2019 Central Arkansas Bears football team

2019 Central Arkansas Bears football
2019 Central Arkansas Bears football
Southland Conference co-champion
NCAA Division I Second Round, L 14–24 vs. Illinois State
Conference	Southland Conference
Ranking
STATS	No. 11
FCS Coaches	No. 11
Record	9–4 (7–2 Southland)
Head coach	Nathan Brown (2nd season);
Offensive coordinator	Ken Collums (2nd season)
Defensive coordinator	Chad Williams (1st season)
Home stadium	Estes Stadium
	Seasons ← 2018 2020 →

The 2019 Central Arkansas Bears football team represents the University of Central Arkansas in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Southland Conference. The Bears are led by second-year head coach Nathan Brown and play their home games at Estes Stadium. UCA finished the regular season 9–3 overall, 7–2 in Southland Conference play, earning a share of the 2019 Southland Conference championship, and a first round bye in the FCS playoffs with a #8 seeding.

2019 Southland Conference football standings
v t e
Team	W		L	W		L
No. 14 Nicholls +^	7	–	2	8	–	4
No. 11 Central Arkansas +^	7	–	2	9	–	3
No. 19 Southeastern Louisiana ^	6	–	3	8	–	5
Sam Houston State	6	–	3	7	–	5
McNeese State	5	–	4	7	–	5
Incarnate Word	4	–	5	5	–	7
Abilene Christian	4	–	5	5	–	7
Northwestern State	3	–	6	3	–	9
Stephen F. Austin	3	–	6	3	–	9
Houston Baptist	2	–	6	5	–	7
Lamar	2	–	7	4	–	8

+ – Conference co-champions ^ – FCS playoff participant Rankings from STATS poll

Preseason edit

Preseason poll edit

The Southland Conference released their preseason poll on July 18, 2019. The Bears were picked to finish in second place.^[1]

Predicted finish	Team	Votes (1st place)
1	Nicholls	200 (20)
2	Central Arkansas	154
3	Incarnate Word	150 (1)
4	Sam Houston State	146
5	Lamar	123
6	McNeese State	114
7	Abilene Christian	112 (1)
8	Southeastern Louisiana	71
9	Stephen F. Austin	63
10	Northwestern State	56
11	Houston Baptist	21

Preseason All–Southland Teams edit

The Bears placed seven players on the preseason all–Southland teams.^[2]

Offense

1st team

Carlos Blackman – RB

Hunter Watts – OL

2nd team

Toby Sanderson – OL

Defense

1st team

Chris Terrell – DL

Juan Jackson – DB

2nd team

Jackie Harvell – DB

Robert Rochell – DB

Schedule edit

Date	Time	Opponent	Rank	Site	TV	Result	Attendance
August 29	6:30 p.m.	at Western Kentucky*		Houchens Industries–L. T. Smith Stadium Bowling Green, KY	ESPN+	W 35–28	17,120
September 7	2:00 p.m.	at Austin Peay*	No. 20	Fortera Stadium Clarksville, TN	ESPN+	W 24–16	7,523
September 14	6:00 p.m.	Abilene Christian	No. 14	Estes Stadium Conway, AR	ESPN3	W 31–30	10,123
September 21	10:59 p.m.	at Hawaii*	No. 14	Aloha Stadium Halawa, HI	Spectrum Sports	L 16–35	23,465
October 5	3:00 p.m.	at No. 16 Nicholls	No. 11	John L. Guidry Stadium Thibodaux, LA	YouTube	L 14–34	7,021
October 12	6:00 p.m.	McNeese State	No. 16	Estes Stadium Conway, AR (Red Beans and Rice Bowl)	ESPN+	W 40–31	11,237
October 19	6:00 p.m.	at Northwestern State	No. 13	Harry Turpin Stadium Natchitoches, LA	CST, ESPN+	W 31–30	7,584
October 26	6:00 p.m.	No. 21 Sam Houston State	No. 12	Estes Stadium Conway, AR	ESPN+	W 29–25	9,363
November 2	3:00 p.m.	at Lamar	No. 10	Provost Umphrey Stadium Beaumont, TX	ESPN+	W 45–17	5,913
November 9	3:00 p.m.	Southeastern Louisiana	No. 7	Estes Stadium Conway, AR	ESPN+	L 0–34	6,275
November 16	3:00 p.m.	Stephen F. Austin	No. 14	Estes Stadium Conway, AR	ESPN+	W 30–7	5,527
November 22	6:30 p.m.	at Incarnate Word	No. 11	Gayle and Tom Benson Stadium San Antonio, TX	ESPN+	W 52–35	2,668
December 7	2:00 p.m.	No. 13 Illinois State*	No. 9	Estes Stadium Conway, AR (NCAA Division I Second Round)	ESPN3	L 14–24	5,127
*Non-conference game Homecoming Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time

^[3]

Game summaries edit

At Western Kentucky edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Bears	0	14	0	21	35
Hilltoppers	14	7	7	0	28

At Austin Peay edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 20 Bears	0	3	7	14	24
Governors	0	0	13	3	16

Abilene Christian edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Wildcats	7	3	7	13	30
No. 14 Bears	3	6	0	22	31

At Hawaii edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 14 Bears	0	9	0	7	16
Rainbow Warriors	14	14	0	7	35

At Nicholls edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Bears	0	0	7	7	14
No. 16 Colonels	6	14	7	7	34

McNeese State edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Cowboys	10	14	0	7	31
No. 16 Bears	10	10	14	6	40

At Northwestern State edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Bears	7	7	10	7	31
Demons	14	10	0	6	30

Sam Houston State edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 21 Bearkats	7	9	6	3	25
No. 12 Bears	0	0	14	15	29

At Lamar edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 10 Bears	14	10	21	0	45
Cardinals	0	10	0	7	17

Southeastern Louisiana edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lions	7	14	6	7	34
No. 7 Bears	0	0	0	0	0

Stephen F. Austin edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
Lumberjacks	0	7	0	0	7
No. 14 Bears	3	10	10	7	30

At Incarnate Word edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 11 Bears	3	21	7	21	52
Cardinals	0	14	14	7	35

FCS Playoffs edit

The Bears enter the postseason tournament as the number eight seed, with a first-round bye.^[4] They will play Illinois State at Estes Stadium in Conway on December 7.

Illinois State–Second Round edit

	1	2	3	4	Total
No. 13 Redbirds	0	21	0	3	24
No. 9 Bears	0	7	0	7	14

Ranking movements edit

Ranking movements
**Legend:** ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking
RV = Received votes т = Tied with team above or below
	Week
Poll	Pre	1	2	3	4	5	6	7	8	9	10	11	12	13	Final
STATS FCS	RV	20	14	14	15	11	16	13	12	10	7	14	11	9
Coaches	25	18	14	12	14	10-T	16	13	10	9	6	13	11	7

References edit

^ "Nicholls Voted to Top Spot in 2019 Football Preseason Poll". www.southland.org. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
^ "Southland Announces 2019 Preseason All-Conference Football Teams". www.southland.org. Retrieved August 19, 2019.
^ "Southland TV Selections Announced For First Four Weeks". Southland Conference. August 13, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.
^ "FCS bracket revealed for 2019 Division I football championship". ncaa.com. November 24, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.

[1] "Nicholls Voted to Top Spot in 2019 Football Preseason Poll". www.southland.org. Retrieved August 19, 2019.

[2] "Southland Announces 2019 Preseason All-Conference Football Teams". www.southland.org. Retrieved August 19, 2019.

[FirstFourWeeks-3] "Southland TV Selections Announced For First Four Weeks". Southland Conference. August 13, 2019. Retrieved August 14, 2019.

[4] "FCS bracket revealed for 2019 Division I football championship". ncaa.com. November 24, 2019. Retrieved November 24, 2019.

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