CSJ: UCA Opens Playoffs With Crisp Win Over Tennessee Tech

[Lehigh Football Nation]

http://www.college-sports-journal.com/index.php/79-college-sports-journal/chuck-burton/119-central-arkansas-opens-playoffs-with-crisp-win-over-tennessee-tech


It may have been the first Division I Football postseason game for Central Arkansas, but the Bears looked anything like newcomers in a 34-14 thrashing of Tennessee Tech Saturday at Tucker Stadium.

Led by the play of quarterback Nathan Dick on offense and a stingy defense, UCA rolled to an easy victory in the first round of the Football Championship Subdivision playoffs.

Dick completed 23-of-29 passes for 319 yards and two touchdowns on a day where the Bears churned out 439 yards of total offense.

It was the eighth consecutive victory for Central Arkansas, which made the field as an at-large team after finishing second in the Southland Conference.

[BEAR]

I can't tell you how many times the defensive line was just fingertips away from grabbing that QB. EVERY time they missed him by a hair it was third down and they completed it for a yard or two over the first down marker. That was frustrating considering it didn't matter how many yards they needed and the fact we just took them the first two downs. I remember saying all night...oh no...it's third down again....xlolx Tennessee Tech thanks for the great time! Live band, bbq, and a beautiful campus! Good luck next year in the OVC! xbowx

[TTUEagles]

I can't tell you how many times the defensive line was just fingertips away from grabbing that QB. EVERY time they missed him by a hair it was third down and they completed it for a yard or two over the first down marker. That was frustrating considering it didn't matter how many yards they needed and the fact we just took them the first two downs. I remember saying all night...oh no...it's third down again....xlolx Tennessee Tech thanks for the great time! Live band, bbq, and a beautiful campus! Good luck next year in the OVC! xbowx

I'm glad you enjoyed TTU - you're nice to say that.
I was impressed with your D-Line...UCA was just simply better than "us." QB was as good as advertised - I figured the UCA would be that good - that didn't bother me. Best QB's I've ever seen in Tucker Stadium (in no order) are Tony Romo, Brockman (Murray St.'s current QB) and UCA's...
I am confused to why our 1,000 yard back (in 10 games) didn't get the ball much early on but, I was shocked to see our O-line get dominated like that anyway. Likewise, did Nathan Dick even get touched once yesterday?
I'm calling a under-count (is that a word?) on the attendance, too...There was a lot more there than 6,100.

[Lehigh Football Nation]

I'm still mystified as to why Watson Brown had a 4th-and-2 at the 23 with the wind at his back, and he went for it instead of going for the FG. He makes the 3 there, and it could have been a different game.

[BEAR]

I think the big play was when TTU needed a first down at the UCA 1 and came up half yard short late in the game. I could also tell they were getting frustrated when the cheap personal fouls started happening. One happened when our receiver went out of bounds and a late hit came. The next happened when our player went out of bounds and the TTU player just two hand shoved him for no reason. Then the TTU fans on our side all started talking about bad coaching decisions like running the football and then they started leaving. I felt frustrated for the Golden Eagles because they had mid-range passes open all night but the ball rarely went there...most of the time the pass was dropped so maybe that's why coach didn't go there. Without a run game, mid-range pass game, it was all dependent on the longer pass game..which worked sometimes but not enough. UCA gives up tons of yards a game between the 20s...but one score in the first and one in the fourth was enough for the UCA defense to win. The game the UCA offense played reminded me of Thanksgiving dinner....the TTU defense was carved up slowly with 5 yard runs and 10 yard passes with a big play thrown in for dressing. xlolx

[Golden Eagle]

I'm calling a under-count (is that a word?) on the attendance, too...There was a lot more there than 6,100.

Home team always underreports attendance in the postseason because they have to pay less money to the NCAA that way.

[BEAR]

Home team always underreports attendance in the postseason because they have to pay less money to the NCAA that way.

Yeah, I thought so. The opposite side was 3/4 full and the side I was on was nearly full. 12k there easily.