October 3, 2025

No. 22 C-N faces chaotic Wasps Saturday

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 22 Carson-Newman (3-1, 2-1 South Atlantic Conference) faces one of the top turnover producing defenses in the country when it visits Fred Selfe Stadium Saturday at 1 p.m., to take on Emory & Henry (4-1, 2-1 SAC).

#22/22 Carson-Newman

3-2

Emory & Henry

5-1

Final	1	2	3	4	T
#22/22 Carson-Newman (3-2)	0	3	10	0	13
Emory & Henry (5-1)	3	2	3	11	19

C-N Game Notes

VIDEO: Ashley Ingram Presser

VIDEO: C-N at Emory & Henry In The Booth

VIDEO: Wingate Cinematic Highlight Reel

VIDEO: 2024 C-N at Emory & Henry Highlights

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – No. 22 Carson-Newman (3-1, 2-1 South Atlantic Conference) faces one of the top turnover producing defenses in the country when it visits Fred Selfe Stadium Saturday at 1 p.m., to take on Emory & Henry (4-1, 2-1 SAC).

The Wasps are second in the league in turnover margin this year and have forced eight turnovers this season. E&H was second in the nation in turnovers forced last season with 33 with a nation's best 27 interceptions.

"They do a great job coaching them," Carson-Newman head football coach Ashley Ingram said. "Their scheme and system kind of puts you in a tough spot. They'll pressure you obviously versus conventional people a little more. But they're just very athletic on the back end. If we have any chance to win this game, we have to take care of football. Last year we lost a close game. We turned it over four times and they turned it over once. So that'll be the key to the game."

Carson-Newman has played the sixth-most challenging schedule in NCAA Division II when factoring in past opposition. That jumps to fourth when considering future opposition. The only teams that have played more challenging schedules in terms of opponents' win/loss records than the Eagles are: Ashland and Shepherd (11-2 opposition, .846); Charleston (13-3, .813), West Virginia Wesleyan (11-3, .786) and Fort Hays State (14-4, .778). C-N opponents have a .769 win percentage.

"I feel like we keep having the same conversation of going on the road to play a really, really good football team," Ingram said. "You know, they are a veteran team, senior quarterback, they score a lot of points. Coach Hunter and his staff does a great job defensively. They've got a defensive end, who's a great player. Then you've got their the back end. You know, three of the four in the secondary are all conference players with an All-American. We had our hands full with them last year and I expect a great game."

The Wasps hold a rare distinction against Carson-Newman. E&H is one of two programs with at least 15 all-time meetings against the Eagles to have a winning record against Carson-Newman. E&H holds a narrow 20-19-2 edge heading into the 42nd all-time meeting. Western Carolina, with a 17-15 record across 32 meetings, is the only other program. The Eagles and Catamounts haven't played since 1975.

Carson-Newman is 10-6-1 in known games in the state of Virginia. C-N visited the state just three times from 1980-2019, and is 2-2 in the Commonwealth since UVA Wise and E&H joined the SAC in the 2020s.

Emory & Henry is riding a hot streak at home. With an eight-game home winning streak in hand, the Wasps are owners of the third-longest active home win streak in NCAA Division II. Only Ferris State (22) and Harding (18) have longer active home win streaks than E&H. Second-year head coach Quintin Hunter has never lost at home, and E&H is outscoring teams 38.25-10.5 on the streak. C-N lost 17-10 last year at Fred Selfe Stadium, the only team to be within a TD of E&H on the streak.

"I'll stand on the table for our SAC guys," Ingram said. "I don't understand why Wingate hadn't been ranked higher and more often than they have been. And Emory & Henry, if you look at what they've done the last two seasons, there's no reason that they shouldn't be a top 25 team as well. It's just incompetence. I mean somebody's not paying attention to what they've done. I think they are 4-1. They won nine games last year. So you're looking at a team that's 13-3 in their last 16 games playing pretty good competition. And I don't think there's a bad loss in that mix as well."

Emory & Henry has been spectacular on special teams. The Wasps have blocked two punts, returning both for touchdowns. Cam Peoples, the reigning SAC Special Teams Player of the Week, also has a 72-yard punt return for a TD to his name. Peoples leads the nation in average yards per punt return.

With 3,774 career all-purpose yards, Peoples is second among active players in NCAA Division II in career all-purpose yards. He leads all active DII players in career combined return yards at 1,983. Peoples has 14 career receptions for 177 yards against C-N. Peoples has one career punt return for six yards v. C-N and three career KO returns for 51.

The Wasps have had oodles of success based off short fields. E&H's average scoring drive length is 52.2 yards (conversely, C-N's average scoring drive length is 67.57 yards). All told, 14 of E&H's 27 scoring drives have come on 55-yard fields or shorter or from special teams TDs. In fact, the Wasps have scored seven times as a result of a drive of 40 yards or less.

Carson-Newman has kept the defensive pressure dialed up. With a sack in every week of the 2023 and 2024 seasons, the last two years's teams are the fourth and fifth this century to tally a sack in every week of the season. C-N has registered a sack in 27 straight weeks and 35 of the last 36.

Mekhi Brown has 16.5 career sacks, good for eighth among active players in NCAA Division II. Brown is 13th all-time in school history for career sacks. He needs 1.5 more sacks to move into the top-10 all-time in school history - 18 for a career to be tied with Eric Rice and David Roberts.

Jayden Sullins has 1,832 yards rushing for his career. A seventh career 100-yard day, 168 yards to be exact - would make him Carson-Newman's 22nd all-time 2,000-yard rusher for a career. Sullins six career 100-yard performances are tied for the 24th-most all-time. Sullins has 20-career rushes of 20 yards or longer. The big play back also has five career rushes of 40 yards or longer that didn't score touchdowns.

Kickoff between the Eagles and Wasps is slated for 1 p.m. Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at noon with the AEC Countdown to Kickoff on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), MIX 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. The ESN also allows you to go "Inside the Radio Booth" with a live feed of the ESN crew on YouTube