CONWAY, Ark. – It was a night of firsts for The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV) football team Saturday at Estes Stadium as the Vaqueros earned their first road win of the season in the first overtime game in program history, downing the Central Arkansas (UCA) Bears, 30-27.
UTRGV (4-4, 2-3 Southland Conference) needed just one play in the overtime period to get the win as sophomore running
Broderick Taylor showcased his speed to find the edge and tiptoed the sideline to the end zone, scoring on a 25-yard carry. Taylor scored a career-high two touchdowns on a personal-best eight carries with 68 yards.
Junior linebacker
Jaiden Haygood notched career and program records with 20 tackles and 10 solo tackles and finished with two tackles for loss. Fifth-year quarterback
Garret Rangel returned from an injury and went 24-for-35 with 241 passing yards, 17 rushing yards, one score each in the air and on the ground, and one interception in his first action since Sept. 19. Junior running back
TJ Dement paced a sound rushing effort with 78 yards on 13 carries. Junior receiver
Kyran Lee had 65 yards on five catches with one touchdown. Senior receiver
Braden Baize had a career-high 78 receiving yards on four catches.
UTRGV limited Central Arkansas (2-6, 0-3 United Athletic Conference) quarterback
Donovyn Omolo to 179 yards passing and 76 yards rushing as he went 16-for-28 with one interception and one touchdown each passing and rushing.
Jalen Washington rushed for 79 yards on 20 carries and
Enoch Assan scored one touchdown on 72 yards and eight carries.
Dakari Anderson hauled in seven catches for 96 yards and
Arlie Lee added one touchdown on 59 receiving yards.
Tae Bulock led the Bears defense with 10 tackles.
UTRGV got the fast start that has often eluded it on the road to take a 7-0 lead just five minutes into the game. Defense set the tone, forcing a turnover on downs on UCA's opening drive as Haygood stopped a 4th & 1 run play after the Bears moved quickly into the red zone.
The Vaqueros moved efficiently down the field with a good mix of runs and passes, utilizing the speedy running backs to get into UCA territory. Rangel took a two-yard keeper to his right and spun off a defender into the end zone for the first points of the game.
The Bears responded quickly and evened the game at 7-7 with 2:28 to play in the first quarter off a 27-yard rushing touchdown by Assan. UTRGV took its next possession deep into Bears territory, aided by two key third down conversions by Rangel. On the first, the quarterback raced to find the edge for an 18-yard pickup on 3
rd & 14. Next, he found Lee over coverage for a 29-yard gain on 3
rd & 18. Two costly penalties inside the five-yard line forced the Vaqueros to try a 23-yard field goal which went wide left.
Central Arkansas cashed in the miscue five plays later as Omolo connected with Arlie Lee for a 24-yard touchdown, making it 14-7 Bears with 7:50 remaining in the first half.
UTRGV looked sharp to knot things up at 14-14 with an eight-play, 75-yard drive that took just over three minutes. Dement had a heavy presence in the drive, racking up 33 rushing yards on three carries before a nice nine-yard rush to the outside by Taylor got UTRGV deep in Bears territory. Rangel found a wide-open Lee in the front left corner of the end zone from 11 yards out for the score.
The Vaqueros defense came up with a stop to give possession back to the offense with 2:09 remaining in the half. Sixth-year linebacker
Spencer Rich and graduate defensive end
Josh Cashiola pressured the quarterback to stymie the UCA drive. UTRGV went three-and-out on the ensuing drive, and the game was tied at 14-14 at halftime after a clutch Haygood pass breakup prevented the Bears from doing much with their final possession of the half.
Defenses set the tone on both teams' opening drives of the second half. The Bears tabbed back-to-back sacks to force a three-and-out. UTRGV's defense forced a punt on UCA's following drive with help from a third-down sack by Cashiola and defensive lineman and Harlingen High alum
Nathan Huerta — Huerta also had the stop on second down.
Rangel and Baize connected on a pair of first-down gains of 15- and 11-yards to set up the go-ahead score. Rangel delivered into a tight window on third down to keep the drive alive. Taylor ran behind a great block by tight end
Mateo Grajeda to score a 14-yard touchdown and regain the lead at 21-14 with just under nine minutes left in the third quarter.
Central Arkansas missed a 39-yard field goal after a slew of incompletions, aided by a pass breakup in the end zone by junior defensive back
Alijah Prosser. But the next play was an interception by
Manny Smith to set up the tying score. Omolo found pay dirt on a 13-yard scamper up the middle, making it 21-21 with 2:21 on the clock in the third.
Prosser came up with a big interception at the end of the third quarter to fire up the Vaqueros sideline after another three-and-out. Rangel opened the fourth quarter with a strong first-down run for 15 yards, then connected with junior receiver
Cameron Glenn for a 16-yard gain as UTRGV got to UCA's 25. A missed field goal attempt from 42 yards out left the game knotted.
The Bears turned to the run game on a long drive inside the UTRGV red zone, but Haygood and junior linebacker
Jackson Waid came up with key stops to force a field goal attempt from 33 yards. The kick was no good, and UTRGV took possession with 6:15 to play.
The Vaqueros were methodical as they executed a 14-play, 73-yard drive for the go-ahead score. Rangel found Baize up the middle for a key third and long conversion as the swift receiver cleared coverage. Senior kicker
Brysen Gardner made a 24-yard field goal to put UTRGV on top, 24-21, with 1:45 left to play.
Central Arkansas raced up the field to tie the game at 24-24 with a 37-yard field goal by
Caleb Jones with eight seconds remaining. After two run plays by the Vaqueros, the game went to overtime.
The Vaqueros will return to Robert & Janet Vackar Stadium for a SLC game against #16/15 Lamar at 7 p.m. on Oct. 31. Tickets will go on sale Monday at 8 a.m. at
UTRGVTickets.com. All tickets for UTRGV Athletics home events will use NFC scanning, therefore screenshots will not grant entry. Fans can save and access tickets for entry via Apple or Google Wallet or by logging into your account at
UTRGVTickets.com.
Fans are encouraged to visit
RallyTheValley.com for everything they need to know about attending home football games. If you're unable to attend, the game will be streamed on
ESPN+ domestically and
Southland International for international fans.
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