UCA vs Louisiana Tech

from UCAsports.com.....

BULLDOGS BITE BEARS 28-7
FOOTBALL • Sep 1, 2007

RUSTON, La _ Turnovers and special teams break downs doomed the University of Central Arkansas Bears in a 28-7 season-opening loss to Louisiana Tech on Saturday night before a crowd of 20,240 at Joe Aillet Stadium.

The Bears, an NCAA Division I Championship Subdivision team taking on a D-I Bowl Division team, self-destructed with six turnovers, including a combined five interceptions by two quarterbacks. Junior starter Nathan Brown threw a career-high four interceptions despite completing 26 of 41 passes for 234 yards.

The special teams blunders ran the gamut from a muffed punt return attempt inside the 10 to a combined 183 kickoff and punt return yards allowed. The Bears actually outgained the Bulldogs 386 to 261 in total offense and ran 94 plays from scrimmage to just 59 for Louisiana Tech.

"I’m obviously disappointed we didn’t win the football game,' said UCA head coach Clint Conque, 'because we came here to win. Our young men competed hard but we didn’t always compete very smart. A couple of special teams breakdowns in the first half really hurt us.

"You give up two punt returns like we did and you miss a field goal, then you can't get it done in the red zone... you're not going to win.'

The Bears struck fast with a five-play, 80-yard drive on the first possession of the game. UCA junior quarterback Nathan completed three straight passes, including a 58-yarder to sophomore tailback Brent Grimes on the game's first play that quickly put the Bears deep in Bulldog territory.

On the fifth play, Brown hit junior tight end Marquez Branson with a 7-yard touchdown pass, his first reception as a Bear. Freshman Ryan Duhon added the PAT for a 7-0 UCA lead at the 12:35 mark of the first quarter.

UCA's young defense _ with just two returning starters _ held the Bulldogs on their first two possessions, but disaster struck on Louisiana Tech's second punt. UCA senior Tristan Jackson tried to field the punt inside his own 10 and muffed the ball. Marquis McBeath recovered for the Bulldogs at the UCA 9.

All-Western Athletic Conference tailback Patrick Jackson rushed for eight yards to the one on second down but the Bears then stopped him twice for no gain, both times from inside the 1.

"I thought the defense at times played extremely well,' Conque said, "particularly the goal-line stand and the turnovers we created. Some guys really stood out over there and impressed me. Taylor Scott, Quad Sanders, Lloyd Loggins made a few nice hits there.

"A lot of young guys out there wearing the purple and gray for the first time. We'll grow and get better from this.'

Special teams again hurt the Bears after James Paul's 56-yard punt was returned 54 yards to the UCA 19. The Bulldogs scored three plays later when quarterback Zac Champion kept from the 5. Danny Horwedel tied the game with the PAT at 3:21 in the first quarter.

Brown, who completed 10 of 11 pass attempts for 128 yards in the first quarter, drove the Bears down to the Tech 12 but threw an interception to LTU's Tony Moss in the end zone to end the threat.

The Bulldogs returned the favor when, after driving to midfield, Champion fumbled a snap and UCA's Uriah Perry fell on it at the Tech 48. Neither team managed a first down on their next possessions and UCA took over at its 29.

UCA got to midfield but was forced to punt again and the Bulldogs got another long return, a 49-yarder from Philip Beck, and started at the UCA 37's PAT gave the Bulldogs a 14-7 lead midway through the second period.

Brown was intercepted again on UCA's next possession by a diving Weldon Brown at midfield. The Bulldogs capitilized on the miscue, pushing their lead to 21-7 on Champion's 1-yard TD pass to Dustin Mitchell with 2:28 to play in the half.

The Bears finished the first half with 208 total yards, including 171 through the air.

Jackson topped the 100-yard mark for the Bulldogs with 120 yards on 21 carries (5.7 per carry), while Champion completed 12 of 23 for 71 yards.

Freshman Darrius McNeal led the UCA receivers with 6 catches for 46 yards. Senior running back Ross Brown topped the rushing chart with 72 yards on 23 carries. Senior punter James Paul averaged 41.6 yards on seven punts but was let down by the coverage unit, having to make two tackles himself. The Bears netted just 21.4 yards per punt.