VIDEO: Mike Turner Press Conference
VIDEO: Week Six Limestone Highlights
VIDEO: 2016 Mars Hill Highlights
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (4-2, 2-2 South Atlantic Conference) makes the short jaunt along I-40 just outside Asheville trying to keep the good times rolling against the South Atlantic Conference's best passing offense in Mars Hill (2-4, 1-3 SAC).
Kickoff for the 55th all-time meeting between the programs is set for 1 p.m. Saturday from Meares Stadium. The Eagles lead the series 44-10.
The Eagles are looking for their first three-game winning streak since winning six consecutively to close the 2015 regular season. Meanwhile, Mars Hill angles to snap a three-game skid which has featured two losses by a touchdown or less.
Mars Hill is led by senior signal-caller David Salmon. The 6-2, 210-pound hurler leads the SAC in passing yardage with 279 yards per game and is second in passing touchdowns with 12.
"It takes a quarterback but he's got some weapons to throw it to out there," Carson-Newman head football coach Mike Turner said. "I think that they are working to be more and more balanced. They have the running attack and you can't just abandon that and say that we are going to double up on receivers. I've seen people try to do that against them and the running back rips them. Salmon is a very capable quarterback to make plays but he certainly has some weapons to go to."
Salmon has thrown for at least 200 yards in all but one game this season, last week's 28-24 loss at Tusculum being the exception.
The quarterback has two big-play threats in Keshaun Taylor (the league's leading receiver) and Craig Rucker (the league's fourth leading receiver).
"I think that the biggest thing is their ability to go deep on you," Turner said. "They've got speed and they can get on top of you, especially on play-action. We've got to do a great job with our eyes and our feet and stay in position to make plays. Not have somebody looking in the backfield and have a player run by you on a play-action pass, that's where you get hurt the quickest."
Taylor averages 114.8 yards per game, the only player in the conference north of 100 yards per game, while Rucker adds 80.8. They've combined to score nine touchdowns, with Taylor finding the end zone five times. The duo hauls in yards by the boatload each time they catch the football. Taylor tallies 19.1 yards/catch while Rucker sits at 18.0, both figures are top five in the league.
Taylor ranks third among all active players in Division II for receiving yards per game with 88.3
Furthermore, the Eagles will have to be on point against one of the country's most creative coaches in the dean of the South Atlantic Conference Tim Clifton.
"Tim is a good friend," Turner said. "Tim is always going to be Tim. You've got to be ready for some trick plays when you go play Mars Hill and we know that. We just talked about it in a meeting to be sure that we say over and over to be ready for that. Tim is an exciting football coach and he is going to have his kids ready to play and they are not going to give you anything. You have to earn everything that you get but it is fun to coach against guys like that."
The Eagles have their own big-play threats. Carson-Newman is coming off a 31-20 win at Limestone that featured a season-high eight plays of 20 yards or longer.
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The Eagles had four rushes and four passes gain at least 20 yards against the Saints. That's the most since the Eagles turned in an identical number against Mars Hill last year in week four (the breakdown was even the same, four rush, four pass).
A whopping 10 different players have gained at least 20 yards on a play for the Eagles this year, with Dorren Miller (Roswell, Ga.) leading the way with eight. Miller also leads the league and is third in the country with 28.8 yards per catch.
"Kevin Barnette is always going to have a very well coached defensive team," Turner said. "They are going to be sound in coverage's and they are also going to run to the football well. It has always been a trademark of a Mars Hill defense. You look at them and they have athletes in the secondary, athletes at linebacker and they are a good defensive football team. People that have beat them have had to scrap and fight and give everything because defensively they are playing."
The Eagles have had success the past five years against that defense. Ever since the Mars Hill Lions deprived former head coach Ken Sparks of his 300th victory on his first try in 2011, the Eagles haven't lost to Tim Clifton's club.
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Career interception #6️⃣ helped Desmond Fairell (@d2_fairell) to SAC Player of the Week honors. pic.twitter.com/i5ceTF1TIj
The Eagles have won five straight in the series thanks to a marvelous run game that hasn't rushed for less than 420 yards over that span. The Eagles rushed for 488 in 2012, 433 in 2013, 428 in 2014, 435 in 2015 and 428 yards in 2016. What's more, the Eagles have produced at least 500 yards of total offense in four of those five games, including 672 yards last year, the eighth highest single-game total in school history. The Eagles tied a school record with eight rushing touchdowns in 2015's game.
The past two games have featured prolifically up-tempo offenses. Two years ago, Mars Hill set a record when it became the first team to ever run 100 plays against Carson-Newman. The Eagles paid the favor back last year by running 100 plays themselves against the Lions.
With eight rushing touchdowns, Derrick Evans leads the South Atlantic Conference for that stat category. He is tied for the second most rushing touchdowns nationally among quarterbacks. Only Harding's Terrence Dingle (9) has more.
Kickoff between the Eagles and Lions is set for 1 p.m. Saturday. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at noon with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Country 106.3 (WFPT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.
