Slugfest

A flurry-for-flurry slugfest Saturday night came down to a quickstep, a knockdown, one of the worst onside kicks ever attempted and a lot of Hart.

Before the second largest home crowd in University of Central Arkansas history, UCA defensive back Derrick Boyd slapped away a pass intended for Chris Lucas on a 2-point conversion attempt. The Bears held on for a 48-46 victory over Sam Houston State in a Southland Conference opener full of twists, turns, big plays, weird plays, bigtime quarterbacking and rising blood pressure. It was a classic hug-your-sweetie homecoming victory before 12,312 fans at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

Sam Houston State quarterback Rhett Bomar, who completed 29 of 47 passes for three touchdowns, led the Bearkats 80 yards to a 3-yard, fourth-down touchdown run by Catron Houston to draw his team within 48-46 with 1:40 left. Boyd then had Lucas covered step for step on the pass over the middle for the 2-point conversion try and slapped the ball out of his hands and possibly victory out of the grasp of the Bearkats.

"I anticipated they would run an inside route, and I picked it up and got a hand on it," Boyd said. "I had to get a hand on it. Bomar put it right where it was supposed to be."

Out of timeouts, the Bearkats' only chance at victory was to recover an onside kick. Unfortunately for them, place-kicker Taylor Wilkins apparently overdid getting the right touch and the ball trickled sideways right down the 30-yard line. Like a golf putt nicely on line, it went out of bounds on the SHSU sideline on the 31 as the Bearkat coaches grimaced and put their arms over their heads.

UCA (5-1, 1-0) ran out the clock to finally end the regionally televised contest that took three hours and 33 minutes and took an early lead in the SLC race. The Bearkats (2-2, 0-1) now face a showdown with defending champion McNeese State, which was stunned by Texas State last week, for survival in the race.

"This was a real chess match for most of the evening," said UCA coach Clint Conque. "It's exhausting thinking about all the 'what ifs.' I'm tired."

Even though the contest was full of offense, highlighted by a tit-for-tat confrontation of two of the best seniors quarterbacks in college football (Bomar and UCA's Nathan Brown), a key element was the play of UCA defensive end Larry Hart, who was voted by the media the L.B. Jackman Award as the Most Outstanding Player in the homecoming game. Hard had 1 1/2 sacks for 11 yards in losses and had three more tackles for another 15 yards in losses. His sack on Bomar for a 2-yard loss on third down at the UCA 6, forcing a field goal, was one of two pivotal, difference-making plays (along with Boyd's breakup) for the Bears.

Lining up at a variety of positions along the defensive front, Hart played a major role in disrupting Bomar and the Sam Houston offense at several major junctures. It was part of a "floater package" designed by UCA assistant Brian Early to move the hard-rushing Hart along the line of scrimmage. And Bomar seemed to have to work to identify where he was and where the UCA blitzes were coming from.

"I had a specific assignment on every play, but not a specific place to line up," Hart said.

Brown completed 20 of 28 passes for 269 yards and three touchdowns and was intercepted for the first time in 178 attempts this season by Bearkat defensive end Ryan Gloston on a screen attempt.

His biggest play occurred on third-and-10 at the UCA 40 when he passed 15 yards across the field to Willie Landers, who found an opening in the seam of the SHSU defense. As a tackler approached, Landers made a quick, skip-step to the right that produce a wide-open sideline that, aided by a shield block by Darrius McNeal downfield, produced a 60-yard touchdown that gave UCA a 48-40 lead with 5:51 left.

"We have receivers who can take a 15-yard pass and go the distance," Brown said. "We had Willie isolated on a linebacker and he made a beautiful move. It's interesting. Before we ran the play, I told Willie that if you catch the ball, don't stop running until the end zone. I specifically told Willie that."

Landers had numbers that also a candidate for the Jackman Award five catches for 108 yards and two touchdowns. Tight end Marquez Branson had a 49-yard touchdown reception that he spent the last four yards backing into the end zone pulling a defender.

The game also featured a 47-yard quick kick by Brown that was nullified by a personal foul and a fumble recovery by place-kicker Eddie Carmona on a kickoff as the ball squirted out of a pile of players.

The Bears had an 84-yard kickoff return by Conway's Isaiah Jackson called back by an illegal block. They were assessed 12 penalties for 128 yards, including three that gave Sam Houston first downs on a laborious touchdown drive in the third quarter that took six minutes.

Still, the teams struck at each other with amazing efficiency that produced a 33-point first quarter and a 61-point first half. The Bearkats were seven of seven in the red zone and the Bears were six of six.

"Eddie Carmona (two fieldds goals and six extra points) was perfect on his kicks, and I think our kicking game was a real advantage," Conque said. "But there were also two real warriors out there at quarterback (Bomar and Brown) battling each other. But 12 penalties for 128 yards is unacceptable and we gave up 600 yards in offense. But we found a way to overcome their offense and ourselves but making enough plays when we had to have them."

The Bears travel to San Marcos, Texas, next week to take on another high-scoring team, Texas State, which stunned McNeese, 45-42, Saturday night.