Can things work out for Bears with another 'Nathan formula?'

It's too early to tell the potency of the following equation for the University of Central Arkansas: Nathan1-Nathan1 + Nathan 2 = ?

There are just two many variables.

But certainly the transfer of former University of Arkansas quarterback Nathan Dick brings an interesting dynamic to the UCA football team, which has a senior (Robbie Park) with limited game experience and two redshirt freshmen (Trae Cook and Matt Hudson) with promise who vying to replace Nathan Brown, one of the greatest quarterbacks in not only UCA but state history.

There's not enough body of work in college on Nathan Dick to make a definitive judgment. Dick started two games for the Razorbacks, had a good effort in a losing cause against Mississippi State. Late in the season, he beat out his older brother, Casey, for the starting job, but that's also hard to evaluate because Casey Dick had one of the most hot-and-cold careers in recent Razorback history.

Nathan Dick apparently saw the handwriting on the wall that Michigan quarterback Ryan Mallett was the heir apparent in Bobby Petrino's system and he was facing a battle with Tyler Wilson for the No. 2 spot.

But there was several upsides as far as UCA was concerned about its newest quarterback.

Nathan Dick was an extremely efficient quarterback in high school, passing for more than 3,600 yards with 24 touchdowns and seven interceptions at Allen High School, a highly rated program in one of Texas' largest classifications.

He's 6-foot-4, has played with and against SEC athletes and he has three years of eligibility and can go through spring drills.

"He was an outstanding quarterback coming out of a good Texas high school program," UCA coach Clint Conque said. "The question we had to ask is if he were coming out of high school this year, would we recruit him? The answer was an unqualified yes. Now, you put that on top of the experience he had in an SEC program."

But Conque will be the first to tell you Dick will be given only an opportunity in what is shaping up as a four-man battle for the starting quarterback at UCA. There was no guarantee that the job is his just because of a pedigree.

"There are no entitlements, and we make that clear to all our recruits," Conque said. "Things are performance-driven."

When spring practice arrives, Conque, as he has with all transfers, will emphasize that none of them have done anything at UCA. The slate is clean, both positive and negative.

Many observers point to the success UCA had with Razorback transfer Zac Clark at quarterback. Two of the most recent transfers from the Razorbacks, wide receiver Cedric Logan and tight end Marc Winston, had more modest success, never becoming high-level players on the NCAA Division I Footballl Championship Subdivision level.

Transfers can be volatile. Some players flourish with a fresh start in a new environment. Some are OK. Others never find themselves and bomb out.

But if the opportunity comes around to get and develop a quarterback who has played with and against bigtime players, if you're at coach at UCA, you can't turn it down.

"Here's a high-profile Texas athlete who has played in the SEC and he looks at several schools in Texas and ends up at UCA, I'd say that says a lot about where our program is," Conque said. "And recruiting Zac Clark was easy. He just needed to know if we were going to throw the ball and make sure we wanted him. It was tougher with Nathan Dick. He visited our campus before Christmas, then we had to sit and wait through a dead period. Then, he visits three or four schools in Texas in three days. We just had to wait a lot of things out."

Conque will also be the first to tell you that sometimes quarterbacks get an overdue amount of attention in recruiting. He likes quarterbacks. He also likes the big picture.

There's a reason Sam Houston State never came close to winning a Southland Conference title even though it landed one of the most highly rated transfer quarterbacks in the country three years ago in Rhett Bomar. He had an outstanding career at Sam Houston but the supporting cast was never good enough to put together a championship drive.

"I understand why people pay the most attention to a quarterback, but I'm really, really excited about all of our transfers and our recruiting class as a whole," said Conque, in the midst of a exhausting recruiting blitz through several states. "We've signed a tight end who will give us another element of length. We've signed an outside linebacker who should give us a lot of help on the edge against option teams. We've got about seven to eight high school commitments and they're good ones. We're having a good year recruiting overall. I'm tired right now, but I am excited."

"I think for a team to play at a high level year after year, you've got to get good players across the board and continually create competition."

But there will be a different touch when the Bears begin spring practice in March. In past years, it was pretty much assumed, barring injury or an out-of-character meltdown, that Nathan Brown had the No. 1 quarterback position secure.

This year, it will be more fluid and dynamic.

Conque and his staff will be looking at the bigger overall picture, but the UCA fans will have a fun, intriguing and exciting time watching what develops at quarterback.

(Sports columnist David McCollum can be reached at 505-1235 or david.mccollum@thecabin.net)