Football 9/12/2026 9:00:00 PM Chris Brannick

Bronchos Stumble In Matchup With DI Central Arkansas

Turnovers Plague Central Oklahoma In Road Loss

CONWAY, Ark. – Central Oklahoma's turnover issues were too much to overcome Saturday at Central Arkansas where the Bronchos lost 59-20.

Jett Huff threw his 55th career touchdown pass to break the all-time UCO record, but he also fumbled twice and threw three interceptions against the stingy Division I opponent and UCA capitalized every time.

"It doesn't matter if you're playing a Division I team, a Division II team, or an NAIA team, if you turn the ball over that much, you're probably not going to win the game," UCO head football coach Adam Dorrel said. "We had some bright spots and we'll build off of that. But, we also have some things we have to get figured out fast as we go into MIAA play."

Central Oklahoma is 1-1 on the season after the loss. The Bronchos beat Texas Wesleyan in Week Zero and now head to Washburn for the first MIAA game of the season next Saturday. UCO will make its home debut Saturday, Sept. 26 against Northwest Missouri at Chad Richison Stadium.

UCO won the coin toss Saturday and held UCA to a three & out on negative six yards. But the Bronchos gave up a field goal and a touchdown on the next two possessions and trailed 10-0 at the end of the first quarter.

As the quarter changed, UCO was marching down the field and Huff connected with Andrew Carney on a 3-yard touchdown pass to put the Bronchos on the board with 14:02 to play in the second quarter.

Central Arkansas scored two more touchdowns in the second quarter and led 24-7 before Bradley Thao connected on a 23-yard field goal with two seconds left before the half to make it 24-10 at the break.

UCA opened it up in the third quarter, scoring 21 unanswered to take a 45-10 lead. A blocked punt by Cannon Wood was recovered in the end zone by Matthew Ciers and the special teams touchdown made it 45-17.

The Bronchos gave up two more touchdowns in the final frame and marched down the field to setup a 37-yard field goal for Thao to make it the final, 59-20.

Huff finished the game 17-for-27 with 199 yards and a touchdown. He did not play the fourth quarter. Cruz Campbell went 2-for-4 with 48 yards, Clayton Creasey completed 3 of 5 passes, and Javohn Thomas completed one pass.

Tahkari Bethel had five receptions for 105 yards. Carney had a career-high six receptions for 63 yards and the one touchdown. Makel Paiva also had six catches for 43 yards. Dev Mathews (5-49) and Rod Sloan (6-43) led the rushing attack.

UCO finished with 288 passing yards and 32 rushing yards for a total of 320 in the game.

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Players Mentioned

#18 Andrew Carney: TE; 6' 1"; Senior

#31 Matthew Ciers: DB; 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman

#10 Clayton Creasey: QB; 6' 1"; Sophomore

#3 Jett Huff: QB; 5' 8"; Senior

#6 Dev Mathews: RB; 6' 0"; Junior

#1 Javohn Thomas: WR; 6' 3"; Senior

#45 Cannon Wood: LB; 6' 1"; Sophomore

#19 Tahkari Bethel: WR; 5' 11"; Freshman

#12 Cruz Campbell: QB; 6' 0"; Freshman

#5 Makel Paiva: WR; 5' 11"; Junior

Players Mentioned

#18 Andrew Carney
: 6' 1"; Senior
: TE

#31 Matthew Ciers
: 6' 1"; Redshirt Freshman
: DB

#10 Clayton Creasey
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: QB

#3 Jett Huff
: 5' 8"; Senior
: QB

#6 Dev Mathews
: 6' 0"; Junior
: RB

#1 Javohn Thomas
: 6' 3"; Senior
: WR

#45 Cannon Wood
: 6' 1"; Sophomore
: LB

#19 Tahkari Bethel
: 5' 11"; Freshman
: WR

#12 Cruz Campbell
: 6' 0"; Freshman
: QB

#5 Makel Paiva
: 5' 11"; Junior
: WR