2018 Central Arkansas Bears football team

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.

2018 Central Arkansas Bears football
Conference	Southland Conference
2018 record	6–5 (5–4 Southland)
Head coach	Nathan Brown (1st season)
Offensive coordinator	Ken Collums (1st season)
Defensive coordinator	Max Thurmond (1st season)
Home stadium	Estes Stadium (Capacity: 10,000)

2018 Southland Conference football standings
	Conf							Overall
Team		W		L					W		L
No. 14 Nicholls +^		7	–	2					9	–	4
Incarnate Word +^		6	–	2					6	–	5
Lamar ^		6	–	3					7	–	5
Abilene Christian		5	–	4					6	–	5
Central Arkansas		5	–	4					6	–	5
McNeese State		5	–	4					6	–	5
Sam Houston State		5	–	4					6	–	5
Northwestern State		4	–	5					5	–	6
Southeastern Louisiana		4	–	5					4	–	7
Stephen F. Austin		2	–	7					2	–	8
Houston Baptist		0	–	9					1	–	10
+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS FCS Poll

Previous season

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

Preseason All-Conference Teams

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

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

Award	Player	Position	Year
Buck Buchanan Award[4]	Chris Terrell	DE	JR

Schedule

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	H. A. Chapman Stadium Tulsa, OK	ESPN3	L 27–38	18,356
September 8	6:00 pm	Murray State*	No. 17	Estes Stadium Conway, AR	SLC Digital	W 26–13	6,121
September 15	7:00 p.m.	at Southeastern Louisiana	No. 18	Strawberry Stadium Hammond, LA	ESPN+	W 33–25	6,485
September 29	3:00 pm	at No. 21 Sam Houston State	No. 13	Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX	ESPN3	L 31–34 ^OT	7,598
October 6	6:00 pm	Houston Baptist	No. 20	Estes Stadium Conway, AR	Bear Nation Network	W 66–35	10,210
October 13	3:00 p.m.	at Stephen F. Austin	No. 18	Homer Bryce Stadium Nacogdoches, TX	ESPN3	W 27–17	5,976
October 20	6:00 pm	Northwestern State	No. 15	Estes Stadium Conway, AR	Bear Nation Network	W 38–17	6,754
October 27	6:00 p.m.	at No. 14 McNeese State	No. 13	Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA (Red Beans and Rice Bowl)	ESPN3	L 21–23	11,208
November 3	6:00 pm	Lamar	No. 19	Estes Stadium Conway, AR	ELVN/CST/SLC Digital	L 24–38	10,874
November 10	3:00 pm	Incarnate Word		Estes Stadium Conway, AR	SLC Digital	L 27–40	4,457
November 17	2:00 p.m.	at Abilene Christian		Wildcat Stadium Abilene, TX	ESPN+	W 16–7	8,006
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

*-Indicates Game Broadcast via Tape Delay

Game summaries

at Tulsa

See also: 2018 Tulsa Golden Hurricane football team

Central Arkansas at Tulsa

1 2 3 4 Total No. 16 Bears 13 0 7 7 27 • Golden Hurricane 7 14 3 14 38 Date: September 1 Location: Skelly Field at H. A. Chapman Stadium Tulsa, Oklahoma Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT Game attendance: 18,356 Referee: Bob Johnson Television network: ESPN3

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

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
0–2	2010	L, 14–41

Murray State

See also: 2018 Murray State Racers football team

Murray State at Central Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total Racers 3 10 0 0 13 • No. 17 Bears 7 13 0 6 26 Date: September 8 Location: Estes Stadium Conway, AR Game start: 6:00 pm CDT Television network: SLC Digital Sources:

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–0–1	2017	W, 41–13

at Southeastern Louisiana

See also: 2018 Southeastern Louisiana Lions football team

Central Arkansas at Southeastern Louisiana

1 2 3 4 Total • No. 18 Bears 0 13 14 6 33 Lions 7 3 7 8 25 Date: September 15 Location: Strawberry Stadium Hammond, LA Game start: 7:00 p.m. CDT Television network: ESPN+ Sources:

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–3	2017	W, 38–6

at Sam Houston State

See also: 2018 Sam Houston State Bearkats football team

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 Date: September 29 Location: Bowers Stadium Huntsville, TX Game start: 3:00 p.m. CDT Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–6	2017	W, 41–30

Houston Baptist

See also: 2018 Houston Baptist Huskies football team

Houston Baptist at Central Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total Huskies 14 7 14 0 35 • No. 20 Bears 21 14 17 14 66 Date: October 6 Location: Estes Stadium Conway, AR Game start: 6:00 pm CDT Television network: Bear Nation Network Sources:

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–0	2017	W, 27–7

at Stephen F. Austin

See also: 2018 Stephen F. Austin Lumberjacks football team

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 Date: October 13 Location: Homer Bryce Stadium Nacogdoches, TX Game start: 3:00 p.m. CDT Television network: ESPN3 Sources:

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
9–3	2017	W, 24–20

Northwestern State

See also: 2018 Northwestern State Demons football team

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]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
8–3	2017	W, 45–17

at McNeese State

See also: 2018 McNeese State Cowboys football team

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]

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
6–5	2017	W, 47–17

Lamar

See also: 2018 Lamar Cardinals football team

Lamar at Central Arkansas
(Homecoming)

1 2 3 4 Total • Cardinals 21 14 3 0 38 No. 19 Bears 10 6 0 8 24 Date: November 3 Location: Estes Stadium Conway, AR Game start: 6:00 pm CDT Television network: ELVN/CST/SLC Digital Sources:

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
7–0	2017	W, 42–14

Incarnate Word

See also: 2018 Incarnate Word Cardinals football team

Incarnate Word at Central Arkansas

1 2 3 4 Total • Cardinals 3 14 13 10 40 Bears 7 7 7 6 27 Date: November 10 Location: Estes Stadium Conway, AR Game start: 3:00 pm CST Television network: SLC Digital Sources:

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
2–0	2017	W, 56–10

at Abilene Christian

See also: 2018 Abilene Christian Wildcats football team

Central Arkansas at Abilene Christian

1 2 3 4 Total • Bears 0 6 3 7 16 Wildcats 0 7 0 0 7 Date: November 17 Location: Wildcat Stadium Abilene, TX Sources:

Overall record	Last meeting	Result
4–2–1	2017	W, 34–0

Ranking movements

Ranking movements
Legend: ██ Increase in ranking. ██ Decrease in ranking.
NR = Not ranked. RV = Received votes. т = Tied with team above or below. ( ) = First place votes.

	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	NR	NR

References

1. https://usajaguars.com/news/2017/12/7/south-alabama-names-steve-campbell-head-football-coach.aspx
2. http://southland.org/news/2018/7/11/southland-announces-2018-preseason-all-conference-football-teams.aspx
3. http://southland.org/news/2018/7/16/sam-houston-state-voted-to-top-spot-in-2018-football-preseason-poll.aspx
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.