UTRGV Beats Central Arkansas 30-27 in Overtime on Broderick Taylor's 25-Yard Run

UTRGV had never played an overtime game. Its first one lasted exactly one snap on offense.

Broderick Taylor took a handoff and ran 25 yards into the end zone on the Vaqueros' first play of overtime, and UTRGV beat Central Arkansas 30-27 at Estes Stadium in Conway. It was the program's first overtime game, its first road win of the season, and the cleanest finish to a game that was anything but clean.

UTRGV improved to 4-4 overall and stays 2-3 in the Southland, since this was a nonconference game. Central Arkansas fell to 2-6, still 0-3 in the UAC, after its first overtime game since 2018 ended the worst possible way.

There were four missed field goals, four ties on the scoreboard, and a tying kick with seconds left in regulation. Then Taylor made all of it irrelevant.

A first half of near misses

The tone was set before either team scored. On Central Arkansas' opening drive, UTRGV's Jaiden Haygood stuffed a fourth-and-1, and the Vaqueros turned the stop into a touchdown when quarterback Garret Rangel ran it in from 2 yards out.

Central Arkansas answered quickly. Enoch Assan broke a 27-yard touchdown run with 2:28 left in the first quarter, and it was 7-7.

Then UTRGV wasted a golden chance. The Vaqueros drove all the way to the Central Arkansas 1, but penalties pushed them back and a 23-yard field goal try missed. Leaving points at the 1 is the kind of thing that haunts you in a three-point game, and for a long time it looked like it might.

Central Arkansas took its first lead at 7:50 of the second quarter when Donovyn Omolo hit Arlie Lee for a 24-yard touchdown. UTRGV tied it before the break, with Rangel finding Kyran Lee from 11 yards out, and the teams went to halftime at 14-14.

The third quarter swings

UTRGV grabbed the lead back with just under nine minutes left in the third. Taylor went 14 yards for a touchdown, helped by a big block from Mateo Grajeda, and it was 21-14.

Central Arkansas missed a 39-yard field goal on its next trip, then got a gift. A Bears interception gave Omolo a short field, and the Bears quarterback ran it in from 13 yards out at 2:21 of the third quarter. Tied at 21.

UTRGV had an answer for that too. Alijah Prosser picked off a pass to end the quarter, but the Vaqueros could not cash it, missing a 42-yard field goal. Central Arkansas then missed from 33 yards. By the middle of the fourth quarter, the two kicking units had combined to miss four field goals, and the game was still tied.

The drive, the answer and the tying kick

UTRGV took over with 6:15 left and put together the drive of the day. Fourteen plays, 73 yards, and a lot of clock. Brysen Gardner finished it with a 24-yard field goal with under two minutes left, and the Vaqueros led 24-21.

Central Arkansas did not panic. The Bears went 55 yards in 1:33, and Caleb Jones drilled a 37-yard field goal in the closing seconds to tie it at 24. Overtime.

Overtime: patience, then one snap

Central Arkansas got the ball first and played it carefully. The Bears ran seven plays, gained 19 yards and reached the UTRGV 6, but the Vaquero defense held. Jones kicked a 23-yarder, and Central Arkansas led 27-24.

That set the terms for UTRGV: a field goal to keep playing, a touchdown to win. Taylor chose the second option immediately. On the first snap of the Vaqueros' possession, Taylor went 25 yards to the end zone, and the program's first overtime game was over almost as soon as UTRGV's half of it began.

The players who decided it

Start with Haygood, because nobody else in Conway had a day like this. Haygood made 20 tackles, a career high and a UTRGV program record, with a program-record 10 solo stops and two tackles for loss. That included the fourth-and-1 stop on the first drive. The performance earned Haygood a second Southland Defensive Player of the Week nod and Stats Perform FCS National Defensive Player of the Week. Against a team that ran the ball 49 times, someone had to keep showing up at the point of attack, and it was usually Haygood.

Taylor only carried eight times, but the eight counted. Taylor finished with 68 yards and two touchdowns, both career highs, and both scores came at moments when the game was there for the taking.

Rangel deserves real credit, too. The quarterback was back in action for the first time since Sept. 19 after an injury and completed 24 of 35 passes for 241 yards, a touchdown and an interception, plus a rushing score. Kyran Lee caught five passes for 65 yards and a touchdown, Braden Baize had a career-high 78 yards on four catches, and TJ Dement added 78 rushing yards on 13 carries.

For Central Arkansas, Omolo was a two-way problem: 16 of 28 for 179 yards and a touchdown through the air, plus 76 yards and a score on 19 carries. Dakarai Anderson caught seven passes for 96 yards. Jalen Washington ran 20 times for 79 yards, and Assan turned only eight carries into 72 yards and a touchdown. Tae Bulock had 10 tackles for the Bears defense.

The numbers that matter

Central Arkansas did plenty of things right. The Bears ran 49 times for 233 yards, held the ball for 32:09 and converted 9 of 17 third downs. In most games, that is a recipe for a win.

The difference was in the red zone and at the end. UTRGV scored on 4 of 5 red-zone trips, Central Arkansas on 3 of 5, and the Vaqueros piled up 418 total yards, 241 of them through the air. Both teams missed two field goals, so the edge had to come from somewhere else. It came from finishing drives. UTRGV turned its trips inside the 20 into points more often, and in a game decided by three, one extra red-zone score is the whole margin. Here it showed up on one carry in overtime.

Both schools posted recaps, from UTRGV (opens in a new tab) and from Central Arkansas (opens in a new tab).

What it means

For UTRGV, this was a needed response after a 41-16 loss at UIW the week before. A road win, in overtime, with Rangel back under center, is the kind of result that can reset a season. The Vaqueros had a sold-out home date with ranked Lamar on the Halloween night slate, a Southland game with real stakes.

For Central Arkansas, the season keeps finding new ways to hurt. The Bears lost 27-9 at Southeast Missouri on Sept. 19, 34-7 at Florida State on Sept. 26, 20-14 at Abilene Christian on Oct. 10 and 49-35 at No. 2 Tarleton State on Oct. 17. This one was at home, it was against a team the Bears could beat, and they led in overtime. At 2-6, the margin for anything else is gone. The Bears' homecoming game against North Alabama was set for Halloween afternoon in Conway.

The last word

Football programs do not get to pick how their firsts arrive. UTRGV's first overtime game came on the road, after four missed field goals and a tying kick in the final seconds of regulation. And then it took one handoff to end it.

Haygood made 20 tackles to keep the Vaqueros in the game. Taylor needed one run to win it. That is the strange math of overtime, and on Saturday it all added up for UTRGV.

Sources: UTRGV Athletics and Central Arkansas Athletics recaps. More college football coverage on Undrafted.

Photos: Central Arkansas Athletics.