VIDEO: Mike Clowney Press Conference
VIDEO: March 2021 Game Highlights
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (0-2, 0-1 South Atlantic Conference) ventures outside the state of Tennessee for the first time in the fall of 2021 with a three-game road trip that begins in Wise, Va.
The Eagles tangle with the University of Virginia's College at Wise Highland Cavaliers (1-2, 0-1 SAC) at noon Saturday.
It's only been 196 days since the Eagles' ventured into the mountains of western Virginia to take on the Cavs in March. Carson-Newman came away with a bonkers 40-37 quadruple overtime win that day.
"This is where you say it seems like yesterday, but at the same time, it seems like an eternity since we left there," Carson-Newman head football coach Mike Clowney said. "There have been a couple of other things that have happened to distract you from this game since then. The balancing point is how much do you focus on the last game versus this game. There are really two different football teams in this short amount of time."
The Eagles enter the contest without a score over the last three quarters of action. The last time Carson-Newman went four consecutive quarters without a score was between Sept. 16, 2010 and Sept. 25, 2010. Carson-Newman didn't score in the final quarter of a 37-7 win over Concordia (Ala.) before failing to score in the first three quarters of a 30-7 loss to UNC Pembroke. Carson-Newman hasn't scored a touchdown since the opening quarter of the season. C-N went three quarters without a score before Christian Erwin booted a 44-yard field goal in the first against Wingate.
"I think the effort and want-to were something that were really evident," Clowney said. "That's the first step for getting to anywhere you want to get to. We learn and we tell our guys that we were only a couple inches away because now that we have the effort and want-to, we don't need additional steps.
"Some of the small details that we see on the field today are what we need to match in effort from what we had last week. Now, we have to do a better job of cleaning up the details in a timely fashion. Timing is so critical on offense. And let's face it, we have to score points."
Carson-Newman hasn't been held to 10 points over a two-game span since 2011. The Eagles scored seven and three in consecutive losses to Lenoir-Rhyne and Newberry. Carson-Newman capped those two games with a 21-point effort in a 33-21 loss to Wingate. Carson-Newman hasn't scored fewer than 31 points in a three-game span since 1988. The Eagles sandwiched a 3-0 win over Catawba between a 10-7 loss to Elon and a 14-13 loss to Newberry for a combined 23 points over three games.
Carson-Newman is looking to avoid just it's second three-game losing streak in the last 43 years. Carson-Newman dropped three straight in 2011 from Sept. 17 - Oct. 1 to Lenoir-Rhyne (20-7), Newberry (24-3) and Wingate (33-21). Prior to that the last time that Carson-Newman dropped three straight was 1978. The Eagles suffered through a pair of three-game skids that year. Carson-Newman lost four straight spanning the end of the '78 season and the start of the '79 year. Carson-Newman's last three-game losing streak to start a season came in 1978 when the Eagles lost to North Alabama (34-17), Furman (31-14) and Catawba (36-27) to begin the year.
UVA Wise boasts the SAC's top passing offense and the 30th best in the nation. The Highland Cavaliers average 280.7 yards per game through the air. UVA Wise topped out at 372 yards with six scores aerially in its opener against Virginia Lynchburg. Lendon Redwine earned SAC Offensive Player of the Week honors for that performance.
Redwine is sixth nationally with nine passing touchdowns while Utah State transfer Devin Heckstall's four TD grabs rank eighth in the country and lead the South Atlantic Conference.
"Heckstall is a really good target and Redwine has been doing a really good job of finding the spots to fit the ball into," Clowney said. "The tempo their offense works at is a big advantage as well. There are several plays on video where you don't get the entire play because they're moving so fast. However, you can't just zero in on Heckstall because they have other options who can hurt you if you don't cover them."
While the Cavs have moved the ball with ease through the air, yards on the ground have been hard to come by. UVA Wise tallied 29 yards rushing on 29 carries in last week's 44-9 loss to Mars Hill. The Cavs have 68 yards rushing over the last two weeks. UVA Wise ranks 150th out of 163 teams in rushing offense and last in the league.
The Highland Cavaliers are fourth in the country in sacks. Some of that tally is bolstered by a 13-sack performance in the opener against VUL. Wise has one sack (a takedown against ETSU in week two) since the outburst against the Dragons.
Carson-Newman has scored at least 40 points in its two games in the brief series history with UVA Wise.
UVa Wise is the seventh school from the Commonwealth that Car- son-Newman has played all-time. The Highland Cavaliers join Virginia Union, Virginia-Lynchburg, Virginia State, Liberty, Washington & Lee and Emory & Henry as schools from the state that C-N has played.
Carson-Newman is 26-21-2 all-time against schools from the state. Emory & Henry accounts for the bulk of that. The Eagles are 17-19-2 all-time against the Wasps in a series that stopped in 1975. The Eagles are 9-1 against schools from the state since 1980. The lone loss came in a 1984 trip to Lynchburg to take on Liberty
Kickoff between the Eagles and Highland Cavaliers is set for noon. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 11 a.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.
