Central Arkansas to get Taste of Southland Conference Football
Sept. 22, 2006
NACOGDOCHES, Texas -
When the Central Arkansas Bears travel to Nacogdoches, Texas, this weekend for Saturday's game with Stephen F. Austin, it will mark UCA's first time to play a Southland Conference opponent as a Division I member, but by no means will it be unchartered territory for most of the Bears' coaching staff.
Head coach Clint Conque, a Nicholls State graduate, has had coaching stints at his alma mater and at McNeese State. Defensive backs coach Perry Eliano was a player for the Lumberjacks before coaching there and spending last year with conference foe Sam Houston State.
Defensive coordinator Denzil Cox spent 11 years with the Lumberjacks, coached at McNeese State and spent time with Northeast Louisiana, which later became Louisiana-Monroe, a Southland member prior to joining the Sun Belt Conference.
Linebackers coach Ricky Matt was a coordinator at Southwest Texas (now Texas State), and was an assistant coach alongside Conque and Cox at McNeese. One of the Cowboys' quarterbacks during their time there was Hud Jackson, now UCA's running backs coach and director of football operations.
"We have a lot of history in that league," Conque said. "And there are benefits to that, but when the ball is kicked off Saturday it goes back to the 11 players on the field now, this year, in 2006, and the preparation and execution involved in a college football game."
Having such a vast knowledge of the SLC's landscape, the UCA staff has a handful of advantages in preparing its team for the game against the 0-3 'Jacks.
"It helps that we're able to educate our players on the speed of the game," Conque said. "We've played schools from Louisiana and Texas before, but this is a faster game, with bigger players and bigger players running faster. The reality of it is, we're able to educate our players of what's in store.
"And it allows us to educate our fans on expectations. Stephen F. is 0-3 right now but that's a little misleading. They took a Pac-10 team deep in the fourth quarter with a chance to win. I know Arizona's not USC, Oregon or Cal, but they're sitting there in the Pac-10 with 85 scholarships and a rich football tradition."
Eliano, who was in the league just last season, has been a valuable tool in providing firsthand knowledge of Stephen F. Austin's personnel, in addition to what the other coaches knew already from being familiar with the recruiting territory.
"Perry's been able to educate on their personnel, having coached at Sam Houston and playing against Stephen F. Austin last year," Conque said. "And we have some name recognition and knowledge of some of their players.
"Even if you don't know the individuals, you look at their home towns and know they put out good football players. You may not know the young men themselves, but you certainly know those high schools and the athletes coming out of those. That's helping us a little bit in what to expect."
What Conque expects is facing a team that, while winless, is certainly not devoid of talent.
"You're sitting there watching tape and they've got transfers from Purdue, Texas A&M, Tennessee, Texas Tech and different places across the country," he said. "They've got a good built-in deal there because kids have a chance to go to those schools but can then come back locally close to home and play at a school like Stephen F. Austin or Sam Houston."
Robbie Park, UCA's starting quarterback the previous two games in Nathan Brown's absence, is a Keller, Texas native and started his collegiate career at SFA - which could give Saturday's game a little more meaning.
"I asked him the other day if he knew any of the guys and there's still a handful on the team," Conque said. "But Robbie's 21 years old, he's mature, and he understands what's going on here. I don't think he's going to get caught up in all that.
"He obviously wants to do well, but I think all of our Texas kids will want to. It's extra motivation or them, wanting to do well in front of their family and friends."
And playing their first opponent from their future conference will give the Bears a chance to showcase their talent to the Southland, but will also serve as a chance to collect their third win of 2006.
"I think that's in there as somewhat of a motivation," Conque said. "Today we talked about getting better. We just want to get better from Week 3 to Week 4. Our defense wants to improve, our offense certainly has room to improve, and then we want to stay solid and improve in areas in the kicking game.
"We're trying to create the mindset that this is a big game because it's a Southland opponent, but also because it's the next game on our schedule, a chance to win our third football game and to try to improve as a team."
"I like the makeup of our team and how we're going about our business. I look forward to it being a four-buckle game on Saturday. If our kids aren't prepared for that then we haven't prepared them well enough."