Bears’ McIlvain ranked in top quarterbacks in FCS by site

CONWAY, Ark. — Central Arkansas quarterback Will McIlvain is drawing notice on the national level. It’s a big part of why the Bears are hanging near the Top 10 in preseason FCS polls ahead of fall practices starting in a few weeks.

UCA will open the season against Arkansas State in Jonesboro, Ark., on Aug. 31. That won’t be an easy way to start the season and the Bears have won that in-state series before.

McIlvain just returned from being at the Manning Academy as a counselor where everybody picks up things from many of the best quarterbacks in the nation at all levels, from pro experiences down to top-ranked high school players.

On FCS Central on Sports Illustrated, UCA’s quarterback, who is  coming back after throwing for 2,477 yards last year with 24 touchdowns with just 5 interceptions and averaging a completion on 64% of his throws. That was good enough to land him square in the middle of the Top 10 of FCS quarterbacks.

Leading the list is Mark Gronowski of South Dakota State, which shouldn’t be surprising considering he’s led the Jackrabbits to consecutive national championships.

FCS Top 10 Quarterbacks

1. Mark Gronowski, South Dakota State
2. Cam Miller, North Dakota State
3. Cole Gonzales, Western Carolina
4. C.J. Montes, Fordham
5. Will McElvain, UCA
6. Chase Artopoeus, Chattanooga
7. Tommy Mellott, Montana State
8. Connor Watkins, Villanova
9. Paxton DeLaurent, SEMO
10. Kaiden Bennett, Sacramento State

UCA coach Nathan Brown will have his team report July 31 and practices starting Aug. 1. allBEARS+ will have coverage along with other sports.

BEARS DEN:

• UCA picked near Top 10 in preseason FCS rankings

• Shulman reportedly may be facing highly-ranked team in-state

• Bears’ revised schedule set after SFA changed conferences