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
ConferenceSouthland Conference
2018 record6–5 (5–4 Southland)
Head coachNathan Brown (1st season)
Offensive coordinatorKen Collums (1st season)
Defensive coordinatorMax Thurmond (1st season)
Home stadiumEstes 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)
1Sam Houston State187 (10)
2Nicholls State173 (6)
3Central Arkansas170 (5)
4McNeese State159 (1)
5Southeastern Louisiana119
6Stephen F. Austin90
7Abilene Christian89
8Northwestern State86
9Incarnate Word53
10Lamar52
11Houston Baptist32

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

Schedule

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

DateTimeOpponentRankSiteTVResultAttendance
September 16:00 p.m.at Tulsa*No. 16
ESPN3L 27–3818,356
September 86:00 pmMurray State*No. 17
SLC DigitalW 26–136,121
September 157:00 p.m.at Southeastern LouisianaNo. 18
ESPN+W 33–256,485
September 293:00 pmat No. 21 Sam Houston StateNo. 13
ESPN3L 31–34 OT7,598
October 66:00 pmHouston BaptistNo. 20
  • Estes Stadium
  • Conway, AR
Bear Nation NetworkW 66–3510,210
October 133:00 p.m.at Stephen F. AustinNo. 18
ESPN3W 27–175,976
October 206:00 pmNorthwestern StateNo. 15
  • Estes Stadium
  • Conway, AR
Bear Nation NetworkW 38–176,754
October 276:00 p.m.at No. 14 McNeese StateNo. 13
ESPN3L 21–2311,208
November 36:00 pmLamarNo. 19
  • Estes Stadium
  • Conway, AR
ELVN/CST/SLC DigitalL 24–3810,874
November 103:00 pmIncarnate Word
  • Estes Stadium
  • Conway, AR
SLC DigitalL 27–404,457
November 172:00 p.m.at Abilene Christian
ESPN+W 16–78,006
  • *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 234Total
No. 16 Bears 13 077 27
• Golden Hurricane 7 14314 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 234Total
Racers 3 1000 13
• No. 17 Bears 7 1306 26
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 234Total
• No. 18 Bears 0 13146 33
Lions 7 378 25
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 234OTTotal
No. 13 Bears 3 77140 31
• No. 21 Bearkats 0 141433 34
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 234Total
Huskies 14 7140 35
• No. 20 Bears 21 141714 66
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 234Total
• No. 18 Bears 7 3143 27
Lumberjacks 7 037 17
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 234Total
Demons 0 1070 17
• No. 15 Bears 14 1473 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 234Total
No. 13 Bears 7 770 21
• No. 14 Cowboys 17 303 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 234Total
• Cardinals 21 1430 38
No. 19 Bears 10 608 24
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 234Total
• Cardinals 3 141310 40
Bears 7 776 27
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 234Total
• Bears 0 637 16
Wildcats 0 700 7
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.
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