The UCA Bears football team lost its last home game of the season to the Southern Utah University Thunderbirds 38-31 Nov. 16.
The Bears (6-5, ASUN 3-4) were without their top two quarterbacks, senior Will McElvain and sophomore Austin Myers, after both sustained injuries in last week’s loss against Eastern Kentucky, as well as leading rusher, senior running back ShunDerrick Powell.
“I was proud of our guys,” UCA head coach Nathan Brown said. “The most important thing tonight was representing our seniors on Senior Night on ‘the stripes.’ A lot of great seniors in that line got honored before the game. Some record-setters, some future NFL players, home-grown kids, some kids we got from the transfer market. We wanted to find a way to get a win for those guys, and obviously we came up just short, and that’s tough.”
The Bears started off strong, scoring the first touchdown of the game by way of a 38-yard pass from redshirt freshman quarterback Caleb Koger to senior wide receiver Trejan Bridges.
In his first game as starting quarterback, Koger completed 21 out of 34 passes for 269 yards and four touchdowns.
The Thunderbirds (6-5, ASUN 5-2) initially struggled to get points onto the board, but redshirt freshman kicker Jayden Rogers successfully kicked a 21-yard field goal to bring the score to 7-3.
At the end of the first quarter, Bridges caught a pass by the fingertips from Koger to score another touchdown for the Bears, bringing the score to 14-3.
Southern Utah’s next scoring drive resulted in another field goal from Rogers, this time from 33 yards.
The Thunderbirds scored their first touchdown by way of a 1-yard rush from senior running back Targhee Lambson. Southern Utah then successfully attempted a two-point conversion to tie the game 14-14.
The Bears responded with Koger completing a 12-yard pass to junior tight-end Jordan Owens, who ran the ball into the endzone to score seven more points and bring the score to 21-14.
The Thunderbirds were able to tie the game before the end of the first half by way of a 55-yard pass from redshirt junior quarterback Jackson Berry to redshirt freshman wide receiver Devin Downing.
In the second half, the Bears turned over the ball twice, with a fumble and an interception. The Thunderbirds capitalized on this, scoring 10 more points, first by way of a touchdown from a 16-yard pass completion by Berry to redshirt sophomore tight-end Joshua Acord, and second by way of a 37-yard field goal by Rogers.
“I thought going into halftime, we put ourselves in a good spot,” Brown said. “We moved the ball well in the first half. And the message coming out of halftime was, ‘Hey, we were tied at the half at EKU last week and didn’t come away with the win,’ so we wanted to come out and play well in the second half. And I thought we did, other than the two turnovers. The two turnovers were the difference in the game.”
Late in the third quarter, the Bears were relegated to a field goal attempt after failing to obtain a first down, which was successfully completed by senior placekicker Jake Gaster from 25 yards.
Southern Utah scored one last touchdown six minutes into the fourth quarter, with Berry completing a 14-yard pass to sophomore tight-end Chase Merrell.
UCA attempted to come back from the 14-point deficit in the fourth quarter, and redshirt freshman wide receiver Malachi Henry was able to score a touchdown after catching a 75 yard pass from Koger to bring the score to 38-31.
The Bears finished the game with 498 total offensive yards. True freshman quarterback Eric McGehee debuted by completing three of four passes and rushing six times for 23 yards.
“Obviously Caleb [Koger] had a week to prep, and Eric [McGehee] did a good job as a true freshman preparing for his role tonight,” Brown said. “And I thought both of those guys gave us a chance to win the game. Played fast, played effective, played smart. But it wasn’t just what these guys did, I thought guys stepped up across the board.”
“A lot of EKU was instinct, and what I’ve seen Will [McElvain] and Austin [Myers] do,” Koger said. “I’m glad I got to prepare before I went in; it made things much easier. Upset about the result, but I feel good. I’m happy to play, I mean, first [game as] college starter was so much fun.”
The Bears will hit the road Saturday for their final regular season game at Tarleton State in Stephenville, Texas at 2 p.m.