Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

RUSTON, La. — A career passing game for quarterback Nathan Dick and a career night from receiver Jesse Grandy were not enough to get the University of Central Arkansas Bears past the Louisiana Tech Bulldogs.

The Bulldogs (1-1) drove the length of the field to tie the game in the final minute, then won it in overtime, blocking UCA’s field goal attempt and scoring the game-winner on a 1-yard run by Lennon Creer for a 48-42 victory before a crowd of 20,652 at Joe Aiellet Stadium.

The Bears (1-1) had taken a 42-35 lead with just 2:08 remaining in regulation when senior safety Jerrel McKnight picked up a fumble and returned it 73 yards for a touchdown. But the Bulldogs got a 49-yard pass over the middle from Nick Isham to Quinton Patton to set up a game-tying 7-yard touchdown run by Ray Holley with just :58 to play.

UCA got one final chance but could not score, setting up overtime. UCA gained only three yards in three plays and Eddie Camara’s 39-yard field goal attempt was blocked by Adrien Cole. The Bulldogs (1-1) took advantage, scoring in three plays, all rushes by Creer, who finished with a career-high 177 yards and 3 touchdowns on 32 carries.

“I thought we’d have an opportunity to win this game, and we did," said UCA Coach Clint Conque, who came to UCA from Louisiana Tech 12 years ago. “But I’m very disappointed we didn’t. We did make some big plays, but we also made too many mistakes. We have a chance to be a really good football team, but we have a lot of work to do. This loss is extremely disappointing to me because I feel like this is a game we should have won. You can call that arrogance or whatever, but we should have won this football game.

“I thought we kind of ran out of gas. They are really big on the offensive line and it really taxed our depth. In these type of games, you just have to hang on and put yourself in a position (to win), and we did that and I’m very proud of that. But we let it get away."

The Bulldogs scored twice in the first 11 minutes of the game, with freshman Isham connecting with junior Patton both times. A 42-yard touchdown pass gave Tech a 7-0 lead at the 10:10 mark. UCA got a 39-yard field goal from Eddie Camara with 4:46 left to cut it to 7-3.

Isham found Patton deep again on the same play on the Bulldogs’ first play from scrimmage for a 72-yard touchdown pass and a 14-3 lead. Patton finished with 8 catches for 211 yards and two touchdowns. Isham, a 17-year-old true freshman, was 22 of 37 for 318 yards.

The Bears then drove 79 yards in nine plays, with Dick passing down the left side to Grandy, who made two players miss and cruised into the end zone for a 17-yard touchdown. Dick completed 29 of a career-high 52 pass attempts for a career-high 372 yards and 4 touchdowns, also a career best. Grandy, a junior transfer from Ole Miss, caught 7 passes for 148 yards and two scores.

The Bears answered just before halftime when sophomore safety Jestin Love intercepted a pass at midfield and returned it 36yards to the Tech 20. Dick then hit redshirt freshman tight end Thomas Hart for 15 yards over the middle, down to the 5. He then lofted a fade pass into the left corner of the end zone that junior Dominique Croom hauled in with one foot down for the touchdown. Camara made it 21-17 with 39 seconds left in the half.

The Bears opened the second half with a 10-play, 54-yard drive but had to settle for a 35-yard field goal by Camara, bringing the Bears within 21-20. Tech responded with a long kickoff return into UCA territory and a seven-play, 46-yard scoring drive. Fullback Ray Holley capped it with a 4-yard touchdown run for a 28-20 Tech lead.

The Bulldogs pushed their lead to 35-20 on their next possession when senior running back Lennon Creer went in from the 12, putting him over the 100-yard rushing mark for the game. UCA came back with a 77-yard scoring drive, with Dominique Croom catching a 23-yard pass from Dick for the score, to make it 35-27 with 2:59 left in the third quarter.

The Bears held on defense and then drove deep into Tech territory, aided by a roughing the punter penalty. But the drive stalled and Camara was wide right on a 43-yard field goal attempt with nine minutes remaining. The Bulldogs returned the favor when Matt Nelson misfired from 46 yards out with 5:!5 remaining.

The Bears got back to midfield but Dick was intercepted by free safety Jamel Johnson when UCA’s receiver fell down. It was returned 19 yuards to the UCA 38.

“At times, we really threw and caught the ball very, very well," Conque said. “They are very big and physical up front so we knew it would be tough sledding in the run game. It was just a back-and-forth game. I was really proud because we fell behind two scores but we fought back and tied it up, and eventually took the lead. I thought the defense settled down a little more in the second half."

UCA continues its three-game road trip next week when it opens Southland Conference play at Sam Houston State. Kickoff is 6 p.m. in Huntsville, Texas.