Bears Getting Physical Getting Ready for Second Scrimmage

CONWAY, Ark. — Central Arkansas has the second scrimmage of fall camp Saturday morning on the stripes at First Security Field at Estes Stadium. It was something they have been preparing for all week.

The Bears, who were off Wednesday, have two more practices prior to the scrimmage, which is set for 9 a.m. Saturday.

“This is a big back half of this week for us,” said coach Nathan Brown, who will be the guest speaker at Thursday’s Conway Rotary Club meeting at Hole in the Wall. “We have two very physical days leading up to our second scrimmage of camp Saturday morning. We got about 100 plays last Saturday and will be around that same number this Saturday.”

Tuesday was practice No. 12 and Brown said the Bears had a quality day.

“I thought we had a great day on the field,” he said. “We introduced two-minute situations and also a two-point period. As we continue to push through camp we will continue to throw a lot of situations at our guys.”

Brown said the defensive unit, led by key returnees such as David Walker, TaMuarion Wilson and T.D. Williams, has been a bright spot.

“I think the defense continues to stand out,” he said. “We have a lot of veteran presence on that side and it looks like it every day. They are making our offense better every day. I thought they controlled our red zone sessions today. I felt like offense had the edge in our second and medium team session.”

The specials teams units also caught Brown’s eye on Tuesday.

“We continue to get good special teams work every day. Coach Scott has done a great job getting us a lot of good vs. good looks to get better at. Jake Gaster has been very consistent kicking the ball during camp so far.”

The Bears, in the Top 20 in two preseason FCS polls, open the 2024 season in 17 days, taking on the FBS Arkansas State Red Wolves at 6 p.m. on Aug. 31 in Jonesboro.

Information from UCA Sports is included in this story.