Football
Central Arkansas opens 2026 football season at UT Martin
UCA opens its 2026 football campaign Thursday at UT Martin as Nathan Brown begins his ninth season leading the Bears.
Central Arkansas kicks off its 2026 football season Thursday night on the road against the UT Martin Skyhawks.
Kickoff from Martin, Tenn., is set for 6:30 p.m. Fans can catch the action on ESPN+ or tune in locally on The Bear 91.3 and The Point 94.1. Live stats will also stream online for anyone who can’t watch.
This will be the ninth season for head coach Nathan Brown, who’s built a steady program at UCA.
The Bears enter the year picked to finish fifth in the United Athletic Conference preseason poll.
Both teams come in with clean 0-0 records, so Thursday’s game gives an early look at where each squad stands heading into a long fall.
Last season wasn’t easy on the Bears’ defense. UCA scored 24.5 points a game in 2025 but gave up 35.17 points a game to opponents.
On offense the Bears put up 372.8 yards per game while the teams they faced averaged 409.5. Those numbers show a group that’ll need to tighten things up on defense if it wants to climb higher in the UAC standings this year.
Skyhawks bring experience and strong pick
UT Martin isn’t a stranger to success either. Skyhawks coach Jason Simpson enters his 21st season leading the program, and UT Martin was picked to finish first in the Ohio Valley Conference preseason poll.
In 2025 the Skyhawks scored 20.7 points a game and allowed just 23.9, numbers that point to a more balanced team than UCA faced a year ago. UT Martin’s offense gained 343.1 yards a game while opponents managed only 356.
History between these two programs goes back decades. The Bears and Skyhawks first met in 1958, when UT Martin won a tight one 7-6.
Since college football moved into the Division I era the two teams have split their meetings, with each side winning on its own home field, UT Martin in 2013 and UCA in 2014 back in Conway.
Looking at the full series though, UCA holds a 9-5 edge over UT Martin all time.
Thursday’s opener gives both the Bears and UT Martin a chance to set the tone before conference play begins.
With new stats on the board and a coaching staff that knows how to grind out a long season, Brown’s group hopes to flip last year’s defensive struggles into a stronger start this time around.
