UCA Spring Pratice Update

[Seminole Indian]

We need one. Same for UAPB, or any of the other state colleges or universities.

[GoHogs1091]

Here is a video of Steve Campbell talking after their March 19 scrimmage.

Here is a video of Steve Campbell talking after their April 4 scrimmage.

[Seminole Indian]

Thanks, I watched that yesterday on a UCA message board. Looks like the HC likes his talent, across the board, and seems really upbeat about the receivers.

I'm sure a lot of the positives he is seeing are a result of the players being more familiar with what is expected of them than last year.

[DeltaBoy]

UCA got a good hire !

[GoHogs1091]

Thanks, I watched that yesterday on a UCA message board. Looks like the HC likes his talent, across the board, and seems really upbeat about the receivers.

I'm sure a lot of the positives he is seeing are a result of the players being more familiar with what is expected of them than last year.

Their Defensive Line and Linebackers are going to be very good this upcoming season.  One of their starting Defensive Linemen (a DE) is an All-American.  Their Secondary other than Cornerback, Artez Williams, and Safety, Bobby Watkins, still has some question marks.  If they can get the other CB position solidified and the other Safety position solidified, it could mean an additional 4 wins compared to this past season (which would mean a 10 win regular season this upcoming season).

[Seminole Indian]

Looking at the game notes in their game against Sam Houston State they look like they  have some holes to fill on offense(Seniors are in Bold), so the defense probably needs to step up.

http://www.ucasports.com/custompages/2014%20FB%20GAME%20NOTES/UCA-SHSU%20FB%20NOTES%202014.pdf

QB 13 RYAN HOWARD SR 5-11 194 Vestavia Hills, Ala. (Vestavia Hills)
15    Taylor Reed    JR    6-3    215    El Dorado, Ark. (Arkansas)
12    Hayden Hildebrand    RsF    6-3    196    Bossier City, La. (Airline)   
TB 21 WILLIE MATTHEWS SR 5-9 189 Bartlett, Tenn. (Bartlett)
    38    Blake Veasley    SO    6-0    205    Cherry Valley, Ark. (Cross County)
Y 27 JOE CARMICAL SR 6-1 235 Monticello, Ark. (Texas Tech)
89     Justin Dickey    JR    6-5    235    Ramstein, Germany (Ramstein)
LT 71 COLE CARUTHERS SR 6-4 292 Sugar Land, Texas (Clements)
    74    Lance Kloker    JR    6-5    288    Owasso, Okla. (Owasso)
LG 78 STOCKTON MALLETT RsF 6-3 298 Harrison, Ark. (Yellville-Summit)
    64    Bryan Manley    SO    6-4    303    Stephenville, Texas (Stephenville)
C 55 ALEC WILLIS JR 6-1 286 Denton, Texas (Guyer)
    77    D.J. Appe    JR.    6-2    284    Covington, La. (Covington)
RG 63 C.J. SIMON SR 6-3 296 Kingwood, Texas (Kingwood)
70    Gilberto Garcia    RsF    6-2    287    Morrilton, Ark. (Morrilton)
RT 76 KYLE STOUFFER JR 6-7 316 Dallas, Texas (Highland Park)
    72    Jordan Kersh    SR    6-4    284    Brandon, Miss. (Hinds CC)
X 5 DEZMIN LEWIS SR 6-4 212 Mesquite, Texas (No. Mesquite)
9    Damien Watts    SR    5-10    197    Texarkana, Texas (Pleasant Grove)
H 4 JATAVIOUS WILSON SO 5-9 171 Bastrop, La. (Bastrop)
88    Desmond Smith    RsF    6-1    201    Bentonville, Ark. (Bentonville)
Z 3 JACOBY WALKER SR 6-2 207 Houston, Texas (Arkansas)
40    Cody Dauksch    SO    6-1    221    West Memphis, Ark. (West Memphis)

Defense appears to be a  little less impacted by graduation.

DE 90 JONATHAN WOODARD JR 6-6 271 Brentwood, Tenn. (Ravenwood)
    93    Cardell Best        FR    6-3    225    Little Elm, Texas (Little Elm)
NG 57 T.J. RANDALL SR 6-3 291 Lee's Summit, Mo. (Neb-Omaha)
    91    Dawson Hadnot    SO    6-1    292    Garland, Texas (Garland)
    97    Terrence Partee    SO    6-3    278    Memphis, Tenn. (Southwind)
DT 98 JORDAN TOLIVER SO 6-1 294 Duncanville, Texas (Duncanville)
    54    Eric Smith        JR    6-0    271    Little Rock, Ark. (Pulaski Robinson)
B 42 DEREK FLOYD JR 6-2 248 Dallas, Texas (Lake Highlands)
(or) 95 BAILEY MCIVER SO 6-4 244 Sheridan, Ark. (Sheridan)
32    Dalvin Simmons    FR    6-2    225    Little Rock, Ark. (LR Central)
LB 43 RICKY WYATT JR 5-11 222 Monroe, La. (Neville)
    45    Kamane Thomas    SO    6-1    216    Missouri City, Texas (Elkins)
LB 24 BLAKE CHILDRESS SR 6-2 221 Mesquite, Texas (W. Mesquite)
46    D.J. Holland        JR    6-1    229    Fort Worth, Texas (North Crowley)
R 23 DILLION WINFREY JR 5-8 174 Bryant, Ark. (Bryant)
    31    George Odum    RsF    6-2    185    Millington, Tenn. (Millington Central)
    28    Chris Chambers    FR    6-2    200    Pearl, Miss. (Pearl)
CB 8 DOMINIQUE BROWN SR 5-10 200 Galveston, Texas (Ball)
    30    Artez Williams    FR    6-0    180    Greenwood, Miss. (Greenwood)
S 7 BOBBY WATKINS SO 6-1 203 Dallas, Texas (Air Force)
    14    Jordan Meyer       RsF    5-10    184    Lewisville, Texas (Lewisville)
S 11 TIRELL WELLMAKER SO 5-11 207 Lake Charles, La. (LaGrange)
2    Marvin Mitchell    SR    5-11    194    Carrollton, Ga. (West Hills CC)
CB 26 PRINCE ENE SO 5-10 180 Houston, Texas (George Bush)
25    Martavis Moore    JR    5-9    180    Benoit, Miss. (Mississippi Delta CC)

They did bring in 3 WR, 2 TE, 2 DL and 1 LB at mid-term, so that probably tells you what positions the coaches feel they need to shore up.

http://www.ucasports.com/news/2014/12/17/FB_1217140943.aspx?path=football

The Cox kid that transferred from A-State is not very big, but he is fast.

See they lost a starter at RB. Still think Tenpenny has a chance of landing somewhere in Arkansas( apparently his family wants him in state) and based on this recent tweet he is probably not looking at an FBS school where he would have to sit out.

Altee Tenpenny @Boobie_Miles_22  ·  20h 20 hours ago
Wanna wear that 5⃣ on the field next year. Know it's gone be fye

[GoHogs1091]

On Offense, their starting QB will definitely be Taylor Reed (who would probably be starting this upcoming season at the UofA if he had stayed at the UofA).

The starting RB will probably be Dominique Thomas.

The starting WRs could be the following.

Courtney Whitehead   6'3"
Jacquez McMillian   6'4"
Jose Moore   6'2"  or  Brady Moore   6'6"

The starting TE may be Zach Gougler   6'4"  255 lbs.

The starting OL is looking like could be the following.

LT:  Kloker
LG:  Mallett
C:    Willis  (a Senior with a lot of playing experience)
RG:  Garcia
RT:  Stouffer   who is 6'7" 316 lbs.

Mallett should be over 300 lbs. by the start of the season.  There is a chance Kloker will be at least 300 lbs. by the start of the season.

[Seminole Indian]

Reed was pretty impressive as a true at Memphis, and he did not have an OL that could protect him.

Looking at their schedule:

url]http://www.ucasports.com/news/2015/3/9/FB_0309150515.aspx[/url]

Opening at Samford, and OSU is not a 'soft' OC schedule, and the SLC should be competitive again ( I thought I saw a 2015 pre-season SLC pick that had UCA 4th). Regardless winning 10 games today is hard to do, but I like their talent, so I would give UCA the same prediction of 8 +/- 1, as I did A-State.

[GoHogs1091]

Last season, UCA averaged 40.7 points per game.

Last season, UCA averaged giving up 33.8 points per game.

This upcoming season, I wouldn't be surprised if they average on Offense around 42 to 43 points per game.  Defensively, if they get that 33.8 points per game allowed down to around 25 points per game allowed, they should be able to win an additional 4 games.

Last season, UCA lost 4 games by a combined total of 18 points (which averaged out to a margin of defeat of 4.5 points for each one of those 4 losses).

[Seminole Indian]

IMO that is just a little optimistic, but not out of the question.

Could not help but notice the similarities between UCA and A-State (who i know more about), and because I'm going 8 wins +/- 1 for both (and the Razorbacks also), I'll compare while i rethink my predictions .

Like UCA they had a potent offense(#20 in FBS, 36.2 pts/g and 476 yds/g), and less potent defense(#79 in FBS, 27.8 pts/g and 411 yds/g). They were pretty good on defense the 1st half of the year before injuries devastate them, so they may in fact be pretty good on that side of the ball.

Unlike UCA, who lost a lot of players from their 2-deep on offense, they return almost everyone , and like UCA return most of their 2-deep on defense.

Like UCA they added 8 quality mid-term transfers ( they also get the services of their best freshman DL recruit, and an Auburn DE transfer  who both sit out last year).

Like UCA their coaches are entering their 2nd year.

Like UCA they open with 2 tough opponents (USC on the road, Missouri at home).

They won 7 games last year, UCA won 6.

They will be one of the favorites to win the SBC, not sure where  UCA will be picked in the SLC.

Still predicting anything more than 8 +/- 1 wins for either is not realistic IMO, but obviously not out of the question.

[Seminole Indian]

Did find this FCS poll (thought it was a preseason poll for 2015):

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot2/misc/cfoot225poll.aspx

Conference mates SE Louisianian, and Sam Houston State are in it, and McNeese St, Lamar, Northwestern St, and Stephen F. Austin are getting some votes. Samford also got votes. UCA did not.

I only show this because i really did not know the strength of your  schedule, and it looks tough.

A-State on the other hands, plays several  opponents that are at the bottom of the FBS, in pre-season polls. Their FCS opponent, Missouri State, did not receive any votes in the pre-season this FCS poll. 

[Seminole Indian]

That must be last years poll, so i will have to pass on the strength of this years schedule for UCA. Of course knowing how good a teams opponents are is kind of important when speculating about how a season might go.

Do agree they have a talented team, but they lost to many players on offense for me to change my 8 win +/- 1.

Does UCA every play UAPB?

Wonder what the folks there are expecting this year?

[GoHogs1091]

UCA's spring game was yesterday.  The Purple team won by a score of 56-7.  Here is some information I located regarding the game.

Quarterbacks, Taylor Reed and Hayden Hildebrand, combined for 6 touchdown passes, 4 of them beyond 42 yards.

Reed had touchdown passes of 48, 69, and 42 yards.

The 48 yard TD pass was to WR, Blake Gardner.

The 69 yard TD pass was to WR, Desmond Smith.

The 42 yard TD pass was to WR, Courtney Whitehead.

Hildebrand had touchdown passes of 17, 15, and 77 yards.

The 17 yard TD pass was to WR, Jose Moore.

The 15 yard TD pass was to WR, Blake Gardner.

The 77 yard TD pass was to WR, Brandon Cox.

RB, Kelton Warren, scored a rushing TD.

WR, Jatavious Wilson, scored a rushing TD.

There were no turnovers, few penalties, and no injuries.

The 1st Team Defense allowed just 1 scoring drive.

[Seminole Indian]

Lots of glowing reports by fans about the offense in the spring game on the UCA Message board. Most were very impressed.

I'll contrast that with what A-State fans  who observed their scrimmage have posted , and most seemed to think their offense was less than spectacular.

I saw their scrimmage and totally disagree, but they did not  play ones vs twos, it was ones vs ones. I suspect that may not have been the case with UCA. Makes a big difference, especially if you have a good defense.

[GoHogs1091]

UCA played their one's against their two's in their Spring Game as opposed to just playing one's against one's.  The reason why is because it gives more players the opportunity to get playing time in a game type of a situation.

Regarding UCA's upcoming schedule, the non-conference part does have a degree of difficulty.  UCA should be able to win against Samford, and I wouldn't be surprised if UCA wins against Samford by a larger margin than the Razorbacks did season-before-last.  Here is my prediction for UCA this season.

at Samford  Win

at Oklahoma State  Loss   UCA will play them tough for around 3 Quarters, but OSU's FBS depth advantage will be the difference in the 4th Quarter.  There will be a definite head coaching mismatch in favor of Steve Campbell compared to Mike Gundy.

at Northwestern State   Win

Abilene Christian   Win

at Houston Baptist   Win

McNeese State   a toss-up type of a game.  Could go either way.  McNeese wins a very close one, but won't be surprising if UCA wins.

at Lamar   Win

Southeastern Louisiana   Loss   Southeastern gets a lot of players that were passed over by LSU, but those players could play for a lot of FBS programs.

Stephen F. Austin   Win   Conque loses his 2nd-in-a-row to UCA after leaving UCA.

at Nicholls State   Win

Sam Houston State   Win   UCA has been able to win against them recently in Conway.

Worst Case   8-3
Best Case   9-2  (with a win against McNeese State)

[Seminole Indian]

Where do you think UCA will be picked to finish in the SLC.

I'm sticking with my 8 +/- 1 win season for UCA, UofA, and A-State.

Knowing how good the opposition is, is as important as knowing how good  a team is when predicting results.  I feel I have a decent idea about the teams the two Arkansas FBS have on their schedule, but  have idea how good most of the teams on UCA's schedule are, just how good they were last year.

Hard to get good on FCS until closer to the season, and even then their ability to pickup high end FBS transfers can muddy the water.

[Seminole Indian]

Noticed in this article in In the FCS Huddle: FCS matchups we'd like to see, that Sam Houston State and SE Louisiana did not play last year or this year.

"Sam Houston State vs. Southeastern Louisiana - They tied for the Southland Conference title a year ago and have played tight matchups in the playoffs in each of the past two seasons. But they're not matched in the conference schedule for a second consecutive regular season.
"

http://athlonsports.com/college-football/fcs-huddle-fcs-matchups-wed-see

I'm assuming that they are expected to be pretty good this year.

[Seminole Indian]

They are confident at Sam Houston

"Every team is different and, with this group, we didn't need to hit quite so much. We wanted to work on fundamentals and avoid injuries," Keeler said. "We've got a lot of conditioning work with Coach (Brian) Hess in the weight room to get bigger and stronger. But, if we can play clean and stay healthy, this team is going to win some football games next fall."

http://www.sportsnetwork.com/merge/tsnform.aspx?c=sportsnetwork&page=cfoot2/news/news.aspx?id=815764

[DeltaBoy]

If Tenpenny lands in Conway they could win 8-9 games this year.

[hogfan14]

Even after losing Dez Lewis to the NFL, looks like UCA is still loaded at WR. Seems to be a yearly thing now that they always have an outstanding WR corp. I think Thomas is going to be really good at RB too. Taylor Reed's playing style reminds me so much of Tebow haha. The offense should be great. Still a little worried about the defense though outside of the obvious in Woodard.

[GoHogs1091]

Even after losing Dez Lewis to the NFL, looks like UCA is still loaded at WR. Seems to be a yearly thing now that they always have an outstanding WR corp. I think Thomas is going to be really good at RB too. Taylor Reed's playing style reminds me so much of Tebow haha. The offense should be great. Still a little worried about the defense though outside of the obvious in Woodard.

It has the potential of being one of the best UCA Offenses ever fielded.

Regarding the UCA Defense this upcoming season, DC Greg Stewart should be able to get the points allowed per game down to around the 22-25 points mark (down from the 33.8 points allowed per game last season).  Stewart is no rookie DC.  He was the DC at Jacksonville State the season they went into Oxford and defeated Ole Miss.  Thankfully, he wasn't still the DC at Jacksonville State in 2012 when they came into Fayetteville and they caused some problems for the John L. Smith led Razorbacks.

[PorkRinds]

On Offense, their starting QB will definitely be Taylor Reed (who would probably be starting this upcoming season at the UofA if he had stayed at the UofA).

The starting RB will probably be Dominique Thomas.

The starting WRs could be the following.

Courtney Whitehead   6'3"
Jacquez McMillian   6'4"
Jose Moore   6'2"  or  Brady Moore   6'6"

The starting TE may be Zach Gougler   6'4"  255 lbs.

The starting OL is looking like could be the following.

LT:  Kloker
LG:  Mallett
C:    Willis  (a Senior with a lot of playing experience)
RG:  Garcia
RT:  Stouffer   who is 6'7" 316 lbs.

Mallett should be over 300 lbs. by the start of the season.  There is a chance Kloker will be at least 300 lbs. by the start of the season.

No.  He would not be starting QB for Arkansas.  He left because he was never going to be starting QB for Arkansas.

[GoHogs1091]

No.  He would not be starting QB for Arkansas.  He left because he was never going to be starting QB for Arkansas.

You could be correct because I am not for sure what kind of a chance Reed got at the UofA with Bobby Allen on Bielema's Staff and both of Bobby's Sons being QBs.

It is similar to the I am not for sure how much of a chance the other Razorback Tight Ends (other than Hunter Henry) got last season with Bielema being good friends with A.J. Derby's Father.

It has worked out for all parties involved, as far as all the parties being happy.  Reed is playing and throwing a lot of touchdown passes, the good ole boy network of Bielema/Bobby Allen is still ongoing, and Brandon Allen is barely maintaining a 52.5% completion percentage over the last 2 seasons.