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 [ ]
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]
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 [ ]
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 ESPN3 L 27–3818,356
September 8 6:00 pm Murray State * No. 17 SLC Digital W 26–136,121
September 15 7:00 p.m. at Southeastern Louisiana No. 18 ESPN+ W 33–256,485
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 66–3510,210
October 13 3:00 p.m. at Stephen F. Austin No. 18 ESPN3 W 27–175,976
October 20 6:00 pm Northwestern State No. 15 Bear Nation Network W 38–176,754
October 27 6:00 p.m. at No. 14 McNeese State No. 13 ESPN3 L 21–2311,208
November 3 6:00 pm Lamar No. 19 ELVN /CST /SLC DigitalL 24–3810,874
November 10 3:00 pm Incarnate Word SLC Digital L 27–404,457
November 17 2:00 p.m. at Abilene Christian ESPN+ W 16–78,006
*Non-conference game HomecomingRankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time
*-Indicates Game Broadcast via Tape Delay
Game summaries [ ]
at Tulsa [ ]
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 [ ]
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 [ ]
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 [ ]
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 [ ]
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 [ ]
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 [ ]
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 20Location: Estes Stadium Conway, AR Game start: 6:00 pm CDT Elapsed time: 3:05Game attendance: 6,754Referee: Cooper CastleberryTelevision network: Bear Nation Network
Sources:[11] [12]
at McNeese State [ ]
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 27Location: Cowboy Stadium Lake Charles, LA Game start: 6:00 p.m. CDT Elapsed time: 3:15Game attendance: 11,208Game weather: 73 °F (23 °C) • SW 10 • ClearReferee: Michael VanderVeldeTelevision network: ESPN3
Sources:[13]
Lamar [ ]
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 [ ]
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 [ ]
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 [ ]
Ranking movementsLegend: ██ 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 [ ]
^ "South Alabama Names Steve Campbell Head Football Coach" .
^ "Southland Announces 2018 Preseason All-Conference Football Teams" .
^ "Sam Houston State Voted to Top Spot in 2018 Football Preseason Poll" .
^ "FCS football: 2018 Buck Buchanan Award watch list announced" . August 2, 2018. Retrieved August 2, 2018 .
^ "2018 Football Schedule" . UCA Athletics. Retrieved October 21, 2018 .
^ "Central Arkansas Bears Schedule - 2018" . ESPN. Retrieved October 21, 2018 .
^ "Southland Announces Week 9 TV Selections" . Southland Conference. October 15, 2018. Retrieved October 16, 2018 .
^ "SOUTHLAND ANNOUNCES WEEK 10 TV SELECTIONS" . Southland Conference. October 22, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2018 .
^ "SOUTHLAND ANNOUNCES WEEK 8 TV SELECTIONS" . Southland Conference. October 8, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2018 .
^ "SOUTHLAND ANNOUNCES WEEK 6 TV SELECTIONS" . Southland Conference. September 24, 2018. Retrieved October 25, 2018 .
^ "NORTHWESTERN STATE (2-5 , 1-4) -VS- CENTRAL ARKANSAS (5-2 , 4-1)" . UCA Athletics. Retrieved October 21, 2018 .
^ "Hales throws 5 TDs, Central Arkansas thumps NW State 38-17" . ESPN. Retrieved October 21, 2018 .
^ "CENTRAL ARKANSAS (5-3 , 4-2) -VS- MCNEESE (6-2 , 5-1)" . UCA Athletics. Retrieved October 27, 2018 .
Venues Bowls & rivalries People National championship seasons in bold