VIDEO: Mike Clowney Press Conference
VIDEO: C-N v. Emory & Henry Cinematic Highlights
VIDEO: UVA Wise 2022 Highlights
VIDEO: UVA Wise 2022 Cinematic Highlights
VIDEO: UVA Wise 2022 Full Broadcast Replay
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (4-5, 3-4 South Atlantic Conference) has an opportunity to do something it hasn't done since 2017 on Saturday. Lay claim to a winning road record.
The Eagles take on UVA Wise (2-7, 1-6 SAC) Saturday at noon at Carl Smith Stadium. Carson-Newman has won back-to-back games away from Burke-Tarr Stadium after starting the season 0-2 on the road.
Carson-Newman has a chance to finish with a winning road record and three straight road victories. Carson-Newman hasn't finished above .500 away from Burke-Tarr Stadium since 2017 (Eagles were 3-1 that year). Carson-Newman hasn't won three straight road games since 2019.
A winning season also remains in the cards for the Eagles. C-N would need to win out to secure that with a win at UVA Wise and a triumph on senior day against Catawba.
"I think it's something that we definitely want to be able to accomplish," Carson-Newman head coach Mike Clowney said. "It just kind of, on paper, it keeps you at least in the same ballpark that you were in last year. The biggest thing we've got to do is try to figure out what's on paper versus what's off paper. The big thing that we want to do is continue to grow, continue to be competitive, and continue to move the program in the direction that it needs to go."
Carson-Newman is 31-22-2 all-time against schools from the state of Virginia. Emory & Henry accounts for the bulk of that. The Eagles are 19-19-2 all-time against the Wasps. The Eagles are 13-2 against schools from the state since 1980. The lone losses came in a 1984 trip to Lynchburg to take on Liberty and 2021 at Wise.
Carson-Newman has dialed up the defensive pressure. The Eagles have tallied four sacks in four consecutive weeks for the first time this century. The Eagles rank fifth in the nation in sacks. Carson-Newman's 32 sacks this season are tied for the 12th most in a season in school history. Another four sack day would move the Eagles into the top 10 all-time.
"The guy's up front. They continue to do a good job of working," Clowney said. "It was cool, that's what we talked about in our meeting on Monday. This game this past Saturday, the things that you work on on the field during the week, you're actually starting to see show up on film on Monday mornings. Just being able to have that success, I think a lot of times will breed more success. It's been a total effort from our defense. The front's doing a good job of getting pressure, and guys on the back end have done a really good job of getting guys covered up to continue to buy them time. It's a formula that normally works.
"We'll need it this week against UVA Wise. They are a super talented football team on the perimeter and in the air. Coach Damron does a great job with what they do in the passing game, so it's something that we'll have to make sure we bring with us this Saturday."
Last year, Carson-Newman preyed on short fields to have success against the Highland Cavaliers. C-N scored 38 points against UVA Wise on Homecoming last year. Of the Eagles six scoring drives, five were the result of either a field shorter than 50 yards (four), or a defensive touchdown (a Major Williams pick six).
UVA Wise has moved the ball effectively through the air in the last two meetings with Carson-Newman at Smith Stadium. The Cavs' short-passing game is 72-of-107 through the air for 722 yards in the last two games at home against the Eagles. A whopping 485 yards comes from the spring CoVID season and C-N's 40-37 win at Carl Smith stadium.
"They do a good job of just basically taking what you give them. If you give them short underneath routes, they're going to play pitch and catch," Clowney said. "If you get up in their face, they're going to throw the ball over top of you, so we've got to make sure that we do a good job of kind of staying balanced with the things that we do. We've got to do a good job of tackling. When they do play pitch and catch, we've got to get the ball tackled, and then we've got to be ready to get lined up fast and communicate and play quick."
UVA Wise has scored three defensive touchdowns this season, tied with Mars Hill for the lead in the league and a figure that ranks 12th nationally.
The Cavaliers have won the time of possession battle in 7-of-8 games this fall to rank 8th in NCAA Division II in first in the SAC at 33:18 per game. The Cavs had the ball for 39:28 in last week's loss at Mars Hill.
UVA Wise has scored on 20-of-22 red-zone trips this season to score on a league-leading 90.9 percent of its trips. The only two times Wise failed to score when entering the red zone? A turnover on downs against Barton and a fumble against Erskine. Carson-Newman's red zone defense ranks 16th nationally, giving up points just 67 percent of the time opponents enter their 20 yard line.
Shockingly, Carson-Newman's best marker for success is its passing game this year. The Eagles are 4-1 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
Mekhi Brown is ninth nationally and second in the SAC with 8.5 sacks. That figure is 13th for a single-season in school history. Nine players have produced a double-digit sack season all-time. William Moody (2002) is the only player to have done that this century.
Kickoff between the Eagles and Cavs is set for noon Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 11 a.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.
