CONWAY, Ark. _ A day after what head coach Clint Conque called “a great day” for the offense, the University of Central Arkansas defense took its turn in the lead during Saturday’s second scrimmage of the fall at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.
“I thought the in yesterday’s practice, the offense dominated,’ said Conque, entering his 12th season at UCA. “And we came out today and our energy just wasn’t where it needed to be. We had a couple of front-line players (on offense) go down early, and I thought that by and large the energy on the offensive sideline was diffused a little bit. I just felt like our energy level, our sense of urgency and our suddeness and that kind of thing waned a little bit’
The Bears lost junior running back Jackie Hinton on the fifth play with a hamstring injury, then lost freshman receiver Al Lasker shortly after with a knee injury.
Conque blamed the somewhat lackluster offensive effort on the loss of the two players and also tired legs from two weeks of practice in the summer heat.
“Although I thought there were some good plays on offense, I thought the defense really did a nice job,’ he said. “I thought our quick game was good. We hit a couple of screens but nothing significant. We did try to go down the field a couple of times, but we definitely have camp legs right now. We just missed Isaiah (Jackson) on a deep ball and missed (Derrick) Steele on a deep ball.
“I thought (Anthony) Blackmon made some nice runs. (Terence) Bobo made some nice runs. But there were some fundamental things that disappointed me. Perimeter blocking wasn’t as good or as sharp as it needs to be. That’s an effort thing, you don’t have to be extremely skilled to do that. That was disappointing.
“We had a couple of dropped balls. And I’m not going to make excuses for them, we have to make those plays. We’re 19 practices into camp, and everybody is tired, it’s hot everywhere.’
Conque said the defense played at a faster speed than the offense on Saturday, despite continued injury problems in the secondary.
“They did a good job of disguising their blitzes today,’ Conque said. “(Senior linebacker) Frank Newsome played very well. I thought freshman Zach Bush, he’s going to be an excellent football player for us at outside linebacker. He had length at 6-foot-3, he’s 200 pounds, he can run. I’m really pleased with him.
“And (junior) Seth Allison is playing really, really well at that outside linebacker.’
A couple of players did catch Conque’s eye on the offensive side, including junior receiver Dominique Croom, who caught a touchdown pass, senior receiver T.J. Adams and junior receiver/return specialist Jesse Grandy.
“Jesse Grandy is a very sudden player,’ said Conque. “He’s slightly built but he’s a very shifty, change of direction guy. He’s going to make positive plays each and every time touches the football. I thought he had a nice day today.
“T.J. had a nice day catching the ball, and Dominique Croom had a couple of nice catches. We had a red-zone touchdown pass there to Croom. Then there was a ball on our sideline that he probably should have laid out for, but again, he’s running in mud right now. He’s not as quick as he was earlier in camp.
“And I’ve talked about this young man for about two weeks now, (freshman receiver) Dezmin Lewis. He’s going to be a big-time football player here.’
Several players sat out the scrimmage, including defensive starters Larry Duvall, Markeith Gaines and Jestin Love, but Conque said most should return early next week. The Bears will take Sunday off before returning for their final two-a-day session on Monday.
“ We’ll evaluate this film, it’s very important,’ said Conque. “About 100 snaps or so. I’m sure the depth chart will shift, it always does. And now we’ll start getting ready for our first opponent.’
The Bears open the 2011 season against Henderson State on Thursday, Sept. 1 at First Security Field at Estes Stadium.
