VIDEO: Ken Sparks Press Conference
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head football coach Ken Sparks will attempt to become the fifth college football coach ever to win 200 conference games when Carson-Newman (5-2, 3-2 South Atlantic Conference) travels to Wingate (6-1, 3-1 SAC) to battle with the No. 21 Bulldogs Saturday at 1:30 at Irwin Belk Stadium.
Already the coach with the most conference victories in the SAC by more than double, Sparks will look looks to join four other men with 200 career conference victories.
The all-time leader in overall wins John Gagliardi had a stunning 364 conference wins with St. Johns in the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference. Eddie Robinson won 260 with Grambling in the SWAC. Larry Kehres was an astounding 230-8-3 in conference play for Mount Union while Roy Kidd won 201 conference games with Eastern Kentucky.
For Sparks, the win totals mean nothing in and of themselves.
"It's all about people and it's all about relationships," Sparks said. "From the very beginning, we have had five or six coaches that stayed together for a number of years—over 25, almost 30 for the whole group—and that's an amazing statistic in itself. The alums and former coaches and current coaches are the ones that deserve that credit as well as the Lord.
"Like I have said many times before, and I know everyone is getting tired of me saying this, but I haven't played one football game. I played a few back in 1902, but that was when he had a record that wasn't worth talking about. I'm just really grateful for the investment that so many people have made in this program. I don't know about 200 conference wins or anything like that. All I know is that we have lost two this year."
Standing in the way of conference win 200 is a Wingate club that has relied on a dominating defense to put itself in the driver's seat for the program's first South Atlantic Conference title since 2010.
Wingate boasts the top scoring defense in the country allowing 9.8 points per game. The Bulldogs kept the SAC's leader in total offense and scoring (Lenoir-Rhyne) to 14 points and 314 yards of offense in WU's 24-14 win in Hickory.
That Bulldogs' win snapped a 22-game conference win streak for the Bears that started after L-R lost to Carson-Newman in week three of the 2012 season.
Aside from keeping teams out of the end zone period, Wingate also ranks second nationally in red zone defense (50%), third in fumbles recovered (12), fifth in passing yards allowed (125), sixth in total defense (259).
The Bulldogs have also allowed the 15th fewest first downs in the country.
"They have done a good job tackling people and lining up and attacking the line of scrimmage," Sparks said. "They have caused a lot of turnovers and their offense has stayed on the field. When your offense stays on the field and eats up clock and your defense is causing turnovers, that's a pretty good formula. It's a great scheme and a great deal of what they are doing right now."
Offensively, the Bulldogs have flip-flopped tendencies. Typically a pass-first team, Joe Reich's club has instead relied on a punishing power running game that feature's the conference's leading rusher in sophomore tailback Lawrence Pittman.
Pittman is coming off a career high 205 yards on 36 carries against the Bears. He has 967 rushing yards this season – good for best in the league and fifth in the country.
The Eagles will counter with a potent back of their own in Damian Baker (Columbus, Miss.). Baker has 892 yards rushing, needing 108 to become Carson-Newman's 23rd 1,000-yard rusher for a single season.
Baker will look to continue a program-best trend of six straight seasons with a 1,000-yard rusher. His 14 rushing touchdowns are tops in the conference and fourth in the country. Baker is on pace to put together the sixth 20-rushing touchdown season in school history, potentially joining teammate and quarterback De'Andre Thomas (Milledgeville, Ga.).
Thomas had a breakout game last week in the Eagles' 27-20 triumph over Newberry. Thomas erupted for his first 100-yard rushing performance of his senior season and the eighth of his career with a 16-carry, 165 yard day.
"We have to put him into the position to where he can read the option by not having people getting into position that they shouldn't be in by us not making the blocks we are supposed to make," Sparks said. "Again, it's a team deal for him to have a clear picture of what he is reading. With the exception of about four-missed reads, it was a lot better. That's what we have to have. If we are putting it into the quarterback's hands, and he has to be making the decisions on who is getting the ball at what point of attack, then he has to get it done for us. It was great to see him have a good ballgame and to see him smiling big after the game."
Thomas has had success on Wingate's field before. In 2013, he guided Carson-Newman to a 52-35 win over the Bulldogs by completing 13-of-16 passes for 172 yards and two TDs and rushing for 123 yards and another three scores.
However, regardless of Thomas' capabilities, the Eagles' will have to buck a recent trend. Carson-Newman has lost three straight games against ranked teams. This will mark the Eagles' 61st meeting with a ranked team since moving to Division II. The Eagles are 33-27 since entering Division II against ranked competition but just 4-10 since 2008. Two of those wins came against Newberry in a three week span in 2013 and mark the Eagles' last two wins against ranked competition.
In spite of the Eagles' recent troubles against ranked competition, Carson-Newman has historically had success against the Bulldogs when they've been ranked – the Eagles are 3-0 all-time.
Kickoff between the Eagles and Bulldogs is slated for 1:30 p.m. Saturday. Coverage of the game will be available on the Eagle Sports Network starting with the Appalachian Electric Cooperative Tailgate Show at 12:30 on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Country 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
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