VIDEO: Mike Clowney press conference
JEFFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (0-1) will open the doors to Burke-Tarr Stadium with an Orange Crush Saturday and the first ever meeting with the Franklin Pierce Ravens (0-1) at 1 p.m.
The first 200 students into the stadium will receive a free "Orange Crush" t-shirt.
"The big thing is that transition from week one to week two," Carson-Newman head football coach Mike Clowney said. "I think that's one thing that you hear across the country today in coaching is that your greatest improvement should be able to come from week one to week two. That's one thing we talked to our players about yesterday, being able to go back in, break this film down from West Georgia, and talk about the things that we need to improve on going into this week."
Carson-Newman is playing a Northeast-10 school for the first time since 2010 when the Eagles took a 35-28 win from Bentley. Carson-Newman scored 14 fourth-quarter points to rally past the Falcons. Doug Belk, now the defensive coordinator for the Houston Cougars, completed 9-of-15 passes for 159 yards and rushed for 33 yards and a score for C-N.
While this is the first meeting between Carson-Newman and Franklin Pierce, the Eagles are 2-0 against the league. Both meetings against active members came against Bentley. Carson-Newman is 2-2 against New Haven, but played the Chargers prior to their admission into the league in 2008.
Franklin Pierce's defense was stingy in week one. The Ravens held Edinboro to 275 yards of offense, a figure that puts FPU 49th in the nation in week one. The Ravens only allowed one score inside the red zone against the Fighting Scots and rank 23rd nationally in red zone defense after the first week of the season.
Franklin Pierce carries a 20-game losing streak into Burke-Tarr Stadium. The three-year-old program (previously FPU had a sprint football team before reclassifying in 2019), collected a 29-27 win over Curry College in its second-ever game. However, the Ravens are winless against Division II schools since.
The Ravens' 20-game skid is tied with West Virginia Wesleyan for the second-longest active streak in the country (William Jewel's 25-game streak is the longest). The Raven's 10-game road losing streak is the ninth longest in the nation.
While the Ravens have struggled to accrue wins, EJ Burgess hasn't struggled to accrue rushing yards. The tailback is the reigning NE-10 Offensive Player of the Year. Last season, the ASA Miami transfer rushed 221 times for 1,204 yards. He averaged 5.4 yards per carry with 10 touchdowns. Burgess was 11th in the country in rushing yards last season. He ranked fifth in all-purpose yards. He had 75 yards rushing in the Ravens debut this year against Edinboro.
"He just has a really good combination of speed and power, does work to get the ball outside," Clowney said. "He does a good job of catching the ball out of the backfield. I mean, he presents a good challenge. That's where you talk about them winning championships in sprint football. The thing is crazy is it's still really the same thing, same game, except they get to try to get some bigger guys up front right now. So, I think Coach (Russell) Gas(kamp) has done a great job kind of putting this program together. They play really hungry and that's something that you see on film."
This is the furthest south Franklin Pierce has ever travelled for an intercollegiate football. In fact, it is the Raven's first game south of the Mason-Dixon Line. The previous southernmost game was played at Pace in New York City. This also marks Franklin Pierce's longest road trip, besting the 555 miles to Lake Erie College in Painesville, Ohio. The Ravens will travel 903 miles to Jefferson City.
"They play with a ton of effort," Clowney said. "They are an all-out effort football team. A couple of times you watch their backside safety, get down, make a tackle on the side of field for a five-yard gain. And so, I mean, they do a great job of rallying and running to the football."
Carson-Newman wide receiver Braxton Westfield's next touchdown catch will move him up the career rankings. He is tied with former Cincinnati Bengal Tim George for eighth on the all-time receiving TD list. His next score, his 14th, will put him in a tie for sixth with assistant coach Leonard Weaver and Alvin Sanders for sixth all-time. A three-touchdown day would match the single-game school record and also move him into the top five and a tie with Tim Gaines (1975-77) and his 16 receiving TDs.
This marks the first time since 2018 Carson-Newman hasn't started the season at home. In 2018, Carson-Newman didn't make its way back to Mossy Creek until week three when it hammered Wingate on ESPN 3 31-14. Carson-Newman has won three out of its last four home openers, the lone blemish in that stretch came against West Georgia 45-7 last season.
Kickoff between the Eagles and Ravens is set for 1 p.m. Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at noon with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream will be available through FloSports on a subscription basis.
