WILDCATS-BEARS PREDICTIONS
Owen: After a blowout win against Arizona Christian, the Wildcats’ schedule gets much more competitive here with UCA. The Bears are entering week three hot. They’re coming off a 24-16 win against Austin Peay and a season opening victory over Western Kentucky, 35-28. Meanwhile, the Wildcats were also successful on offense this past week, scoring 45 points in the first half. Translating Saturday’s success to this week will prove much more challenging for ACU. Last year these two teams faced off at Wildcat Stadium for senior night. It was a matchup ruled by the defense for the majority of the game as ACU fell, 16-7. Junior Quarterback Luke Anthony struggled, throwing two interceptions, and the run game was halted to just six rushing yards. Based off of the two team’s performances thus far this year, I highly doubt to see a similar offensive result. ACU is averaging 49 points per game, including 703 total offensive yards last week. Meanwhile, the Bears are averaging 400 yards of offense a game. I’d expect a high-scoring, highly contested matchup. The underlying factor, in my opinion, is that ACU struggled last season on the road against tough conference foes. ACU drops to 1-2.
Wildcats vs. Central Arkansas: ACU: 23 UCA: 27
Tavian: Coming off of one of the most dominating performances in ACU football history, look forward to the wildcats to capitalize on such momentum as they travel on the road to face The University of Central Arkansas this Saturday. Last year these two teams faced off in a defensive battle where ultimately ACU fell 16-7 to close out there season and ultimately missing the playoffs. This year I expect for there to be more of an offensive battle between the two teams. The bears are returning 17 starters and are looking to defeat the wildcats on their own turf this season. This year’s game will definitely be one more focused on offense. ACU totaled 700 plus yards of offense last week and the bears are averaging around 400 yards of total offense. Expect for both teams to come out hot and taking shots towards the endzone early. One thing that has me picking UCA to win it this is year is the fact that ACU tends to let conference opponents hang around and that’ll be the case this Saturday.
Wildcats vs. Central Arkansas: ACU:21 UCA:35
Lexi: The game this weekend against Central Arkansas will be an interesting one. Central Arkansas is ranked first in the conference which they should be because they are a really good team. ACU is ranked 6th but I have hope for our guys. They have been playing really well on both sides of the ball in the past two games and I feel like that is going to come out in the game against Central even more. Especially since we came off a really good win against Arizona Christian. This will be the first conference game for the Wildcats so I feel like there will be a lot of energy coming into this game. Central Arkansas is currently 2-0 overall, and it is obvious that their offense is significantly better than their defense. So I feel like if Tracy James and Billy McCrary can run the ball as well as they have been in the past two games, the Wildcats will come out on top.
Wildcats vs. Central Arkansas: ACU:24 UCA:14
Jalen: Coming off a walkover win against Arizona Christian, the Wildcats will be facing a different story this weekend as they travel to Conway, Arkansas this weekend to play Central Arkansas. ACU was unstoppable last weekend against Arizona Christian, blowing them out the water with over 700 yards of total offense. The last time ACU and UCA battled was on ACU’s Senior Night. ACU would lose 16-7 and fail to make the playoffs. They struggled throughout the entire game producing only 231 yards of offense and turning the ball over four times. UCA holds the number one spot in the Southland Conference with a 2-0 record. Averaging almost 30 points a game, their main offensive weapon will be sophomore wide receiver Lujuan Winningham, who already has 16 receptions, 358 receiving yards, and five touchdowns. However, ACU has the upper-hand in this matchup. Their offensive personnel is much more dominant and UCA’s defense will need to come with a gameplan to stop ACU’s high-powered offense. Junior quarterback Luke Anthony will have a big game this weekend and show his consistency with throwing the ball. ACU will come into this game with vengeance and win this game by a margin.
Wildcats vs. Central Arkansas: ACU:35 UCA: 21
2019 weekly prediction record:
- Tavian (2-0)
- Owen (2-0)
- Jalen (2-0)
- Lexi (1-1)
