VIDEO: 2019 Limestone Highlights
VIDEO: Mike Clowney Press Conference
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman will try to send 15 seniors out in style as they play Limestone (0-7, 0-5 South Atlantic Conference) in the final home game of the season Saturday at Burke-Tarr Stadium at 1 p.m.
The Eagles (0-8, 0-6 SAC) will honor six graduate transfers – DeQuan Dudley, Brandon Tiassum, Gorel Soumare, Justice Alexander, Cam Ellis and Kyaire Bynum – as well as nine three/four year players – Rondrow Peebles, Hayden Jones, Jesse West, Micah Young, JJ Lewis, Braxton Westfield, Wycleff Phanor, George Reis and Trayzel Jureidini-Wyche.
"The big one for us is Senior Day with a group of guys who have been here for four years and we're grateful for what they've done here at Carson-Newman," Carson-Newman head football coach Mike Clowney said. "This time around, we also have a lot of grad transfers who have already graduated from somewhere and have only been here for a year. Still, once you're part of this family, you are part of this family. We're grateful for all those guys and what they've done for us here at Carson-Newman."
Carson-Newman has won its senior day contest every other year since 2014. With a 49-13 win over Tusculum in 2019, C-N will be looking for back-to-back senior day Ws for the first time since the 2014-15 seasons. Losses to Wingate (2016) and Lenoir-Rhyne (2018) have alternated with wins over UNC Pembroke (2017) and Tusculum (2019)
"This week is about celebrating them on the field and then next week, we do a little bit more with them and talk to them about trying to leave something with the program,," Clowney said, "It is a little bit more intimate as some of the guys may not know a whole lot, but hopefully there's still some conversion there while they've been here that they can share to help push the young guys along. That's part of what we've talked about all year with there not being a whole lot of seniors there. Last time in 2019, we graduated with a ton of guys. So, we've talked about playing with a lot of young guys because there weren't a lot of older guys to begin the year."
Carson-Newman has played the 13th toughest schedule to date in the nation. Limestone will be just the second team that Carson-Newman has faced that has a losing record.
The Eagles have the number two kickoff return man in the country. DeQuan Dudley is second in the nation with 37.3 yards per kickoff return. Dudley ranks first with his two run backs.
This game features the two least-penalized teams in the South Atlantic Conference. Both Carson-Newman and Limestone commit fewer than six penalties per game. Limestone ranks 10th in the nation with only 38 penalties called on the Saints this year.
Limestone has covered punts well this year. The Saints only allowed 0.2 yards per return, a figure that ranks third in the country.
Limestone running back Jer'koya Patton is the first Limestone player in team history to rush for over 3,000 career yards. He rushed for 105 yards and a TD to go with 37 yards and a score through the air in the Saints' 28-24 loss last week to UVA Wise. He has 14 career 100-yard rushing performances.
"Overall, we have persistently talked about the running game for teams and it's amazing how that transformation happened after one point where everyone was throwing the ball around," Clowney said. "There's a lot of quality back and he is coming off a great game last week. He had a long run for a touchdown and is just able to be a productive back coming out of the backfield. He does a lot of things well and you have to be conscious of where he's at. He's a hard runner and just a good football player."
The Saints had two rushing touchdowns through the first six weeks of the season. However, Limestone found the end zone twice on the ground against the Cavs to double their total for the season.
Alonzo Houston is seventh in the nation with 11.0 tackles per game. Sitting at 88 stops with two weeks left to play, Houston is positioned for the first triple-digit tackle season for the program since Jaycob Coleman's All-America campaign in 2013 when he had 137 tackles. Houston is the first player since Coleman to tally double-digit tackles in four straight weeks. Coleman did it in seven consecutive weeks to finish the 2013 season.
"Having coached Jacob, they're honestly really different," Clowney said. "Jacob was more an outside guy that really was a DB that were converted to linebacker and put him outside. He was able to be productive and play back into the box a lot. Alonzo is kind of the opposite of that. He's an inside guy who has done a good job of just trying to spread himself across the field. A lot of the time when you look at those numbers, the thing it really boils down to is effort. You have to learn how to do your job and if you are going to make plays, you have to learn how to get to other places after you get your job done. I think it speaks to his character that he is willing to go out and play every play so you can finish a game with double digit tackles.
"I think this year for him has been a lot more about example. He was a little unproven coming into the year and he's done a good job of taking this year and working his tail off. He's been able to work his tail off in order to give himself a kind of megaphone and be able to talk in the future. Hopefully he can go back and look at this season and say what can I take from what I learned and what I was able to accomplish this season to help going forward."
Limestone is looking for its first win against the Eagles. Carson-Newman has won the first five games in series history. The Eagles have averaged 46.6 points per game against the Saints and scored at least 30 points in every game of the series.
The Saints have lost nine straight games, while the Eagles have dropped eight straight, the ninth and 14th-longest active losing streaks in the country heading into this weekend's game.
Kickoff between the Eagles and Saints is set for 1 p.m. Coverage begins at noon on the Eagle Sports Network with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
