VIDEO: Ashley Ingram presser
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 24/25 Carson-Newman (7-1, 5-1 South Atlantic Conference) will pay homage to 20 seniors and celebrate Homecoming when Anderson (3-5, 1-5 SAC) arrives at Burke-Tarr Stadium Saturday.
The contest is also the Eagles' Military Appreciation Day game.
"We've got to practice each day and we got to prepare for the game," head football coach Ashley Ingram said. "We can't be focused on any kind of outside distractions. With that being said, we certainly want to play well. We certainly want to put a good product on the field for all the people that will come back. Obviously, we're excited to have a good crowd and we certainly want to play good football and Carson-Newman football. So our alums will be proud of us."
Carson-Newman is in the hunt for a Mountain Division championship. The Eagles are tied with Emory & Henry in the Division. E&H owns the tiebreaker with the teams thanks to their 17-10 win on Oct. 26. For C-N to have a crack at the SAC title, the Eagles need to win out and for the Wasps to lose to either Mars Hill at Mars Hill on Nov. 2 or UVA Wise in the annual battle for Southwest Virginia on Nov. 9.
While this is Carson-Newman's final scheduled home game, the Eagles do find themselves in the hunt for a playoff spot and a potential home playoff game. Carson-Newman is one of 10 teams under consideration in the first NCAA region rankings.
"It doesn't mean a lot to me right now. It's great that we've played this well up to this point. It's great to be in consideration, but none of it matters if we don't continue to win,
Ingram said. "So everything we're going to do is going to be focused on becoming a better football team. This week the team that played at Emory & Henry was not good enough to win that game. We've got to play better this Saturday to beat a good Anderson team and our guys better not overlook them. They continue to get better. You just look at their scores, you watch them play. They're well coached, they're talented, they're not young anymore. Most of those freshmen are redshirt freshmen. They're second-year college players who've now played going into their ninth or tenth college football game. So they've got a good football team with a great coaching staff."
Carson-Newman will be looking to hold serve on Homecoming. The Eagles have won nine of their last 11 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 Emory & Henry last year on Homecoming 37-7
Carson-Newman had won its senior day contest in three straight seasons before falling to Catawba last year 24-14. This marks the third time in the last four years Homecoming and Senior Day have been played on the same day and the fourth time in the last decade. Carson-Newman has nine wins on senior day in its last 11 senior day contests.
"I think all of our success that we've had this year really comes down to the buy in and it has to start with your senior class," Ingram said. "So if your seniors will buy in, typically the underclassmen will follow. So I'm certainly very appreciative of all their efforts. We've had a great season up to this point. Obviously, we want to continue it. We want to go undefeated at home and we want to celebrate those guys the right way. But the way to celebrate them is to prepare this week to have a good week of practice and then obviously play well on Saturday."
Ball security has been good for first-year program Anderson. The Trojans are one of four teams in the country who haven't lost a fumble on the season. Anderson has only lost six turnovers on the season, a figure that ranks seventh nationally and second in the SAC behind Mars Hill and the Lions four giveaways.
Anderson QB Tyler Wesley has been among the top signal callers in the SAC in his first season with the Trojans. The Presbyterian transfer has a trio of 300-yard games to his name (LaGrange, Catawba and Tusculum). He ranks fourth in the SAC in passing touchdowns with 12 and third in the league in passing yardage with 1,456 yards.
Anderson is seventh in the SAC in rush defense, allowing 164.4 yards per game. The Trojans have allowed 200 or more yards rushing in three of their last four games. Excluding non-conference games against LaGrange and St. Andrews, the Trojans are surrendering 194.5 yards per game on the ground in SAC play.
Carson-Newman has kept the defensive pressure dialed up. With a sack in every week of the 2023 season, last year's team became the fourth this century to tally a sack in every week of the season. C-N has registered a sack in 19 straight weeks and 27 of the last 28. The Eagles' seven sacks against Wingate in week three are tied for the second most in a NCAA Division II game this season and are the sixth-most in school history. C-N is 38th nationally in sacks this season and second in the SAC.
Carson-Newman fullback Jayden Sullins was on a tear in the month of October. Sullins has rushed 95 times for 637 yards in the month with four TDs. That's good for 7.0 yards per carry and 166.8 yards per game. In comparison, through his first four games this season, he was averaging 30.5 yards per game and 2.77 yards per carry. He is 14th nationally and third in the South Atlantic Conference this season. Sullins is on pace to become Carson-Newman's 29th all-time 1,000-yard rusher for a season, needing 211 yards to get to that mark. C-N hasn't had a 1,000-yard rusher since Antonio Wimbush in 2019.
Kickoff between the Eagles and Trojans is set for 3 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 2 p.m. with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available with a subscription to FloSports at cneagles.com/floFB.
