Football
Five Stats That Explain How West Georgia Nearly Upset UCA
No. 12 Central Arkansas had to stop a two-point conversion in the final moments of Saturday’s game to avoid a massive upset.
CONWAY, Ark. – One-win West Georgia nearly pulling off a 25-point comeback to beat No. 12 Central Arkansas goes to show the craziness of college football isn’t limited to FBS teams.
The Wolves came up a two-point conversion short of pulling off a huge upset and almost certainly keeping the Bears out of the FBS playoff. But T.D. Williams’ pass breakup in the corner of the end zone to secure the 34-33 win.
Here are five stats that explain how West Georgia nearly upset the Bears on Saturday at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.
24
That’s how many points UCA lead by after a Darius Hale touchdown run put the Bears up 34-10 with 11:37 left in the third quarter. Nobody could’ve predicted it would be the last points UCA scored.
ShunDerrick Powell muscles his way in for the TD.
UCA has turned both West Georgia turnovers into points.
14-3 Bears pic.twitter.com/fVjVFnpu2i
— Sam Lane (@SamLaneOK) October 12, 2024
96
That’s the number of plays ran by West Georgia. For comparison’s sake, UCA had 62 which is slightly below average (average number of plays in a college football game in 2023 was around 66.9). So, the Wolves ran 30 more plays than that average. Yeah, that’s a lot.
10
That’s the number of penalties the Bears received, resulting in a loss of 95 yards. Nearly every college football upset has some similarities. One of the most common is penalties that hurt the higher ranked team and help the other team. Four of UCA’s 10 penalties gave West Georgia first downs, including two on the Wolves’ final drive of the game.
140
That’s how many rushing yards ShunDerrick Powell had in the 34-33 victory. He had one touchdown and averaged 7.4 yards per carry. Powell now has the second-most rushing yards in FCS this season with 1,105 (Tarleton State’s Kayvon Britten leads FCS with 1,160) and is tied for the lead in rushing touchdowns (13) with Monmouth University’s Sone Ntoh.
Just a routine 81-yarder from ShunDerrick Powell.
Darius Hale gets the short TD run to make it 34-10. pic.twitter.com/MhxVAMebaj
— Sam Lane (@SamLaneOK) October 12, 2024
39
That’s how long Chance Gagnon’s missed field goal for West Georgia with 4:34 left in the game was. The Wolves were trailing 33-27 at that point and, if Gagnon makes the kick, the final four and a half minutes would play out a lot differently.
| Sat, Aug 31 |  | @ Arkansas State | L, 34-31 |
| Sat, Sep 7 |  | @ Lindenwood | W, 34-13 |
| Sat, Sep 14 |  | Austin Peay | W, 45-17 |
| Sat, Sep 21 |  | @ Arkansas-Pine Bluff | W, 56-17 |
| Sat, Sep 28 |  | vs Lamar | W, 34-14 |
| Sat, Oct 5 |  | @ Abilene Christian | L, 41-34 |
| Sat, Oct 12 |  | vs West Georgia | W, 34-33 |
| Sat, Oct 26 |  | vs North Alabama | W, 24-19 |
| Sat, Nov 2 |  | @ Utah Tech | L, 34-21 |
| Sat, Nov 9 |  | @ Eastern Kentucky | L, 31-24 |
| Sat, Nov 16 |  | vs Southern Utah | L, 38-31 |
| Sat, Nov 30 |  | @Tarleton State | 2:00 PM |
