2018 Central Arkansas Bears football team

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American college football season

The 2018 Central Arkansas Bears football team represented the University of Central Arkansas in the 2018 NCAA Division I FCS football season. The Bears were led by first-year head coach Nathan Brown and played their home games at Estes Stadium. They were a member of the Southland Conference. They finished the season 6–5, 5–4 in Southland play to finish in a four-way tie for fourth place.

Previous season[edit]

The Bears finished the 2017 season 10–2, 9–0 in Southland play to be crowned Southland Conference champions. They received the Southland’s automatic bid to the FCS Playoffs where they lost to New Hampshire in the second round.

On December 7, head coach Steve Campbell resigned to become the head coach at South Alabama.[1] He finished at Central Arkansas with a four-year record of 33–15.

Preseason[edit]

Preseason All-Conference Teams[edit]

On July 12, 2018, the Southland announced their Preseason All-Conference Teams, with the Bears having 11 players selected.[2]

Offense First Team

  • Carlos Blackman – Jr. RB

Defense First Team

  • Chris Terrell – Jr. DL
  • Eric Jackson – Sr. DL
  • Juan Jackson – Jr. DB

Offense Second Team

  • Josh Nix – So. TE
  • Adrian Harris – So. OL
  • Hunter Watts – Jr. OL

Defense Second Team

  • Cardell Best – Sr. DL
  • Nathan Grant – So. DL
  • Raphael Garner – Sr. LB
  • Cedric Battle – Sr. KR

Preseason Poll[edit]

On July 19, 2018, the Southland announced their preseason poll, with the Bears predicted to finish in third place.[3]

Predicted finish Team Votes (1st place)
1 Sam Houston State 187 (10)
2 Nicholls State 173 (6)
3 Central Arkansas 170 (5)
4 McNeese State 159 (1)
5 Southeastern Louisiana 119
6 Stephen F. Austin 90
7 Abilene Christian 89
8 Northwestern State 86
9 Incarnate Word 53
10 Lamar 52
11 Houston Baptist 32

Award watch lists[edit]

Schedule[edit]

Source: [5][6][7][8][9][10]

Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance
September 1 6:00 p.m. at Tulsa* No. 16 ESPN3 L 27–38 18,356
September 8 6:00 pm Murray State* No. 17 SLC Digital W 26–13 6,121
September 15 7:00 p.m. at Southeastern Louisiana No. 18 ESPN+ W 33–25 6,485
September 29 3:00 pm at No. 21 Sam Houston State No. 13 ESPN3 L 31–34 OT 7,598
October 6 6:00 pm Houston Baptist No. 20 Bear Nation Network W 66–35 10,210
October 13 3:00 p.m. at Stephen F. Austin No. 18 ESPN3 W 27–17 5,976
October 20 6:00 pm Northwestern State No. 15 Bear Nation Network W 38–17 6,754
October 27 6:00 p.m. at No. 14 McNeese State No. 13 ESPN3 L 21–23 11,208
November 3 6:00 pm Lamardagger No. 19 ELVN/CST/SLC Digital L 24–38 10,874
November 10 3:00 pm Incarnate Word SLC Digital L 27–40 4,457
November 17 2:00 p.m. at Abilene Christian ESPN+ W 16–7 8,006
  • *Non-conference game
  • daggerHomecoming
  • Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game
  • All times are in Central time
*-Indicates Game Broadcast via Tape Delay

Game summaries[edit]

At Tulsa[edit]

Central Arkansas at Tulsa
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 16 Bears 13 0 7 7 27
• Golden Hurricane 7 14 3 14 38
Scoring summary
1 12:49 TULSA Hobbs 49-yard pass from Skipper (Walker kick) TULSA 0–7
1 10:43 UCA Cummins 19-yard FG TULSA 3–7
1 6:23 UCA Cummins 40-yard FG TULSA 6–7
1 3:54 UCA Kierr 1-yard rush (Cummins kick) UCA 13–7
2 14:57 TULSA Skipper 1-yard rush (Walker kick) TULSA 13–14
2 5:10 TULSA Brooks 1-yard rush (Walker kick) TULSA 13–21
3 5:52 UCA Smith 2-yard rush (Walker kick) TULSA 20–21
3 1:25 TULSA Walker 40-yard FG TULSA 20–24
4 11:08 UCA Morris fumble recovery in end zone (Cummins kick) UCA 27–24
4 8:11 TULSA Neph 14-yard pass from Skipper (Walker kick) TULSA 27–31
4 7:36 TULSA Brooks 1-yard rush (Walker kick) TULSA 27–38

Murray State[edit]

Murray State at Central Arkansas
1 2 3 4 Total
Racers 3 10 0 0 13
• No. 17 Bears 7 13 0 6 26

Sources:

At Southeastern Louisiana[edit]

Central Arkansas at Southeastern Louisiana
1 2 3 4 Total
• No. 18 Bears 0 13 14 6 33
Lions 7 3 7 8 25

Sources:

At Sam Houston State[edit]

Central Arkansas at Sam Houston State
1 2 3 4 OT Total
No. 13 Bears 3 7 7 14 0 31
• No. 21 Bearkats 0 14 14 3 3 34

Sources:

Houston Baptist[edit]

Houston Baptist at Central Arkansas
1 2 3 4 Total
Huskies 14 7 14 0 35
• No. 20 Bears 21 14 17 14 66

Sources:

At Stephen F. Austin[edit]

Central Arkansas at Stephen F. Austin
1 2 3 4 Total
• No. 18 Bears 7 3 14 3 27
Lumberjacks 7 0 3 7 17

Sources:

Northwestern State[edit]

Northwestern State at Central Arkansas
1 2 3 4 Total
Demons 0 10 7 0 17
• No. 15 Bears 14 14 7 3 38
  • Date: October 20
  • Location: Estes Stadium
    Conway, AR
  • Game start: 6:00 pm CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:05
  • Game attendance: 6,754
  • Referee: Cooper Castleberry
  • Television network: Bear Nation Network

Sources:[11][12]

At McNeese State[edit]

Red Beans and Rice Bowl
1 2 3 4 Total
No. 13 Bears 7 7 7 0 21
• No. 14 Cowboys 17 3 0 3 23
  • Date: October 27
  • Location: Cowboy Stadium
    Lake Charles, LA
  • Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT
  • Elapsed time: 3:15
  • Game attendance: 11,208
  • Game weather: 73 °F (23 °C) • SW 10 • Clear
  • Referee: Michael VanderVelde
  • Television network: ESPN3

Sources:[13]

Lamar[edit]

Lamar at Central Arkansas
(homecoming)
1 2 3 4 Total
• Cardinals 21 14 3 0 38
No. 19 Bears 10 6 0 8 24

Sources:

Incarnate Word[edit]

Incarnate Word at Central Arkansas
1 2 3 4 Total
• Cardinals 3 14 13 10 40
Bears 7 7 7 6 27

Sources:

At Abilene Christian[edit]

Central Arkansas at Abilene Christian
1 2 3 4 Total
• Bears 0 6 3 7 16
Wildcats 0 7 0 0 7

Sources:

Ranking movements[edit]

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
— = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below.
Week
Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 Final
STATS FCS 16 17 18 14 13–T 20 18 15 13 19 RV RV RV
Coaches 15 17 17 13 12 18 16 15 14 19 RV — —

References[edit]

  1. ^ “South Alabama Names Steve Campbell Head Football Coach”.
  2. ^ “Southland Announces 2018 Preseason All-Conference Football Teams”.
  3. ^ “Sam Houston State Voted to Top Spot in 2018 Football Preseason Poll”.
  4. ^ “FCS football: 2018 Buck Buchanan Award watch list announced”. August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018.
  5. ^ “2018 Football Schedule”. UCA Athletics. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  6. ^ “Central Arkansas Bears Schedule – 2018”. ESPN. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  7. ^ “Southland Announces Week 9 TV Selections”. Southland Conference. October 15, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018.
  8. ^ “SOUTHLAND ANNOUNCES WEEK 10 TV SELECTIONS”. Southland Conference. October 22, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  9. ^ “SOUTHLAND ANNOUNCES WEEK 8 TV SELECTIONS”. Southland Conference. October 8, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  10. ^ “SOUTHLAND ANNOUNCES WEEK 6 TV SELECTIONS”. Southland Conference. September 24, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2018.
  11. ^ “NORTHWESTERN STATE (2-5 , 1-4) -VS- CENTRAL ARKANSAS (5-2 , 4-1)”. UCA Athletics. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  12. ^ “Hales throws 5 TDs, Central Arkansas thumps NW State 38-17”. ESPN. Retrieved October 21, 2018.
  13. ^ “CENTRAL ARKANSAS (5-3 , 4-2) -VS- MCNEESE (6-2 , 5-1)”. UCA Athletics. Retrieved October 27, 2018.