UCA picked to finish third in Southland
HOUSTON — Central Arkansas was voted as the third choice in the 2018 Southland Conference preseason football poll released Thursday as part of the SLC Football Media Day activities.
The Bears, the defending conference champions, were third behind Sam Houston State and Nicholls State. Sam Houston received 187 total points and 10 first-place votes, while Nicholls got 173 and six firstplace votes.
Central Arkansas received five firstplace votes and 170 points overall. Fourthplace McNeese State picked up the other first-place vote.
“We’re obviously excited to be considered in the top half of the conference,’ said first-year Central Arkansas head coach Nathan Brown, who transitioned from his role as the Bears’ offensive coordinator. “I think the conference has a lot of quality talent coming back this year. You think about Nicholls and their quarterback coming back, McNeese and their quarterback back, and the tradition of Sam Houston.
“But preseason polls don’t really mean much to us. We’re working hard, building off our 2017 Southland championship. Hopefully this will be somewhat of a motivation to our players, our student-athletes, each and every day, knowing that we have a very good team coming back and we’re working toward competing for another Southland Conference championship.”
Central Arkansas had a perfect 9-0 record in Southland play last season. The Bears are scheduled to open the 2018 season at Tulsa on Sept. 1, host non-conference Murray State in Week 2 and open conference play on Sept. 15 at Southeastern Louisiana in Hammond, La.
The Bears were represented at Media Day by junior running back Carlos Blackman from Gosnell, and junior defensive end Chris Terrell, from Pensacola, Fla.
Both are first-team preseason All-Southland selections, two of the 11 preseason honorees for the Bears.
Blackman heads the Bears’ offensive backfield, which features last season’s Southland Freshman of the Year Kierre Crossley, from Everman, Texas, as well as senior Cedric Battle.
The running backs will play under Brown in a different role and a new offensive coordinator, Ken Collums, another former Central Arkansas quarterback like Brown. New running backs coach Taylor Reed and tight ends coach Ryan Howard are also former Central Arkansas quarterbacks.
“Coach Brown actually recruited me,” said Blackman. “So, we’ve always had a good relationship. So, him moving to head coach instead of offensive coordinator is more of a good thing than a bad thing for me.
“(Our depth) is basically a secret weapon but not really a secret. Because we have so many options and people are always fresh and ready to go because there are so many of us. Everybody can do what they need to do to make us successful.”
Terrell teamed with defensive tackle Eric Jackson for 38.5 tackles for loss and 22 sacks between them last season on one of the best run defenses in the nation. He credits teamwork for that success.
“The key is just putting in the work and having pride in stopping the run,” said Terrell. “And now, we have some young guys who I think are ready for the challenge. I think they’ve just been waiting for their opportunity.
“Eric and I have a little bit of competition between us. That’s how it’s supposed to be, to bring out the best in both of you. We just push each other, and try to push everyone around us, to get better every day. That’s our job, that’s our role on this team.”