VIDEO: Mike Clowney Interview
VIDEO: Meet the Carson-Newman Football Two-Deep
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – After a 173-day layoff and one game in the spring, No. 24/18 Carson-Newman gets 2021 rolling with a white out and the first meeting with West Georgia in a decade and a half Thursday night at 7 p.m. at Burke-Tarr Stadium.
The first 500 through the gates will receive a free t-shirt for the game. Pregame tailgates for students will be presented by the Eagle Production Company, Campus Ministries and Aramark.
The well-being of our student-athletes, fans and staff are our top priorities and guide our decisions. Exposure to COVID-19 is an inherent risk in any public location where people are present; we cannot guarantee you will not be exposed during your visit. Though not required for entry to our athletic facilities, facial coverings are encouraged for arena patrons.
The Eagles have never lost to West Georgia, and never beaten West Georgia head coach David Dean. C-N downed the Wolves three times in Jefferson City in the NCAA Playoffs in the 1990s before taking two Nick Hyder Classics from the Wolves at Baron Stadium in Rome, Ga. in the mid 2000s. Dean, formerly the head coach at Valdosta State, knocked Carson-Newman out the playoffs on three occasions.
"Naturally, David did a good job at Valdosta and was able to win a couple national championships at Valdosta," Carson-Newman head football coach Mike Clowney said. "His guys are always athletic, and they do a great job of recruiting athletic guys from the state of Georgia down there. His teams are also always well-coached. Offensively, we've been in some dog fights with them at Valdosta but unfortunately, they won more times than us. It's always been a fun game when we've played any of Dean's teams."
Carson-Newman head football coach Mike Clowney was a member of Carson-Newman's 1995 and 1996 teams that thwarted the Wolves in the playoffs 37-26 and 41-7. The 37-26 win in 1995 represents Carson-Newman's first ever Division II playoff victory.
"It was actually my first game back from injury and I remember that they were able to put a nice drive together," Clowney said reminiscing about the game in 1995. "But we countered with a nice goal-line stand to win the football game. Played them a couple times in the playoffs and that kind of sparked us with the Nick Hyder Classic down in Rome."
The Eagles are looking for a seventh straight win at home. Carson-Newman hasn't won seven straight home games since a seven-game stretch between the 2017 and 2018 seasons. The Eagles are 13-1 in their last 14 home contests with a loss to Lenoir-Rhyne on senior day in 2018 as the only blemish in that stretch.
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— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) August 26, 2021
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Carson-Newman is 32-8-1 in season-opening games since 1980. Aside from 2018's defeat to West Florida, the only losses on opening day in the last decade came in back-to-back years in 2009 and 2010 to Winona State. Carson-Newman has scored more than 70 once, more than 50 four other times. The Eagles have only failed to score less than 40 four times since 1999 in wins.
Carson-Newman is opening the season on a Thursday for an ninth consecutive fall and an eighth time in nine years at home. When at home on Thursday openers, the Eagles are 6-1 and averaging 46.2 points and 569 yards of total offense.
"It's been a while since they've been here so I think that's something super exciting for them," Clowney said. "Having fans in the stands is exciting. We had a meeting, and to see the amount of impact this has on so many people on campus. We go out and we work every day and for us, it's about making kids better. It does matter to so many people on campus, and in this community. It gives them an opportunity to see the hard work our kids have put and for us to display something for the fans."
Carson-Newman's defense is still anchored by All-American linebacker Rondrow Peebles. He was Carson-Newman's leading tackler with 93 stops. Peebles also had 18.0 tackles for loss and 9.0 sacks. Peebles was named national player of the week following his 12-tackle, 3.5-tackle for loss, 1.5-sack performance on opening night against West Florida.
Peebles tied Temoris Coats for the third most TFL in a single season in program history with 18 in 2019. His nine sacks are the most by a Carson-Newman linebacker in a single season.
UWG junior place-kicker Omar Cervantes was selected as a Preseason All-GSC pick. The Fort Valley product connected on 10 field goals in 2019 with a long of 49 yards to go along with 32 extra points.
West Georgia was picked fifth in the Gulf South Conference following defending national champ West Florida, Valdosta State, Delta State and West Alabama.
UWG seems poised to rely on a number of transfers. At running back, 5-8, 247-pound bowling ball Tyray Devezin ran for 1,000 yards and 11 scores en route to All-SoCON honors at Mercer. Meanwhile, wide receiver Mechane Slade was a part of Memphis' 4,355 yard receiving corps.
The Wolves have won eight consecutive season openers, with the last loss in a season opener coming against Tusculum on the road in 2011. West Georgia is 12-11 all-time in season openers on the road with the last win of that variety coming in 2007 over Clark Atlanta. The only previous sea\son-opening matchup between UWG and Carson-Newman came in 2004 in Rome with the Eagles winning 38-24 (this was UWG's opener. C-N had a game under its belt that year with a 48-34 triumph over Winston-Salem State).
It will have been 655 days since the Wolves last played an opponent, due to the COVID-19 pandemic cancelling the 2020 season.
Kickoff between the Eagles and Wolves is set for 7 p.m. Thursday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network gets underway at 6 p.m. with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
