JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. - This is the 10th part in an 11-part series breaking down all of Carson-Newman football's opponents for the 2017 season. This feature analyzes the Eagles' final road game and a trip to Hickory, N.C. to face off with Lenoir-Rhyne.
Lenoir-Rhyne poses an interesting challenge for Carson-Newman. The Bears are the only league foe that a senior class from 1975-present hasn't beaten.
Carson-Newman has lost five straight to the Bears dating back to a pair of wins over L-R in 2012. The Eagles downed the SAC champs twice that season, winning 47-22 in the regular season before triumphing 38-35 in the playoffs.
However, the Bears got the better of the Eagles last season at Mossy Creek 20-17. C-N represented one of Lenoir-Rhyne's three wins last season in coach Mike Kellar's inaugural run at the helm the program.
The Bears were picked seventh in the league's annual preseason poll in a tie with Limestone. However, Kellar gets back several key cogs, including a few who were injured in 2016.
The Bears only bring back five starters offensively though, granted they are seasoned. L-R returns 60 percent of its offensive line, starting quarterback/coach's kid Jarrod Kellar and All-SAC running back Nelson Brown.
Kellar has a year's worth experience under his belt after an up-and-down freshman season. He completed 49.5 percent of his passes for 1,248 yards. The primary thing the signal caller needs to work on is his touchdown to interception ratio. He hurled six scores against 11 picks last year.
Kellar will have a brand new receiving corps to work with in year two of the Bear's transition from the triple option to the spread. However, he has experience to work with in the backfield in sophomore tailback Nelson Brown, a running back the Eagles are acutely familiar with.
Brown led the Bears in rushing last season with 902 yards in addition to six touchdowns. Brown also posted a pair of 200-yard rushing games – 261 and 200 – in victories over Tusculum and Carson-Newman, respectively.
Defensively, the Bears bring back six sophomores who started games as freshmen a year ago, plus, L-R gets back two standout safeties who missed time due to injury.
Both Kyle Dugger and Marcus Kincaid earned preseason All-SAC honors in spite of missing last year due to injury.
Dugger, who was out last season due to injury, was the 2015 South Atlantic Conference Defensive Freshman Of The Year. Two years ago, Dugger totaled 43 tackles to go along with four interceptions, two forced fumbles and two fumble recoveries. In addition, Dugger scored a touchdown on a fumble return, a blocked field goal return and a blocked punt return in 2015.
Kincaid, a two-year starter, was also held out last year due to injury and enters the season with 171 tackles, two sacks, two forced fumbles and three interceptions for his career. Kincaid earned 2014 All-SAC Second-Team honors after finishing with 77 takedowns and helping lead the Bears to an 11-1 record, a No. 8 national ranking and the team's fourth straight league championship.
That duo, combined with the return of Sherrod Williams and Isaiah Herring, gives Lenoir-Rhyne a formidable secondary.
Clayton Horn anchors the linebacking corps after making 73 tackles with five behind the line of scrimmage.
The lone downside is a lack of returners in the front four. Defensive tackle Travis Head is the lone returning starter up front.
The Better Know the Opponent Series concludes Friday with a glimpse of UNC Pembroke.
