Receivers Shine in Bears First Scrimmage

Courtesy University of Central Arkansas Athletics Department

CONWAY — The University of Central Arkansas football team went through its first scrimmage of the spring on Saturday, running in excess of 100 plays to give the coaching staff a large body of work off which to evaluate for the remainder of the spring. 

“We were out there a long time – put our players in a lot of situations that were to the advantage of both the offense and the defense,” said UCA head coach Clint Conque. “We have to learn how to play through those situations in game settings. The film from today will be an important tool for our team, in particular our younger players. We saw a lot of good and a lot of bad, both sides of the ball. It’s very important we take an objective look at the video and come back Monday and show it to our young men, make corrections, and make significant improvement between now and next weekend.”

The one area in which the Bears saw the most positives was at wide receiver. With the departures of seniors Dominique Croom, Jesse Grandy and Brett Soft, the UCA offense will have no shortage of opportunities in the rotation this fall. The competition to fill those spots began in earnest on Saturday.

“I thought the receiving corps caught the ball very well,” Conque said. “They were really solid as far as catching the football and making positive plays after the catch. Justin Burdette and Desmond Smith had several catches in the slot and their best day of the spring. Courtney Whitehead showed up today. He’s a big kid at 6-foot-3, and is still learning our system and the intricacies of the passing game here after transferring in from Air Force, but he’s a really talented young man and once he gets those things down he has the ability to be a very good player for us. Chase Dixon had a nice catch, Blake Gardner made some plays, and Damien Watts showed some flash as well.”

But none impressed more than Dezmin Lewis, who caught a pair of touchdown passes and had another 60-yard reception to set up a third score.

“He had a big day, made some big plays,” Conque said. “And he made maybe the best catch I’ve ever seen in my life in the end zone with his left hand.” 

The guys throwing the ball also had their moments, connecting on several big plays.

QB Ryan Howard turned in his “best day as a Bear” on Saturday, according to head coach Clint Conque

“I thought Wynrick Smothers had a solid day,” Conque said. “And I thought Ryan Howard had probably his best day as a Bear. He had total command and was very accurate. Wynrick did have one play where he made a bad read and it led to an interception on a nice play by Kamane Thomas, but outside of that I liked what I saw out of those two.” 

At running back, Conque came away with good impressions of junior Willie Matthews and sophomore Blake Veasley, two candidates for an increased workload this fall with the loss of departed seniors Anthony Blackmon, Terence Bobo and Jackie Hinton.

“Matthews ran really well, really physical,” Conque said. “He’s not as big as some of the backs we’ve had of late, but he has speed and quickness and gives us a different dynamic. He plays bigger than he is, and is very physical. I thought he had a nice day. Veasley gave us some positive plays as well, and we’re hopeful he will continue to progress.” 

The weak point offensively, Conque said, came up front.

“I don’t feel like we protected well or got the push up front that we’re going to need,” he said. “We’ve got to give our quarterbacks time to throw, and allow our backs to make positive plays. We’ve got to be more physical.”

However, part of the appearance of offensive line troubles may have been a byproduct of solid play along the defensive front, 

“We’ve got probably eight or nine guys right now up there coming off the football and attacking,” Conque said. “And, we’re moving our front a little more than we have in the past and that may be causing some chaos with the offensive line – which we need to address. Those guys are penetrating and playing very physical. TJ Randall and Matthew Hornbuckle played very well, and Derek Floyd has really taken his game to another level. Was also very impressed overall with how hard and well a pair of redshirt defensive ends – Bailey McIver & Tony Winslow – played.” 

The results behind the defensive line were mixed, however.

“At linebacker we tackled well,” Conque said. “But we did give up some big plays in the secondary. We’ve got to go back and look at that and make corrections. That being said, I do like the way we ran to the ball and showed a lot of emotion and energy.” 

The big plays, along with penalties, were the two biggest areas of concern for Conque from the day. 

“We had probably seven or eight penalties defensively, and the majority of those were encroachment fouls,” he said. “It takes no talent at all to line up onside. We certainly have to get that fixed. And of course the big plays, we’ve got to get those corrected.”

Eddie Camara was 3-for-4 on field goals, finishing by making a 41-yarder. Jace Denker was 1 for 2, and Conque said Jonathan Harrison performed “fairly well” in the punting sessions. 

The Bears were somewhat shorthanded for the scrimmage, as linebacker Justin Heard, defensive back Radarius Winston and defensive end Parker Carpenter were held out.

“Nothing serious, we should get them back next week,” Conque said. “Carpenter’s sickness hurts our depth on the line a little, but we got through it. We had a couple young men get dinged up during the scrimmage and were not able to finish, and we had a couple others who were a little beat up but pushed themselves through it, so that was good to see.”

The Bears will scrimmage again next Saturday, and conclude the spring with the Purple-Gray game on April 13 at 7 p.m.

 

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