VIDEO: Mike Clowney Press Conference
VIDEO: 2019 Mars Hill Highlights
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (0-7, 0-5 South Atlantic Conference) will look to play the roll of spoiler to celebrate a happy Homecoming when Mars Hill (6-2, 4-1 SAC) arrives at Mossy Creek for a 3 p.m. kickoff Saturday.
The Lions are regionally ranked, occupying the seventh spot in the initial NCAA proffering, the final spot that would make the NCAA Playoffs. The Lions are also a game back of Wingate in the SAC title race.
"I think Tim (Clifton) has done a great job of getting those guys getting prepared to play," Carson-Newman head football coach Mike Clowney said. "He's been able to put an older group of players on the field who are playing pretty well together right now. It speaks volume because it talks about the overall program in general from the athletic standpoint to academic standpoint. Being able to keep kids on campus so they can continue to grow and learn in your program and learn and execute how you want them to do so. It's something that is vital to any program success."
Mars Hill hasn't made it to the playoffs since 2011 when Jonas Randolph was running wild to the Harlon Hill Trophy. The Lions also won a SAC title that year. MHU has already clinched its first winning season since 2015.
Mars Hill has gotten where it is in 2021 with defense. The Lions get more pressure in the backfield than just about anyone. Mars Hill ranks fifth in the country and first in the SAC with 3.88 sacks per game. With 8.5 tackles for loss per game, the Lions are also league leaders while ranking ninth nationally.
The matchup pits the conference's number one kickoff return defense (Mars Hill) against the conference's best kickoff return unit (Car- son-Newman). The Lions only give up 14.57 yards per return while C-N averaged 29.56 yards per run back. The Eagles have the number one kickoff return man in the country. DeQuan Dudley is tops in the nation with 37.3 yards per kickoff return and two KOR touchdowns
Mars Hill quarterback Jimmy Urzua leads the SAC and is 15th nationally with his 19 passing touchdowns. Urzua has tossed multiple touchdowns in all but two of the Lions games this year, their only two losses. He threw one against Chowan in an overtime loss and didn't find the end zone in the Lions last loss to Lenoir-Rhyne. He's found the end zone multiple times in four straight Lion victories.
"They'll take some shots, have some good receivers so they're going to make some big plays throughout the season," Clowney said. "That's where you see a lot of his yardage, but at the same time, he's been a steady head in finding those guys and put the ball where it needs to be when it counts."
Mars Hill will be looking to snap a number of streaks against Carson-Newman. C-N has won eight straight in the series dating back to 2011 when the Lions denied Ken Sparks his first crack at career win 300 in a 23-20 triumph at Meares Stadium. The Eagles have 15 straight wins at Burke-Tarr Stadium over Mars Hill. The Lions haven't won at Mossy Creek since handing the 1989 team their only loss of the year with a 17-14 win.
Carson-Newman will be looking to hold serve on Homecoming. The Eagles have won seven of their last eight Homecoming contests, the exception being a 31-21 loss to North Greenville in 2017. C-N escaped Newberry 24-21 on Homecoming in 2019.
"That's one thing with this football team is their resiliency and perseverance. We always talk about things from a spiritual standpoint, and that's one thing we learn that is very vital of learning how to push through hard times,," Clowney said. "It's not fun, but it's a lesson for these kids to take with them for the rest of their lives. Despite the circumstances, we strive to be optimistic and try to find the positives in situations as we continue to work to make it better. That way, at some point, we can reach the milestone we want to reach."
The Eagles limited Mars Hill to 398 yards of total offense in the meeting in 2019. That snapped a string of seven straight games where the Lions had gained at least 400 yards of total offense on Carson-Newman.
While 0-7 is unfamiliar territory for the Carson-Newman football program, it's far from the bottom. C-N scored a whopping 18 points from 1915-1920 before collecting a win 17-14 over King to start the 1921 season and snap a 13-game winless streak and nine-game losing streak. During that stretch of games, Carson-Newman was outscored 768-18. Carson-Newman was shut out in all but one of those 13 games, a 30-18 loss to UT-Chattanooga in 1919. C-N gave up 90 or more four times during that stretch, including 101 to Tennessee in 1915 amd 105 to Tusculum in 1919.
Carson-Newman has played the 13th toughest schedule to date in the nation. UVA Wise is the only team the Eagles have faced with a losing record.
Kickoff between the Eagles and Lions is set for 3 p.m. Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 2:00 p.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.
