VIDEO: Ashley Ingram Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
VIDEO: Cam Ferguson Interview
VIDEO: Christian Jones Interview
VIDEO: Christian Hicks Interview
VIDEO: Mekhi Brown Interview
INSTITUTE, W.Va. – Carson-Newman (2-0) scored the first three times it touched the football and never looked back in roaring to a 56-25 win over West Virginia State (1-1) Friday afternoon at Lakin-Ray Field.
With the win, the Eagles start 2-0 for the first time since 2017 while hanging 50 points on back-to-back foes for the first time since 2019. This is the first time in school history C-N has hung 50 on two straight opponents to start the year.
Playing 48 hours after the death of Jyilek Harrington, WVSU's starting middle linebacker who transferred from Carson-Newman, the game was a reminder of the Charlotte, N.C.-native's life.
The gameday ops team at West Virginia State painted the 22-yard hashes (Harrington's number for WVSU) gold, and the 31-yard hashes (his number for C-N) orange. Additionally, both teams wore 22 and 31 helmet decals and set aside an empty jersey, 22 in WVSU's case, and 31 in C-N's, on their respective sidelines.
"Give them a lot of credit—West Virginia State—and I give our team a lot of credit for controlling their emotions," Ingram said. "Obviously both teams lost a young man they were close to tragically. So I think that part of it and obviously we were going to play Thursday night and ended up playing Friday afternoon—that part of it I thought they handled well."
While Carson-Newman gobbled up 457 yards of offense, including 341 yards on the ground, the contest was not without its moments of teaching for the Eagles' head coach.
C-N fumbled five times losing one. West Virginia State also blocked a PAT, resulting in the first defensive PAT C-N had given up since Virginia Union returned a blocked PAT for two points in 2018.
"I think with everything that happened—obviously we're super excited to win. We're super excited to play well in most spots," Ingram said. But as I told the guys, a lot of time you're not really playing your opponent, you're kinda playing against yourself. We had five balls on the ground today, we fumbled a punt, we had an extra point blocked. So there were instances where we could have done a lot better, which I think is the encouraging thing. That we can come on the road, and have some adversity, and play well and then still know there's a lot of room for improvement."
Don Bradley turned in his first career 100-yard rushing performance, leading all rushers with 108 yards on the ground on just five carries. He had a 59 yard touchdown.
While Bradley's 100-yard performance is the 377th such rushing day in school history, he is just the 10th player to rush for 100 yards on five or fewer carries. Marcus Williams was the last, rushing for 100 on five touches in the Eagles' finale game of the 2018 season at UNC Pembroke.
Fellow slot back Cam Ferguson followed suit with 88 yards on 12 touches for a score. Ferguson also returned a kickoff 90 yards for a score.
"They're both really good players," Ingram said. "Then you look at Cam who returned a kickoff for a touchdown as well, so both are really good players. Both are smart. Both are savvy. So, this is kind of what we expect from them, honestly."
Ferguson's touchdown return was the first by an Eagle in 1,069 days. DeQuan Dudley was the last one to bring one back, doing so twice in one day against Catawba in 2021 with two 100-yard returns.
"The first return, just getting a feel for it—this is my first time returning this year—but as the first return went, we got a flag, so then the second one I knew exactly where to go," Ferguson said. "Shout out to the kick return team for great blocks, they opened it up for me and I just ran through the hole and scored."
������@camferguson2 ����@cnfootball x #TalonsUp x @FloFootball pic.twitter.com/ptNTPdAdaa
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) September 14, 2024
Carson-Newman could not have asked for a better first quarter. Both the Eagles and Yellowjackets touched the ball three times. C-N scored three TDs, WVSU went three-and-out three times.
Backed up to its own five after a penalty on its opening possession, C-N ripped down the field on a five-play, 95-yard drive to grab a lead it would never surrender 2:32 into the game. Bradley took an option pitch down the left sideline for a 59-yard score to open things up, stumbling the final five yards into the end zone.
Six minutes later, Ferguson followed suit, taking a toss into the end zone from three yards out before Tre Luttrell called his own number on a one-yard QB sneak to cap an eight-play, 49-yard drive in 3:43 with 1:46 to go in the first quarter. C-N scored 21 points in an opening quarter for the second time since 2020.
C-N laid the ball on the ground, losing its first turnover of the season, on its fourth possession. A 43-yard fumble return by Tim Sanford set the Yellowjackets up at the C-N 26. Five plays later, a reverse to Amare Ary worked WVSU into the end zone and cut C-N's lead to two scores, 21-7 with 12:07 left in the second.
The Eagles' response was immediate, with Ferguson returning the ensuing kickoff 90 yards to the house. The play was set up after offsetting penalties nullified the previous kickoff.
State responded with another big play with 9:23 to go in the second. Isaiah Bess hit star tailback Joel Felder on a post pattern over the middle of the field. Felder smashed through two tackles and rolled 65 yards for a score to get the game back within two touchdowns.
However, once more, C-N's response was immediate. Luttrell found Jeron Newson stark naked on a wheel route for a wide open, nine 69-yard pitch and catch. The three-play, 77-second drive gave the Eagles 36 first half points.
✅ First 2-0 start since 2017
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) September 14, 2024
✅ First 2-0 start with a road win since 2013.
✅ First KOR for a TD in 1,069 days thanks to @camferguson2.
�� Eagles retain title as nation's most efficient passing offense with @TheRealTedros and @tre_luttrell @cnfootball x #TalonsUp pic.twitter.com/ZdDlThLnjo
State had the final answer in the half, scoring at the horn when all-league kicker Brennen Schmitt booted through a 32-yard field goal to set the margin at 36-17 at the break.
The Eagles' defensive set itself up for success after halftime. C-N's three scoring drives traversed nine, 29 and 13 yards. Tyler Curtis capped the first with an eight-yard dive, Luttrell the second with his second QB sneak and Jayden Sullins the third with a one-yard dive.
The trio of second-half scores were set up by a Mekhi Brown fumble recovery, a Kendall Williams pick and, oddly enough, Galen Washington's onside kick recovery and subsequent 32-yard return.
"I thought our defense played great. You know, same thing on defense: you take away two or three plays and it was really a dominant performance," Ingram said. "We were well-prepared, as always. And I think the other thing that's showing is the way we practice—the conditioning aspect of it. We haven't laid on the ground yet with a cramp that I can think of in two games."
Isaiah Bess' three-yard rush was State's lone touchdown of the second half, setting up Washington's lengthy return.
While Carson-Newman's offense flexed its muscle with four different rushers carrying for more than 40 yards, the Eagles did a quality job bottling up Felder. The dynamic running back was fifth nationally in all-purpose yards coming into the game. C-N held him to 22 yards on 14 carries.
Justin Pessoa led WVSU on the ground, tallying 57 yards on 10 carries all after halftime.
✅ First 2-0 start since 2017
— Carson-Newman Athletics (@CN_Eagles) September 14, 2024
✅ First 2-0 start with a road win since 2013.
✅ First KOR for a TD in 1,069 days thanks to @camferguson2.
�� Eagles retain title as nation's most efficient passing offense with @TheRealTedros and @tre_luttrell @cnfootball x #TalonsUp pic.twitter.com/ZdDlThLnjo
Bess was 14-of-34 through the air for 221 yards for the 'Jackets. He had 116 yards on two of his completions.
Lutrell and Tedros Gleaton split time at QB after Gleaton started. The former was 2-for-4 through the air for 80 yards and a score. The latter was 3-of-4 for 36 yards. Luttrell accounted for 122 yards of total offense and three total scores.
Cade Meeks caught three passes to lead C-N's receiving corps. He had 22 yards. Newson led in yardage with 69 all on one catch.
Cruz Temple led C-N in tackles with six. Christian Hicks had 3.5 tackles for loss to go with his five tackles.
C-N starts conference play with Wingate after an eight-day layoff. The Bulldogs are receiving votes in the latest coaches poll.
"I told the guys, we don't want to look ahead, but they may be as good a team as we're going to see," Ingram said. "Obviously, there'll be some other really good teams on our schedule, but they're well-coached. I know Coach Jordan just took over this year, but it's really a continuation of Coach Reich's staff. They've been there a long time, they're well-coached and they've got very good players, so it'll certainly be a challenge."
Kickoff between the Eagles and Bulldogs is set for 1 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at noon with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), MIX 105.5 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/FloFB.
