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Cent Arkansas: Another Sac/Montana State?

seattlebuff

Well-Known Member
Thought I'd look at who C. Ark. played last year, who they beat, competitive with ... because I'm consistently seeing people marking that as a win for us.

Umm, well ... they beat Sam Houston St., which went to the FCS semifinals. C. Ark barely lost to Georgia Southern, who went to the FCS final. Hung tough at Ole Miss, down 8 heading into the 4th quarter. Ole Miss beat Pitt in their bowl game ...

We'll be better, yes. And we should certainly win. But guarantee? Hardly.
 
Man we're gonna really love MacIntyre when (if) we blow out Central Arkansas. Then we'll really know he is the one:cry:
 
We lost to Sac State last year because their coaching staff made some adjustments and our braintrust wasn't able to come up with a counter for the entire 2nd half. I think that Sac State only ran variations on 3 offensive plays. Defensively, all they did was stack the box and roll coverage up.
 
sliderNcider said:
Man we're gonna really love MacIntyre when (if) we blow out Central Arkansas. Then we'll really know he is the one:cry:
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During the Sacramento State game last year I wasn't even angry during their comeback and eventual win. I was laughing. I knew what madness felt like. It killed my fandom. Maybe MM can bring me back some sanity by beating Central Arkansas and CSU.
 
Buffnik said:
We lost to Sac State last year because their coaching staff made some adjustments and our braintrust wasn't able to come up with a counter for the entire 2nd half. I think that Sac State only ran variations on 3 offensive plays. Defensively, all they did was stack the box and roll coverage up.
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Unfortunately Cent Arky is probably a better team than Sac St.
 
Buffnik said:
They almost certainly are. But we didn't lose to Sac State based on talent.
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I know this staff has a lot higher game planning and adjustment making IQ compared to the last staff. What worries me is not the talent, or the coaching, it's confidence. We really, really need to get out ahead early. If CA gets out to an early lead, I can see this young team quickly reverting back to the mentality they had in the middle of last season.
 
Buffnik said:
They almost certainly are. But we didn't lose to Sac State based on talent.
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Inept coaching played a huge role, as did inexperience and lack of confidence. But I also remember thinking "How is their QB better than ours?" and "How do they have speedy wideouts and we don't?" And toward the end, "Why can't our O-line block FCS-level pass rushers?"
 
J.R. Ewing said:
I know this staff has a lot higher game planning and adjustment making IQ compared to the last staff. What worries me is not the talent, or the coaching, it's confidence. We really, really need to get out ahead early. If CA gets out to an early lead, I can see this young team quickly reverting back to the mentality they had in the middle of last season.
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Absolutely. Also, I don't know that they are ready to handle success. We saw that in the Sac State and CSU games last year. The team let off the gas once it got an early lead. They didn't respond well to a counter-punch. In 2011, we saw it when the team celebrated for a week after beating Arizona and didn't show up for the UCLA game.

So, beyond not being sure if this team has the mental stuff in place to come back to win a game... we also have to wonder whether it has what it takes to close a game it's leading or to follow up on a win with a good performance the following week.

It's scary/pathetic/sad/infuriating (pick your descriptor) to consider the state of our program coming out of the scandal-thru-Hawkins-thru-Embree. Nowhere to go but up, though. We have been the worst BCS program for at least the past 2 years.
 
It comes down to coaching. Last year when things got tough Embree and staff would scream their heads off at the players. Or sulk in disbelief, which really brings out the confidence. (sarcasm)

MM and staff seem organized, confident and competent. I doubt they let Sac State/Montana St pt II happen.
 
I hate to say this but Central Ark returns nearly their whole team from a very good squad last year. They are much, much better team than Sac State.
 
Why is anyone looking at any game on the CU schedule and saying we should win?

based on the last 5 years I'm just going to assume we will lose every week.
 
We almost lost to Eastern Washington University if not for a Dykes INT in the endzone.

What is our record against FCS?

According to CFB Warehouse we are 13-8 all time with recent losses to MSU and Sac St. We barely beat Eastern Washington with a late INT by Dykes in the endzone. UGH!
 
Creebuzz said:
I hate to say this but Central Ark returns nearly their whole team from a very good squad last year. They are much, much better team than Sac State.
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Not only that, but if we have a talent edge, it's only slight. We got a lot of guys playing key roles that were recruited at about the same level as their guys. Once you get outside the top few hundred players in the country, the accuracy of these recruiting ratings really fall off. It's impossible to say if some D1's 96th rated class is better than an FCS class. BOth are filled with nobodies!

Add to the mix "player development", which has not existed here for 4 years, and I'd guess has been pretty good at Central Arkansas during that span, and you'll have upperclassmen at one spot with consistent coaching and development, and upperclassmen here, who are starting their 3rd system in 4 years. Our first depth chart shows that there are guys that couldn't get on the field under Embree who are now at the top!

I have said this from day 1. No cream puffs on our schedule. Not one win I'd circle as a gimme. We are generally about equal with where we sit on a talent basis with both CSU and C. Arkansas, and I think we'd destroy them in game 7, we will struggle with them in games 1 and 2. Then layer on top, lack of true confidence, and a very real tendency to come apart and lose focus at the first sign of struggle. The expectation from me will be to win, but they will be hard fought battles.

And note that I'm generally optimistic when it comes to Buff seasons, but I suggested 3-4 wins max last year and got slammed for it. It's a total rebuilding project, and a lot will depend on QB play, and keeping key guys healthy like Richardson, Powell, and key linemen.

All Buff fans should be content to see improvement from last year, improvement from game 1 to game 12, and progress being made. I just don't see any easy wins on the schedule.
 
J.R. Ewing said:
**** me. That's not good.
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Nope. Neither is the fact that their returning Sr. QB Wynrick Smothers was 5th in the nation in points responsible for (18.55), 10th in passing efficiency, and 12th in total offense (292.91). The Bears defense was 7th in TFL, had 14 interceptions, and averaged nearly three sacks a game.
 
Okay, I've been a big fan of college football for over four decades, and consider myself to be well read when it comes to college football teams.
However, I had to do a triple take (and then had to look it up) when I saw the 2013 schedule for Central Arkansas.
Before heading off to Boulder, the Central Arkansas Bears open their season against ... The University of the Incarnate Word.

The University of Incarnate Word website says that the Cardinals are joining Division 1 this year, and will be playing in the Southland Conference.

Reps to anyone who knows anything about this school ...
 
Man, when I started this thread, I was hoping to be talked off the ledge ... now I'm hanging on by my fingernails!
 
Creebuzz said:
Nope. Neither is the fact that their returning Sr. QB Wynrick Smothers was 5th in the nation in points responsible for (18.55), 10th in passing efficiency, and 12th in total offense (292.91). The Bears defense was 7th in TFL, had 14 interceptions, and averaged nearly three sacks a game.
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If we let a team with Waylon Smithers at QB beat us, we should be relegated to div 2.
 
Ironically this will be a massive statement game for the MM regime. Lose, and we are dismal business as usual, but blow them out and there might be hope that these guys can coach.
 
MontanaBuff said:
Okay, I've been a big fan of college football for over four decades, and consider myself to be well read when it comes to college football teams.
However, I had to do a triple take (and then had to look it up) when I saw the 2013 schedule for Central Arkansas.
Before heading off to Boulder, the Central Arkansas Bears open their season against ... The University of the Incarnate Word.

The University of Incarnate Word website says that the Cardinals are joining Division 1 this year, and will be playing in the Southland Conference.

Reps to anyone who knows anything about this school ...
Click to expand...

Someone mentioned this school in the last week as a potential transfer school for Dorman...
 
Hey guys, UCA fan here. First off i think it's awesome that we are getting to play in Boulder, i really hope i get to make the trip...never been to Colorado before but it sounds beautiful. We just moved up to the FCS in 2006 and got eligible for the FCS playoffs 4 years ago so Ole Miss last year was our first real big time game. We lead them at the half but they just were the more talented team. We won the southland conference and finished 9-3, beating sam houston but losing to future FBS team georgia southern in the playoffs (triple option was annoying!). We finished #10.

We lost two all-conference receivers in Jesse Grandy (who was also a dynamite PR) and Dominique Croom, and lost our top 3 RBs. But QB Wynrick Smothers is back after finishing top 10 in the FCS version of the heisman and he's a dual threat. We still have a good WR in Dezmin Lewis but are still looking for depth there. Our OL was pretty good last year and should still be above average. We throw the ball out of the spread mostly but we need to find a running game for this year. Our kicker was all-conference last year too, we get a few University of Arkansas transfers every few years so that helps us out.

On defense our DL should be our strength. We lost our best LB in Seth Allison but return our MLB. Our secondary gave up some big plays last year and weren't the strength of our D but we do return both safetys (one of which was named one of the top 25 players in FCS). Overall we MIGHT not be as explosive on offense this year and probably wont be quite as good as last year but we should still battle for the southland and a playoff spot.

Im not expecting to win this game though, just cant predict us winning on the road against a pac-12 opponent just yet. I think it could be a close game though...with you guys having a first year coach we dont have much game film to work with.

Interesting fact: We are still undefeated at home since installing this field before the 2011 season...it's definitely unique!

uca-field.jpg
 
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