Despite earning its first win of the season on Saturday, the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff enters its bye week with questions at quarterback.
Starter Christian Peters was benched at halftime of UAPB’s 34-8 win against Lincoln (Calif.) at Simmons Bank Field.
Peters threw three interceptions in the first half, leading UAPB (1-2) to swap to DJ Stevenson for the second half.
Head Coach Alonzo Hampton said Peters mostly played well, but those three interceptions can’t happen.
“The first two games, he was really good at protecting the football, not throwing it to the other team,” Hampton said. “Even when they were trying to get him, he would throw it out of bounds. Tonight, he just made a couple of plays that was uncharacteristic of him.”
Independent reporting for Pine Bluff & Jefferson County since 1879.
Peters threw one interception in UAPB’s first two games before the three against Lincoln (0-3). He completed 14 of 23 passes for 182 yards and a touchdown in the first half.
His 60.9% completion rate in the first half was up from 50.7% in the first two games of the season against Texas Tech and Central Arkansas. Peters threw a 53-yard touchdown to Kareem Burke on his first pass of the day to give UAPB the lead two plays into the game.
Each of his interceptions came in Oaklander territory, with two in the red zone. He was able to lead UAPB down the field against the Lincoln defense before making those mistakes.
Hampton said multiple times he believes Peters will bounce back from this game.
“I really thought he would kind of come out here and just electrify the crowd with his speed and his arm strength and things of that nature,” Hampton said. “I think he may have been a little too excited, to be honest, but he’ll be fine. We’ll need both quarterbacks moving forward, and I think they both can lead this football team.”
Stevenson completed 2 of 4 passes for 19 yards in the second half. Peters won the starting job in fall camp, but Stevenson came into the offseason as a major contender for the job after appearing in four games last season.
He completed 9 of 17 passes for 93 yards with one touchdown and one interception in his limited playing time last year. He relieved then-starter Mekhi Hagens in the second half of defeats in each of the final two games of that season.
Hampton did not say who would start UAPB’s next game, which will be the Southern Heritage Classic in two weeks against Alcorn State in Memphis.
“Both guys will play if we need them to, but again, it’s a long way between now and then,” Hampton said. “DJ came in and did a good job. We trust both guys. We’ll evaluate the film tonight, and then we’ll have a good bye week practice, and guys just gotta continue to get better.”
UAPB prioritized the run after swapping quarterbacks and rushed 26 times for 184 yards in the second half, finishing the game with 324 rushing yards total.
Junior college transfer Jaylen Jennings rushed for 226 yards and four touchdowns on 26 carries. UAPB had to rely on him after starting running back Za’Marion Webber suffered a knee injury in the first quarter. Preseason All-SWAC second team running back BJ Curry has yet to play this season after suffering a preseason leg injury.
Hampton said Curry’s injury isn’t major, but the Golden Lions aren’t comfortable playing him until he’s fully healed. He said Curry practiced some during the week and will hopefully be ready for Alcorn. Hampton said the Golden Lions need to get Webber checked out to determine his status.
On defense, UAPB played without starting cornerback Amyrion Mingo, who was injured last week against UCA. Hampton said Mingo should be ready for the Southern Heritage Classic.
“Mingo obviously got that blindside hit last week, still got me kind of angry about that,” Hampton said. “He had some bruised lungs, but he’ll be back. He had another CAT scan. Everything checked out well. He’s breathing good. He was out there coaching hard tonight.”