I want to go. We can’t do everything I want to do right now. We’re gonna do what we can do best. I know it’s gonna be a journey. Patience is the key.”

One of the quarterbacks who helped the Colonels to victory in 2008, LaQuinton Caston, is the Colonels’ quarterback and he’s trying to adjust to the new attack. The Colonels also have the second-leading rusher in the conference in Jesse Turner, who is averaging 6.6 yards per carry.

"They’re a team in transition to the Spread and they’re adding diversity to their offense, but they are still using some option principles,” Conque said. “Caston is deadly with his feet. If his first or second reads are not there, he’s out. We’ve got to keep things contained in our passing lanes.”

Of the 64 players on the Nicholls’ roster, 31 are freshmen.

"They’ve already bought into what we’re doing,” Stubbs said. “Jeez, they’are all freshmen. It’s gonna be a growing process here. But there’s no problem of convincing guys of anything. Everything is new to them.”

It’s the second of two straight road games for the Bears before they return to Conway for their homecoming next week.

UCA (3-3, 0-2) at Nicholls (2-4, 1-1)

Time: 4 p.m.

Place: John L. Guidry Stadium, Thibodaux, La.

Coaaches: Clint Conque, UCA, 11th season, 78-46. Charlie Stubbs, Nicholls, first season.

Series: Tied 2-2

Last year: UCA won 42-13 in Conway.

Radio: KAPT (94.1 FM, The Point) and KUCA (91,3 FN)

Notable: The Bears will try to snap a three-game losing streak. The Bears are No. 1 or No. 2 in the conference in 14 different categories. The Colonels have played three NCAA Division I teams.

Quotable: “Before we take the next step to however many wins that are out there for us this year, we’ve got to get to four,” UCA coach Clint Conque said.