Eagles Travel to Brevard Saturday Afternoon
Oct. 23, 2008
JEFFERSON CITY - With only three games left in the regular season, the Carson-Newman football team sits three spots out of a playoff spot, according to this week's NCAA Division II Super Regional Two football ranking.
The Eagles are No.9 in the region, with the top six teams advancing to the playoffs. That leaves head coach Ken Sparks knowing that not only can his squad not absorb another defeat, but they may also need some help from other teams along the way.
"We've got to win every game and still have to get some help," Sparks said Tuesday afternoon. "I hope we're not so hard-headed that we don't understand that we have to be ready to play every weekend from here on out."
Carson-Newman travels to Brevard Saturday for a 2 p.m. kick-off. The Eagles' final two games of the regular season are against Wingate and Tusculum, both of which are ranked ahead of C-N in the region.
"We could move up a little by beating those teams ourselves," said Sparks. "But we are still gonna need for a couple of other teams to lose."
On paper, Brevard doesn't appear to be a formidable foe for the 17th-ranked (AFCA poll) Eagles (5-2 overall, 3-1 SAC). The Tornados are winless in South Atlantic Conference play, including a 40-14 loss to Lenoir-Rhyne - a team the Eagles beat 62-21 last week. Brevard's only victory of the season came against Pikeville, an NAIA school.
Still, Sparks has spent the week preaching to his players not to take their opponent lightly.
"We have to go play," Sparks said. "Just because it looks good on paper, doesn't get it done on grass. Hopefully our guys will respond and be ready to play."
Brevard has seen somewhat of an improvement on offense the past two games, after head coach Paul Hamilton overhauled his scheme and implemented the triple-option attack. The Tornados have had their two highest offensive outputs of the season in recent weeks, including a 42-point effort in a loss to Tusculum.
Sophomore Trey Wilborn, who came into the season expected to compete at free safety, is now the starting quarterback and has rushed for 220 yards on 30 carries the past two games.
Brevard's passing offense has struggled mightily, however. The Tornados were 0-of-4 passing in a 28-14 loss to Mars Hill last week, and were only 2-of-6 against Tusculum.
"They went from a `spread-the-all-out and throw the football' team to a true option team," Sparks noted. "Coach Hamilton has them playing hard. If an extremely talented team played as hard as (Brevard) played, they would be scary."
Brevard enters the game ranked last in the conference in scoring (33.6 ppg) and passing defense, and fifth in rushing defense. That doesn't bode well against a Carson-Newman squad that currently leads all of NCAA Division II in rushing yards per game with 318.71.
The Eagles are fourth in the nation in scoring, and fifth in total offense. Sparks is adamant that this is no time for his players to become complacent, though.
"We've still got some spots where we are just not getting the job done like we need to," he said. "We gave up a couple of big plays that we had no business giving up (against Lenoir-Rhyne). We almost had another punt blocked, which is absolutely inexcusable. We've got some work to do."
Carson-Newman ranks just sixth in the SAC in total defense, giving up 358 yards per game.
This will be Carson-Newman's fifth road game in eight weeks this season.
"If we do make the playoffs, we will probably be on the road every game," Sparks pointed out. "Maybe the Lord is just preparing us for it."
Carson-Newman won last year's game with the Tornados, 52-13 in Jefferson City. It was the first-ever meeting between the two schools.
