(STATS) – A number of FCS teams stayed close with FBS opponents during the first full weekend of college football only to let their opportunity slip away in the fourth quarter.
Central Arkansas’ aggressive mind-set made it happen.
The Southland Conference squad scored 21 unanswered points in the fourth quarter to dispose of Western Kentucky 35-28 Thursday night. The STATS FCS Team of the Week was the only subdivision team to beat an FBS opponent in 40 matchups.
“I thought the fourth quarter, we believed,” second-year coach Nathan Brown said after Central Arkansas’ third win over an FBS opponent – the first also against Western Kentucky in Bowling Green in 2009.
UCA totaled 176 offensive yards on just 12 plays in the fourth quarter. The Bears pulled within 28-21 on the first play of the quarter when quarterback Breylin Smith connected with Lujuan Winningham for a 20-yard touchdown – his third scoring pass of the game.
The next time, they got the ball at their 20, the Bears stunned WKU with a pass from running back Carlos Blackman to an open Winningham, who raced off for an 80-yard touchdown. The sophomore finished with eight receptions for 222 yards and three scores.
After the UCA defense forced a quick three-and-out, Smith completed 38- and 35-yard passes on the game-winning drive, which Blackman capped with a 1-yard run with 6:51 remaining.
“We had a lot of new faces that were having to learn on the fly,” Brown said. “But man, what a great fourth quarter. And that’s something I told our guys … Last year’s team may have struggled and may have lost (the game) because we lost a lot of close ones in the fourth quarter. But I thought we learned from that and I think our guys paid attention to details and made plays when it mattered.”
HONORABLE MENTION: Northern Iowa (29-26, triple-OT loss to Iowa State); South Carolina State (28-13 win over No. 9 Wofford); Southeastern Louisiana (35-14 win over No. 6 Jacksonville State); Tennessee Tech (59-58 win over Samford)
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