Sports

UAPB FOOTBALL TO PLAY AT UTEP NEXT SEASON

By Troy Schulte/OF THE COMMERCIAL STAFF
Friday, November 13, 2009 12:37 AM CST

Arkansas-Pine Bluff completed its 2010 football schedule by finalizing a contract for a game against Texas-El Paso to be played next September, UAPB athletic director Skip Perkins said on Thursday.

The contract is for one game to be played next Sept. 4 at Sun Bowl Stadium in El Paso, Texas to open coach Monte Coleman’s third season, though the time of the game has not yet been announced.

“It’s a good game for us,” Perkins said. “Me and coach have been trying to upgrade our schedule. ... It worked out really well for us.”

The game will be just the second ever between UAPB and a team from the NCAA’s Football Bowl Subdivision. UAPB, which competes in the Football Championship Subdivision, lost at New Mexico State 20-17 in 2007.

The $225,000 guarantee from UTEP, which competes in Conference-USA, is the largest ever UAPB has received for a football game. It received $210,000 to play New Mexico State, a game that had already been agreed upon when Perkins arrived in July 2007.

Perkins said after travel and hotel expenses, UAPB stands to gain around $175,000.

He has said in the past that he wouldn’t want to play such a game for a payout any less than $300,000, but he said on Thursday the payout UAPB is receiving is on par for what to expect from a team of UTEP’s level.

“The fact that we wanted to be on the plus-end of the budget was important for us,” Perkins said. “We’d never make ($175,000) for a home game.”

The agreement also means that UAPB will opt out of the final year of a three-year contract it signed with Arkansas-Monticello beginning last season. UAM beat the Golden Lions 21-7 in 2008 and 27-3 this season and the two teams were scheduled to play at Golden Lions Stadium next Sept. 11.

UAPB will pay UAM a $20,000 cancellation fee and will most likely play a Southwestern Athletic Conference opponent on that date as the league will begin its nine-game conference format.

The game against the Miners, who are 3-6 this season, provides UAPB with an opportunity to play in front of a larger-than-normal crowd and in front of a fanbase that rarely gets exposed to UAPB or the SWAC. UTEP has averaged more than 30,000 fans in its five home games this season. Playing in front of a similar crowd, Perkins said, will be a benefit for the athletic department, university and conference.

“By no means do we feel like we’re a sacrificial lambs,” Perkins said. “It’s an opportunity to play a good team from a good conference.”

UAPB’s other nonconference game will be played Sept. 25 in the Gateway Classic at St. Louis’ Edward Jones Dome. The opponent for that game has yet to be announced.

Perkins added that the 2010 schedule will be a model by which future schedules will follow. He would like to play the Gateway Classic every year, with the other nonconference game being played against an FBS school.

He also said he is in negotiations with organizers to extend its involvement in the Delta Classic 4 Literacy. UAPB has played Grambling State in the event the last four seasons and last week’s game, a 49-42 UAPB win, was the final under the original contract.

Perkins added UAPB will have at least four home games next season, and another close by if the series in Little Rock is renewed.

“This is more up our alley,” Perkins said. “We do better at home when we have conference games. Many of our conference schools travel a lot better.”

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