Central Arkansas report
Posted on Friday, September 26, 2008
Bears will need lots of offense CONWAY — Anybody looking for the Central Arkansas Bears to try to play ball control against the Tulsa Golden Hurricane on Saturday will be sorely disappointed.
“[Tulsa ] has scored on everybody they’ve played the last two seasons,” Central Arkansas Coach Clint Conque said. “For us to think that we can go in, run the football, limit our offensive chances and win would be a bad decision.” Instead, Conque said that the Bears will have to make the most of their opportunities while holding back a Golden Hurricane offense averaging 52. 3 points per game.
“They’ve scored scores of points,” Conque said. “Defensively, we’ve got to try to contain them — which isn’t saying anything since everybody has tried to do that and very few have.” Connections Central Arkansas Coach Clint Conque said the ties between the Bears and Tulsa are numerous, but the most tangible is the number of players from Oklahoma playing for the Bears. Seven Central Arkansas players are from the Sooner State, most notably starting offensive lineman Casey Thurber and backup defensive end Markell Carter. Thurber played for Golden Hurricane special teams coordinator Bill Blakenship when he was at Tulsa Union. Six players from Oklahoma, plus transfer linebacker Corey ansfer running back C. J. Chaten — both of whom transferred from Tulsa — will be named cocaptains and join quarterback Nathan Brown at the coin toss Saturday night. Carter, Thurber, freshman quarterback Trae Cook, sophomore offensive lineman Austin Emerson, freshman defensive lineman Trey Lippe and sophomore defensive lineman Hutton Andrew are the six Oklahomans named cocaptains. “I think it will add to a great game atmosphere,” Conque said. Mirror image of old The similarities aren’t quite as striking today, but those between the wide-open Spread offense the Tulsa Golden Hurricane and the offense Central Arkansas used to run are remarkable.
“I’d say it was a lot more prominent my first four or five years here,” Bears Coach Clint Conque said.
At the very least, Conque said he recognizes what Tulsa is doing.
“They remind me a lot of what we used to do,” Conque said. “The gadgets, the trick plays, it’s all Spread offense stuff. They certainly do it well.” Starting in 2004, the Bears switched from a Spread offense to more of a multiple offense, thus cutting down on the similarities. That’s not to say that the Bears don’t throw in a wrinkle every now and then. “We’ve still got a few trick plays laying around,” Conque said.
Injury update After being limited to four series last week by the Central Arkansas coaching staff, defensive tackle Taylor Scott is expected to be 100 percent by Saturday’s game. Offensive lineman Brad Gordon, the Bears’ most experienced offensive lineman, is also expected to be back in action after reinjuring his ankle against Arkansas-Pine Bluff two weeks ago.
That’s good news for the Bears after offensive lineman Will Merritt tweaked his injured shoulder and is questionable for Saturday.
The Bears also learned that tight end Rico Moss will likely be out for the season after injuring his knee against Quincy last Saturday in Conway.
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