Eagles Set for Top 25 Showdown at No. 4 North Alabama

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. -- The Carson-Newman football team has been nearly unbeatable in games after a loss this decade.

The Eagles have compiled a 13-2 record in that category since 2000 and have the opportunity to improve on that mark this week after falling to Winona State, 17-12, last Thursday in their season opener.

But the task will not be easy, as No. 22 C-N (0-1) will face one of the most talented teams it has lined up against during the Ken Sparks era in No. 4 North Alabama (1-0). The Eagles and the Lions are set to square off at 6 p.m. CST at Braly Municipal Stadium in Florence, Ala.

C-N and North Alabama met last season in a matchup of two top five teams at Burke-Tarr Stadium, with the Lions coming out on top 20-13.

But the Eagles will be competing against a completely different looking North Alabama team, as the Lions return just eight starters from last year's 12-2 squad that reached the semifinals of the NCAA Division II playoffs. First-year coach Terry Bowden signed 25 Division I transfers during the offseason to replenish the talent pool.

"Any time you play a perennial nationally ranked team like North Alabama it's a challenge because they always have good athletes and are well coached," said Sparks, whose teams are 1-7 all-time against the Lions. "Of course, this year the athletes have gotten a whole lot better because of all the Division I transfers."

"To be honest with you, I haven't seen many teams, physically, look better than this team does, and we've played a lot of football teams since I've been here. They just have athletes that are big and can run and are just all over the field. It's amazing to watch all that talent on one field."

North Alabama showed off its talent in a 41-9 victory at Southern Arkansas last Saturday. The Lions racked up 381 yards of total offense and held Southern Arkansas to 127 yards for the game, including just 44 yards on the ground.

With North Alabama's defense beginning the season with an impressive showing, Sparks said C-N's offense couldn't afford to have a repeat of last Thursday's struggles. The Eagles had 364 yards of offense against the Warriors but managed just 108 yards rushing, which was their lowest total since October of 2006.

"We didn't play Carson-Newman football, and we didn't compete like we are used to competing," Sparks said. "We've had a good week of practice. We've had good intensity and good effort this week. We are just not executing real well right now and we've got to get that figured out and continue to get all 11 people on the same page."

"We are excited about going and playing another ballgame. We are a tremendous underdog and will just have to line up and play and see what happens."

For the Eagles to be successful offensively, especially without the services of All-South Atlantic Conference running back Buck Wakefield (Drummonds, Tenn.) (leg) for a second-straight week, they will need senior quarterback Alex Good (Greensboro, N.C.) and senior wide receiver Reggie Hubbard (Chattanooga, Tenn.) to continue to produce in the passing game.

Good threw for 256 yards and two touchdowns against Winona State, while Hubbard hauled in seven passes for 172 yards and two scores.

North Alabama will present the Eagles with plenty of challenges defensively as it runs an offense similar to Florida State's spread attack. Senior quarterback Harrison Beck, a North Carolina State transfer, will be leading the Lions' offense against C-N. Beck completed 67 percent of his passes for 266 yards last week against Southern Arkansas.

"It's the Florida State offense," Sparks said. "They will be in the shotgun and spread it all over the field. Then they will jump under center and get two backs and run the power game. Then they will run the power game and play action pass. That's (Florida State coach) Bobby Bowden's offense and has been for years. It's very familiar looking and they have some unbelievable athletes running it."

Saturday's matchup marks the eighth time C-N has played at Braly Municipal Stadium, where it is 0-7 all-time. The Eagles are 0-4 against North Alabama and have lost three NCAA Division II championship games in Florence.