Arkansas Business

This story is from the archives of ArkansasSports360.com.

For the second week in a row, UCA dealt with rain. But this time it wasn’t a torrential downpour and unlike last week the Bears found a way to win, defeating the Nicholls State Colonels, 34-14, in front of an umbrella-filled crowd of 4.357 at Estes Stadium.

UCA’s defense stiffened after halftime, pitching a shutout in the second half while holding the Colonels to 70 yards. That helped the Bears (4-2, 2-1 SLC) overcome a 14-13 halftime deficit.

“We made absolutely no adjustments at halftime,” Coach Clint Conque said. “It was just a question of our guys being more disciplined on the defensive side of the football with their eyes, their fits and in covering people.”

Redshirt freshman Jonathan Woodard, last week’s Southland Conference Defensive Player of the Week, had another standout performance against the Colonels, leading the team with six tackles, including all three of the Bears’ sacks on the night.

The Bears’ offense started the second half with an 11-play, 63-yard drive, eating up over four minutes of clock. The drive also included two fourth-down conversions, including a 4th-&-10 completion to Jesse Grandy for 13 yards. Senior tailback Terence Bobo capped off the drive with an 18-yard run for a touchdown, giving the Bears the lead for good at 20-14.

After a forced three-and-out by the Bears’ defense and a Grandy punt return for a touchdown was called back for holding, Wynrick Smothers led the offense down the field again. This time Smothers capped off the drive with a 13-yard toss to Dominique Croom to help put the Bears ahead 27-14 with 6:07 remaining in the third quarter.

Smothers was hampered by an ankle injury sustained in last week’s road loss against Stephen F. Austin, but finished the night 31 of 43 for 289 yards and one touchdown. He added 13 yards on the ground, despite the injury.

“It held up long enough for me to do what I had to do,” he said. “If my ankle’s hurt or not, [my team] is depending on me. I have to go out there and give it my all and do my best to help my team get the win.”

Smothers was in a boot the entire week and received less than half of the reps at practice according to Conque. Smothers did not re-injure the ankle tonight, but Conque said he will return to the boot again this week as a precaution and should be 100 percent by Saturday.

After managing less than 2.5 yards a carry last week, the Bears rushed for 222 yards on 46 carries against Nicholls State, averaging 4.8 yards per rush. The rushing unit was also able to score three of the Bears’ four touchdowns.

Senior Jackie Hinton led the way for UCA, gaining 106 yards on 18 carries, including a touchdown from one yard out in the first quarter.

Backup quarterback Jacoby Walker scored the last touchdown of the night for the Bears, capping off a six-play, 33-yard drive with a two-yard touchdown run with nine seconds left in the game.