UCA's defense offers resistance

Central Arkansas cornerback Trai Mosley broke up a pair of passes in the end zone during theBears’ intrasquad scrimmage Saturday at Estes Stadium.
Central Arkansas cornerback Trai Mosley broke up a pair of passes in the end zone during theBears’ intrasquad scrimmage Saturday at Estes Stadium.

CONWAY -- One after another, the offense fired deep passes in Saturday morning's scrimmage at Estes Stadium, and the defenders routinely batted them away consistently for the first time in fall camp.

"In our first scrimmage, we threw for 500 yards," University of Central Arkansas Coach Steve Campbell said. "We went deep, went deep, went deep. Today, we tried it, and [the defense was] better and better. I was very pleased."

The UCA defense kept the first-team offense -- which returns eight starters from the Southland Conference's second-ranked scoring offense (33.1 points per game) -- from recording a first down on its first two drives. The defensive dominance included five sacks, two interceptions and several tackles for loss.

Four different linemen had sacks, including redshirt freshman J.W. Jones, who also stopped a run on fourth down to force a turnover on downs. Sophomore cornerback Trai Mosley broke up passes on both a 10-yard hitch and a 40-yard pass to the end zone, and fellow defensive backs Tavion Garrison, a senior, and Robert Rochell, a sophomore, each slapped away deep passes that would have resulted in touchdowns.

Rochell had two interceptions.

"We play man every play, so it's on us not to give up the big play," Garrison said. "So, we depend on linemen and linebackers to set the tone for us. They got us on the front end; we got them on the back end."

The defense was without senior defensive end and All-Southland preseason pick Cardell Best, who Campbell said is out indefinitely with a broken foot he suffered during the spring and is "still battling with the repercussions of that."

"He may be back, but there ain't no sense in rushing it," Campbell said.

Campbell also announced that senior offensive tackle Stockton Mallett, another All-Southland preseason pick, was held out of the scrimmage because he has a season-ending shoulder injury that will require surgery.

The offense had occasional success in Saturday's scrimmage, which ended with freshman receiver Brandon Myers winning possession in a tangle with Mosley for a 5-yard touchdown reception.

Returning senior starting quarterback Hayden Hildebrand threw an interception and struggled to complete passes under pressure.

"Today was not his best day," Campbell said. "When Hayden has his best day, you don't punt."

On the fourth drive of the scrimmage, Hildebrand tossed a pitch too far ahead of junior running back Cedric Battle, which Battle was able to recover on the bounce for a 17-yard run. Hildebrand mishandled a snap later in the scrimmage, and three other fumbles occurred between the second- and third-team offenses.

"I wasn't happy with that," Campbell said. "That's not something we've had."

The offense's greatest success came when the second-team offense unfurled a 15-play, 70-yard touchdown drive against the first-team defense on its first drive of the scrimmage. Redshirt freshman quarterback Breylin Smith finished the drive with a 27-yard touchdown pass to senior receiver Dwayne Smith.

UCA's starting running back and leading rusher from last season, sophomore Carlos Blackman, had limited carries but scored easily on a 14-yard run. Redshirt freshman D'erek Fernandez broke out with touchdown runs of 38 and 13 yards.

"I thought he ran very well," Campbell said of Fernandez, who returned from a hamstring injury two days prior. "We haven't really had a chance to see him run. So, I'm glad we were able to see that."

Redshirt freshman Kierre Crossley also had an 18-yard run with the first-team offense.

"We rotate so many backs," Fernandez said. "We're really just competing for playing time. I came on the scene this year, and we're just all competing, giving everything we have."

The Bears will open the season at Kansas State on Sept. 2.

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Photo courtesy UCA Athletics

UCA sophomore defensive back Robert Rochell hauls in one of his two interceptions Saturday in the Bears’ scrimmage at Estes Stadium in Conway.

"Now we're going to flip the switch big time to Kansas State," Campbell said. "We've worked against ourselves as much as we need to."

Sports on 08/20/2017

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