Red-hot North Alabama will be Bears’ opponent off only bye week

CONWAY, Ark. — Central Arkansas returns from their only open date of the season to face a red-hot North Alabama team on Saturday afternoon on Homecoming Weekend.

The No. 10/12 Bears (5-2, 2-1) will take on the Lions (3-5, 3-1) at 4 p.m. on “The Stripes” at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.

The Lions opened the season with five consecutive losses but have now won three straight, including a 47-34 victory over Abilene Christian, a team that handed UCA its only United Athletic Conference loss three weeks ago.

UCA is coming off a 34-33 victory over West Georgia two weeks ago at home, holding off the Wolves after they scored the game’s final touchdown with just 27 seconds remaining.

The Bears and Lions will be meeting for the 23rd time after competing at Division II members of the Gulf South Conference before moving to Division I. UCA has won the only two meetings at the FCS level, beating UNA 64-29 two years ago in Conway and winning again 27-14 last year in Florence, Ala.

The Bears lead the UCA in scoring offense (38.3 points per game) and scoring defense (24.1). UCA, which has had three games with more than 500 yards of total offense, averages 474.4 yards per game, while UNA puts up 379.9 per outing.

UCA senior running back ShunDerrick Powell (Hoxie, Ark.) leads the nation in all-purpose yards and is second in rushing yards, rushing touchdowns, rushing yards per game and rushing yards per carry. Ironically, Powell transferred to UCA from UNA prior to the 2023 season and has a combined 3,778 rushing yards and 37 rushing touchdowns for his career.

UCA Bears quarterback Will McElvain against West Georgia | Ted McClenning-AllBears+ Images

UCA sixth-year quarterback Will McElvain, also a transfer (Northern Iowa), has topped the 10,500-yard passing mark and now has 6,579 yards in his UCA career, which ranks fifth all time. UCA head coach Nathan Brown holds the Bears’ school records wth 10,558 yards and 100 touchdowns.

Senior defensive end David Walker is nearing a pair of school records. The Stuttgart, Ark., native, and transfer from Southern Arkansas, is 1.5 tackles for loss short of tying Jonathan Woodard’s school record of 53.0. Walker also has 27.0 career sacks, just 3.5 shy of Woodard’s mark of 30.5. Walker has been at UCA for just two and a half seasons.

UCA returns to the road next Saturday for two consecutive UAC games, making its first trip to Utah Tech in St. George, Utah, followed by a trip to Richmond, Ky., to take on Eastern Kentucky.