Central Arkansas

[valleyrabbit]

Next up are the Bears. This will be tough game, but one the Jacks need to win if we expect to be a perenial top 25 program. UCA is 5-3 and 2-1 in the Southland. They just beat ranked Nicholls State in overtime.

http://www.ucasports.com/sport.asp?a...home&sportid=1

[NightHawk78]

Re: Central Arkansas

UCA is actually 4-1 in the Southland and will likely be playing for a share of the conference title at the end of the season when they face McNeese. It should be a good game...

[joeboo22]

Re: Central Arkansas

any chance we could get this game on television or webcast on gojacks?

[Jack4Life]

Re: Central Arkansas

any chance we could get this game on television or webcast on gojacks?

Let's hope so. I have a Midco house already lined up. Too bad I didn't have my ducks in a row for Saturdays game...

[Jacks-02]

Re: Central Arkansas

Should be an interesting matchup for the Jacks. Central Arkansas is a pass happy team and so far this year the Jacks defense has been pretty stingy giving up points from the air.

Central Arkansas' leading rusher is Brent Grimes with 481 yards and as a team they average just 4.1 YPC while the SDSU defense allows 4.5. They have scored 24 TD's through the air and average 304 passing yards a game while SDSU has only allowed 6 TD passes in 8 games this season.

As for their defense, they look to be pretty susceptible to the run by allowing 5.5 yards per attempt and nearly 200 yards per game. SDSU offense goes for 4.8 YPC and and 153 per game. I'm guessing the Jacks try to grind this one out and control the clock.

So far this season Central Arkansas has only played 3 teams with a .500 or better record but are 2-1 in those games.

Central Arkansas Schedule
(FBS WAC) Louisiana Tech (3-5) L, 7-28 0-1
(FCS SLFC) Northwestern State (3-5) L, 28-31 0-2 (0-1)
(FCS OVC) Tennessee-Martin (2-7) W, 48-34 1-2
(FCS GFC) Missouri State (5-4) L, 38-42 1-3
(FCS SLFC) Sam Houston State (4-4) W, 35-14 2-3 (1-1)
(FCS SLFC) Texas State (3-5) W, 63-21 3-3 (2-1)
(FCS SLFC) Southeastern Louisiana (2-6) W, 37-33 4-3 (3-1)
(FCS SLFC) Nicholls State (5-3) W, 49-42 (ot) 5-3 (4-1)


I'll go with a prediction of another Jackrabbit win, 31-28.

[EQguy]

Re: Central Arkansas

Over on AGS every member of the Southland is predicting a Central Arkansas victory. I don't know if it is out of their belief in the Bears or just hoping some member of their conference wins a game against the Jacks this year.

I think this game is going to be a tough contest for us right up there with Georgia Southern. This is an up and coming transitional team who looks to be on the edge of being a perennial power in the SLC. I think we'll see a contest fairly similar to UCD where the Jacks try to grind them into the dirt (or rubber) and keep their offense off the field.

The defense needs to do a better job of pressuring the QB to help the db's cover. If we can't get pressure hopefully the offense can keep their touches to a minimum.

My prediction:

Jacks 24
Bears 17

[SD-STATE]

Re: Central Arkansas

I would expect a tougher game than last year. Last years game the score was a little decieving. UCA put up some big numbers through the air and it looks like that is their bread and butter this year again. Again looking at our stats versus the pass look to be pretty stout, we all saw how a great passing game gives us trouble (UNI), granted we did have one of our starting corners out that game as well. UC-Davis beat us on a couple of plays as well this past weekend. Some sloppy tackling was made up for by forcing some big turnovers in our territory. Pressure from our front four will be key and a complete shut down of their run game to make them one dimensional. I like our chances in that situation. UCA is not an ordinary transition team they are already in their second year of 63 schollies. I predict that the score and result will be alot like last week.

[jackmd]

Re: Central Arkansas

I like our history against SLC teams and I like the way our team is playing right now. A couple of bad breaks in the 2nd half against UC-Davis or we win going away. I'd feel more comfortable if Parker was on top of his game but still have faith.

Going to be a tough one but I think we can beat UCA if we play our game. I'll take the Jacks by 6.

[joshuca]

Re: Central Arkansas

This is going to be a great game! I wish those traveling a safe trip. Ya'll should come on over to www.ucafans.com and see what we have to say about all of this.
We are coming off an emotional OT win on Homecoming vs then #19 Nicholls State (49-42). It was back and forth all game until late when we were down by 2 scores, but our team showed great strength in coming back and winning this game. Our Bears play very well at home and it should be another great crowd (we are averaging 11,000+ for the 1st time EVER!)! The tailgating should be great as usual...I am really looking forward to this game.

[JimmyJack]

Re: Central Arkansas

UCA's FCS opponents have a combined 23-34 record

SDSU's FCS opponents are 30-28

Take out Stephen F. Austin, and the rest of our opponents are 30-20.

So it appears UCA has been rolling up some nice wins, but against slightly lesser competition. Of course they're the home team and have great fan support. And they play very good offense, but defense... not so much.

Their fans are convinced their offense will outscore everybody, and they did put up yards on us last year. But I can't imagine that they have better playmakers than Cal Poly (who put up 48 on Idaho State Saturday).

I have total confidence in our offensive line's ability to control the game, particularly against a sub-par defense. Anybody care to bet against Mitch Erickson and the boys? The Jacks will rush for more than 240 yards and control the clock, keeping our D fresh and keeping their high-powered offense off the field. Another big day for Koenig and Minett.

Meanwhile, the D-line gets five sacks. Jimmy Rogers gets 12 tackles and forces a fumble (Always fun to predict JimmyStats).

SDSU 31
UCA 21

[joshuca]

Re: Central Arkansas

The Jacks will rush for more than 240 yards and control the clock, keeping our D fresh and keeping their high-powered offense off the field.

See Nicholls State....Run oriented offense, and they did pile up the run yards against our Defense 366 to be exact, but they still only had 28:54 TOP to our 31:06. So good luck, even though they ran all over us, we still came out on top b/c Nathan Brown and our offense can strick quickly when needed...even against good Defenses!

[JimmyJack]

Re: Central Arkansas

See Nicholls State....Run oriented offense, and they did pile up the run yards against our Defense 366 to be exact, but they still only had 28:54 TOP to our 31:06. So good luck, even though they ran all over us, we still came out on top b/c Nathan Brown and our offense can strick quickly when needed...even against good Defenses!

Nicholls is a one-dimensional team. They completed 9 passes in that game, so I'm not sure that's a good indication that ball control won't work. It's a fundamental truth in football that the other team can't score while you possess the football. Most teams shoot for run/pass balance for a reason. We've been a very balanced offensive football team this year.

By the way, if we rush for 300+ yards, it's going to take a whole lot of big plays (more than we've seen all year against our defense that is predicated on making teams grind it out) to beat us. I'm not overconfident. I know we could lose this game. We know well that UCA is a quality team and I think will be a national power in years to come. You have great fans, great players, and great facilities.

But we're now a better, more seasoned and tougher team than the team that beat Nicholls and McNeese on the road, and UCA at home last year.

[Jacks-02]

Re: Central Arkansas

See Nicholls State....Run oriented offense, and they did pile up the run yards against our Defense 366 to be exact, but they still only had 28:54 TOP to our 31:06. So good luck, even though they ran all over us, we still came out on top b/c Nathan Brown and our offense can strick quickly when needed...even against good Defenses!

One thing you seem to overlook is the fact that Nicholls State has virtually zero pass offense while SDSU offers a balanced attack that can beat you either way. Feel free to stack the box trying to stop Koenig, I'll be interested to see how many TD's JaRon and Berry can hook up for

Nicholls State
RUSHING YARDAGE............... 2148
Yards gained rushing........ 2378
Average Per Rush............ 5.2
Average Per Game............ 268.5
TDs Rushing................. 20
PASSING YARDAGE............... 702
Att-Comp-Int................ 76-39-2
Average Per Game............ 87.8
TDs Passing................. 4

South Dakota State
RUSHING YARDAGE 1227
Yards gained rushing 1354
Average Per Rush 4.8
Average Per Game 153.4
TDs Rushing 13
PASSING YARDAGE 1724
Att-Comp-Int 263-156-6
Average Per Game 215.5
TDs Passing 15

[State_fan]

Re: Central Arkansas

I know this is a bad way to think about how things could go down (given the inconsistency in college football these days between games), but Nicholls beat SFA 16-17. The only thing I know about this game is the score, but it definitely says that if we have our game on, we'll probably be alright.

[sdsujacksgrad]

Re: Central Arkansas

I'm road tripping down there with five others. I haven't seen any alumni events going on down there either. Tailgating starts at 10am and looks like we have an extra GA ticket because one guy backed out. Anyone else planning on going down?