Dunn’s long road flourishes at UCA

University of Central Arkansas linebacker Trenton Dunn’s 51-yard interception return for a touchdown at Jacksonville State last Saturday was a momentum-shifter.

Dunn, who was spying Gamecocks quarterback Zerrick Cooper with 1:15 left in the second quarter, saw the ball slipping out of Cooper’s hand as Caden Brown and Logan Jessup were sacking him.

The linebacker adjusted and, as the ball was flung in the air, he maneuvered around a collapsed pocket to grab it. Half the field later, Dunn was in the end zone. The pick-six gave the Bears a 20-7 lead before halftime in a 38-14 win.

Possibly the biggest play of Dunn’s college career, the road to Conway wasn’t easy for the Little Rock native and Joe T. Robinson graduate.

“He’s been fun to watch develop over the last couple years since he’s been here,” UCA Coach Nathan Brown said, “and then really turn into one of the more athletic linebackers in this conference.”

Though recruited by the Bears during high school, the 2015 Class 4A All-State Selection wound up with an offer from just one school to continue his football career — Northeastern Oklahoma A&M, a junior college in Miami, Okla.

While it was Dunn’s lone offer, he saw the opportunity as a “test” of himself, he said, to see what opportunities he could get at the next level. It’s clear, too, that those who coached him at the high school level thought his best football was ahead of him.

“He was one of those kids that his best football was going to be post-high school,” Robinson Coach Todd Eskola said. “Every kid here knew it. Every coach here knew it. He was going to continue to get better and develop. We felt like he would become, honestly, what he is now.”

Dunn logged playing time in 16 games over two seasons in Oklahoma, totaling 23 tackles, but his opportunities at the JUCO level came to an abrupt halt in 2018.

Against Navarro College in August 2018, Dunn turned to jump for a pass and his right leg “just kind of gave out.” The full diagnosis was a torn ACL, MCL and meniscus, as well as a broken femur.

The timetable to return was eight to nine months, but two months after the injury, in November, UCA offered him an opportunity to walk on.

“We knew that there was going to be potential, obviously, to put him on scholarship,” Brown said. “We thought he was that good a player.”

Once with the program, Dunn’s biggest goal was to get healthy, he said. The second was to earn a scholarship.

“That was an important thing to me, because I knew that I was capable,” Dunn said. “At one point, my injury was holding me back because I couldn’t really … show what I could do.”

Dunn was medically cleared in May 2019, and, though he needed another minor surgery in July 2019, he was able to play again in mid-August. From there, he also added about 15 pounds to his frame, and changed his position from safety to linebacker.

“That’s not a common transition,” Brown said. “What’s great about Trenton is he’s kept his speed and athleticism. That’s obviously a testament to his work ethic and having a goal in mind and then sticking to the goal.”

In fall 2020, the linebacker was put on scholarship.

For Dunn, who’s in his fifth and final year of eligibility, sometimes he wishes he had more time, he said, because he knows there’s even more he could accomplish. Still, he recognizes the journey he’s made.

“When I actually do look back and think, I’m real proud of myself,” Dunn said. “It’s a lot of things that I’ve done that a lot of people can’t do, and are incapable of doing. I’m just glad that God gave me those abilities to do what I’m doing.”

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