The 2019 Central Arkansas Bears football team represented the University of Central Arkansas in the 2019 NCAA Division I FCS football season as a member of the Southland Conference . The Bears were led by second-year head coach Nathan Brown and played their home games at Estes Stadium . UCA finished the regular season 9–3 overall, 7–2 in Southland Conference play, earning a share of the 2019 Southland Conference championship, and a first round bye in the FCS playoffs with a #8 seeding.
Preseason Preseason poll The Southland Conference released their preseason poll on July 18, 2019. The Bears were picked to finish in second place.[ 1]
Predicted finish
Team
Votes (1st place)
1
Nicholls
200 (20)
2
Central Arkansas 154
3
Incarnate Word
150 (1)
4
Sam Houston State
146
5
Lamar
123
6
McNeese State
114
7
Abilene Christian
112 (1)
8
Southeastern Louisiana
71
9
Stephen F. Austin
63
10
Northwestern State
56
11
Houston Baptist
21
Preseason All–Southland Teams The Bears placed seven players on the preseason all–Southland teams.[ 2]
Offense
1st team
Carlos Blackman – RB
Hunter Watts – OL
2nd team
Toby Sanderson – OL
Defense
1st team
Chris Terrell – DL
Juan Jackson – DB
2nd team
Jackie Harvell – DB
Robert Rochell – DB
Schedule Date Time Opponent Rank Site TV Result Attendance 6:30 p.m. at Western Kentucky * ESPN+ W 35–2817,120 September 7 2:00 p.m. at Austin Peay * No. 20 ESPN+ W 24–167,523 September 14 6:00 p.m. Abilene Christian No. 14 ESPN3 W 31–3010,123 September 21 10:59 p.m. at Hawaii * No. 14 Spectrum Sports L 16–3523,465 October 5 3:00 p.m. at No. 16 Nicholls No. 11 YouTube L 14–347,021 October 12 6:00 p.m. McNeese State No. 16 ESPN+ W 40–3111,237 October 19 6:00 p.m. at Northwestern State No. 13 CST , ESPN+W 31–307,584 October 26 6:00 p.m. No. 21 Sam Houston State No. 12 ESPN+ W 29–259,363 November 2 3:00 p.m. at Lamar No. 10 ESPN+ W 45–175,913 November 9 3:00 p.m. Southeastern Louisiana No. 7 ESPN+ L 0–346,275 November 16 3:00 p.m. Stephen F. Austin No. 14 ESPN+ W 30–75,527 6:30 p.m. at Incarnate Word No. 11 ESPN+ W 52–352,668 December 7 2:00 p.m. No. 13 Illinois State * No. 9 ESPN3 L 14–245,127 *Non-conference game Rankings from STATS Poll released prior to the game All times are in Central time
[ 3]
Game summaries At Western Kentucky
Total
Bears
0
14
0
21
35
Hilltoppers
14
7
7
0
28
At Austin Peay
Total
No. 20 Bears
0
3
7
14
24
Governors
0
0
13
3
16
Abilene Christian
Total
Wildcats
7
3
7
13
30
No. 14 Bears
3
6
0
22
31
At Hawaii
Total
No. 14 Bears
0
9
0
7
16
Rainbow Warriors
14
14
0
7
35
At Nicholls
Total
No. 11 Bears
0
0
7
7
14
No. 16 Colonels
6
14
7
7
34
McNeese State
Total
Cowboys
10
14
0
7
31
No. 16 Bears
10
10
14
6
40
At Northwestern State
Total
No. 13 Bears
7
7
10
7
31
Demons
14
10
0
6
30
Sam Houston State
Total
No. 21 Bearkats
7
9
6
3
25
No. 12 Bears
0
0
14
15
29
At Lamar
Total
No. 10 Bears
14
10
21
0
45
Cardinals
0
10
0
7
17
Southeastern Louisiana
Total
Lions
7
14
6
7
34
No. 7 Bears
0
0
0
0
0
Stephen F. Austin
Total
Lumberjacks
0
7
0
0
7
No. 14 Bears
3
10
10
7
30
At Incarnate Word
Total
No. 11 Bears
3
21
7
21
52
Cardinals
0
14
14
7
35
FCS Playoffs The Bears enter the postseason tournament as the number eight seed, with a first-round bye.[ 4] Illinois State at Estes Stadium in Conway on December 7.
Illinois State–Second Round
Total
No. 13 Redbirds
0
21
0
3
24
No. 9 Bears
0
7
0
7
14
Ranking movements Ranking movementsLegend: ██ Increase in ranking ██ Decrease in ranking Week Poll Pre 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 Final STATS FCS RV 20 14 14 15 11 16 13 12 10 7 14 11 9 Coaches 25 18 14 12 14 10-T 16 13 10 9 6 13 11 7
References
Venues Bowls & rivalries People Seasons National championship seasons in bold
College Division Division II Division I Division I-A Division I-AA/FCS National championships in bold
