VIDEO: Mike Clowney Interview

VIDEO: Highlights

VIDEO: Brandon Tiassum Interview

VIDEO: Lamarcus Brown Interview 

WILSON, N.C. – Carson-Newman (0-4) coughed up four turnovers, including a backbreaking pick early in the fourth quarter, and dropped a 31-17 decision to Barton (3-2) Saturday at Truist Stadium. 

Carson-Newman coughed it up four times, twice on fumbles and twice on interceptions.  The Eagles had turnovers on their final two possessions of the game. 

"We have to find a way to be smarter with the football," Carson-Newman head football coach Mike Clowney said. "We had fumbled snaps that weren't turned over, but cost us yards.  Then you factor in the turnovers.  It's hard to win games when you make those kinds of mistakes."

Without two starters at corner and two starters on the front four defensively, Barton used big plays to grab an early lead before the Eagles found their defensive footing. 

"It makes a difference when you go a little bit deeper into that depth chart," Clowney said. "We had to make a couple adjustments in the game. I was proud of Austin Greer (who had a pick).  He's been with the program for a while, he had an opportunity today and  made the most of it."

After a Carson-Newman three-and-out on the Eagles' opening possession, the Bulldogs used a zone-read option keeper for quarterback Jaquan Lynch who broke loose on a 61-yard touchdown run to give the Bulldogs a 7-0 lead 1:07 into the contest. 

After the teams exchanged punts on three possessions, Barton got the football at its own 16.  Facing third and six on its third play of the drive, Lynch hit Kam Johnson on a 15-yard out route.  Johnson made two men miss and sprinted 80 yards for a score to give the Bulldogs a  14-0 lead with 4:51 to play in the first. 

After the teams traded a fumble and a pick, Carson-Newman's offense finally got in gear.  Highlighted by a 38-yard hook up from Lamarcus Brown (Mobile, Ala.) to Romain Kelly (Spartanburg, S.C.), Carson-Newman produced its longest scoring drive of the year for plays, yard and time taken with an 11-play, 80-yard jaunt that bled 5:05 from the clock. 

Troy Dendy (Laurens, S.C.) capped the possession with a four-yard power run off left tackle to make it a one-score game. 

"We still got off to a slow start," Carson-Newman head football coach Mike Clowney said. "We need to start quicker. That was a negative, but Troy Dendy was a big positive. He helped us to find a little offensive rhythm."

Barton countered with a 10-play, 63-yard drive that Jackson Brooks finished off with his longest field goal of the year, a 37-yard boot to five the Bulldogs a 17-7 lead with 5:35 to play in the second.

However, Christian Erwin (York, S.C.) countered with a 45-yard field goal of his own to get the margin back to a touchdown with 3:49 to play in the second following a five-play, 37-yard drive to set the halftime margin at 17-10 in favor of the Bulldogs. 

The teams battled to a stalemate in the third quarter. C-N turned it over on downs after an 11-play, 38-yard drive before the teams swapped punts.

Barton broke through to make it a two-score game on  its final possession of the frame.  The Bulldogs punched it into the end zone with 13:48 to play in the fourth. Jordan Terrell rammed his way in with a three-yard blast off left guard to cap the nine-play, 63-yard drive to put the Bulldogs back up by two scores. 

Carson-Newman appeared poised to respond.  DeQuan Dudley returned the ensuing kick 41 yards back to the Barton 44. 

On second down and seven, an errant snap got away from Brown. He was able to fall on it, but placed the Eagles in a third-and-14 situation.  Brown sprinted out left. A pass to the sideline was picked by Kendarius Jenkins, who brought it back 41 yards to the Eagles 31. 

Eight plays later, Lynch sneaked in from a yard out to make it a three-score game and break the Eagles' back. 

Carson-Newman got within two scores the next drive after Braxton Westfield (Simpsonville, S.C.) barreled into the end zone on a 20-yard out route to get C-N back within two scores 31-17 with  6:12 to play. 

Barton punted away its next possession, but Carson-Newman fumbled away its final drive on a third-and-10 play with 90 seconds left.  The Bulldogs knelt down twice to salt away the final moments. 

Carson-Newman starts 0-4 for the first time since 1959.  It is just the seventh 0-4 start in program history.

The Eagles held the nation's leading rusher Terrell to his lowest yards per carry total of the season. The Ramseur, N.C.-native rushed 39 times for 166 yards and 4.3 yards per carry.

"He is a good back," Clowney said. "We missed some guys up front, but our young guys in Jakari Davis, Jordun Wilson and Jacory Long did a good job of coming in and playing within this game to change the line of scrimmage. Terrell is number one in the nation for a reason, he was sneaky in how he runs and some of those plays where we had him bottled up, he makes a man miss three yards deep in the backfield and gashed for big gains."

The Bulldogs outgained the Eagles 388-243. 

Dendy led the C-N ground game with 80 yards on 15 carries.  He averaged 5.3 yards a tote and found the end zone. Brown netted 69 yards on the ground, but lost 34 yards due to sacks. 

Ryan McCarthy led C-N's pass catchers, hauling in four passes for 21 yards. 

Rondrow Peebles (Knoxville, Tenn.) led the defense with nine stops.  Brandon Tiasssum (Indianapolis, Ind.) had five stops and three tackles for loss. Austin Greer had his first career pick. 

Carson-Newman wraps up a three-game road trip with a trek to Salisbury, N.C. to face Catawba at 1:30. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 12:30 with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.