Central Arkansas rallies late again, beats Austin Peay 24-16

Sep 8, 2019, 12:38 am

CLARKSVILLE, Tenn. -- Breylin Smith nailed Lujuan Winningham on two scoring strikes in the fourth quarter as No. 20 Central Arkansas rallied to beat Austin Peay 24-16 on Saturday afternoon.

The Bears, who have started the season 2-0 for the first time since 2010, scored three fourth-quarter touchdowns last week to come from behind and beat Western Kentucky 35-28.

"Our guys showed so much resilience. Second week in a row on the road," second-year coach Nathan Brown said.

Logan Birchfield booted field goals of 32 and 27 yards to give Austin Peay a 16-10 lead early in the fourth quarter. Five plays later, Smith hit Winningham with a 43-yard touchdown toss to go ahead 17-16. The Smith-to-Winningham combination worked again on an 18-yard scoring play to seal the win with 1:46 remaining in the game.

Austin Peay drove to the UCA 44 before Robert Rochell picked off a JaVaughn Craig pass with 45 seconds left.

Smith threw for 283 yards and three touchdowns with Winningham hauling in eight receptions for 136 yards. Tyler Hudson had 120 yards receiving and a score on four catches.

Craig threw for 185 yards and one score with one interception for the Governors (1-1).

Central Arkansas jumps into Southland Conference play by hosting Abilene Christian next Saturday. Austin Peay will remain out of conference at Mercer.