VIDEO: Mike Clowney Press Conference
VIDEO: 2022 Emory & Henry Highlights
VIDEO: 2022 Emory & Henry Full Game
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (3-5, 2-4 South Atlantic Conference) and Emory & Henry (4-4, 2-4 SAC) will collide in Jefferson City for the first time in nearly five decades when the Wasps arrive on the banks of Mossy Creek for the Eagles' annual Homecoming game Saturday at 3 p.m. at Burke-Tarr Stadium.
"As a coach, you don't get to spend as much time with them as you'd like to, but I just look forward to seeing and being able to talk to a lot of different people here this weekend," Carson-Newman head football coach Mike Clowney said. "Transitioning from the family part of it to the football part of it, the big thing about homecoming is just trying to find a way to win the football game.
"Emory & Henry has got a really good football team, and they've done really well this year comparatively across the board. I think they are at 500 right now. It'll be a good football game and a good challenge. The key for us, and the things that we talked about all last week and coming into this week, is us controlling our own performance and showing up prepared and ready to work."
The Wasps are coming off a thrilling 27-24 overtime win over Tusculum that saw them rally from down 14 points at the half. Emory & Henry turned the Pioneers over seven times, picking off five passes and recovering two fumbles.
While in its second year of reclassifying to Division II, Emory & Henry isn't officially ranked in NCAA Division II statistics. However, if the Wasps were ranked, they would have caused more defensive havoc than all but one team this season. E&H would rank second nationally in turnovers forced this year with 21 this year. E&H also generated five turnover days against Concord and Bluefield State.
"They've got a good plan, and they take chances defensively," Clowney said. "I think they do a good job of that. That's where you talk about their transition, and they've brought over a bunch of transfer guys that have played at bigger schools. I think that's given them a chance to be competitive pretty quickly at this level. It'll be a good challenge, so we just have to make sure we do a good job of holding onto the football."
Carson-Newman resumed its series with Emory & Henry last year after the Wasps joined the South Atlantic Conference. C-N & E&H hadn't played in 47 years prior to last year's 21-7 C-N win in Emory. The Wasps will visit Jefferson City for the first time since a 35-14 win over the Wasps in 1975 - a stretch of 48 years.
Carson-Newman has won eight-consecutive in the series dating back to a 35-27 win for the Waps in Emory, Va. on Sept. 23, 1967. C-N has six straight home wins over E&H going back to the Wasps' 24-0 victory on Sept. 28, 1963.
Carson-Newman will be looking to hold serve on Homecoming. The Eagles have won eight of their last 10 Homecoming contests, the exceptions being a 31-21 loss to North Greenville in 2017 and a 48-23 defeat to Mars Hill in 2021. Carson-Newman took care of UVA Wise last year on Homecoming 38-22.
Carson-Newman needs to score 35 points to tally the 26,000th point in program history.
In a sign of the change in clock rules for NCAA football, Emory & Henry is the second highest scoring team in the South Atlantic Conference, averaging 27.4 points per game. In the last decade, the second-highest scoring team in the league has always averaged at least 30 points.
Emory & Henry head coach Curt Newsom is coaching at his alma mater, as is Carson-Newman's Mike Clowney. They are the only two coaches in the South Atlantic Conference who are coaching their respective alma maters. As such, this is the only matchup in the league this year featuring two alums.
"That was one thing that was interesting when I was talking to him before the game last year," Clowney said. "We were able to have a conversation about his tenure as a student-athlete there and coming back and really kind of retiring there in this job. We talked about how much it meant to him to be back at the place he played, and I know that's something that is special for me, to be at a place that you love and you care about. It brings a little bit of a different element, I think, to what you do every day."
Shockingly, Carson-Newman's best marker for success is its passing game this year. The Eagles are 3-1 when they average 7.0 yards or greater per pass, and are 0-4 when below that mark.
Preseason All-America safety Major Williams is sixth among active Division II players in non-offensive touchdowns. Williams has a pick six and two punt return TDs to his name in his career. His second career punt return for a touchdown came at Newberry. The 65-yard return registers as the 10th-longest punt return in school history.
Carson-Newman has turned up the defensive pressure. The Eagles have registered five sacks in three consecutive weeks for the first time since digital records exist (the year 2000). With 28 sacks and 60 tackles for loss this season, Carson-Newman has the 14th most sacks for a season in school history. Another five-sack day would vault the Eagles into 11th all-time. C-N still has a ways to go for the tackle for loss top 15, the 2004 team ranks 15th with 80.
Mekhi Brown is 11th nationally and second in the SAC with 7.5 sacks. That figure is 18th for a single-season in school history.
Kickoff between the Eagles and Wasps is set for 3 p.m. Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 2 p.m. with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Talk 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video feed is available with a subscription to FloSports.
