Eagles lock up playoff spot for 25th time under Sparks
INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Carson-Newman football is back in the NCAA playoffs for the 15th time under head coach Ken Sparks and the 25th trip to postseason overall for the Eagles’ 36-year head coach.
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INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. – Carson-Newman football is back in the NCAA playoffs for the 15th time under head coach Ken Sparks and the 25th trip to postseason overall for the Eagles' 36-year head coach.
The Eagles opponent is a familiar one. Carson-Newman, seeded fifth, will make the trek to Valdosta, Ga., to battle the fourth-seeded Blazers of Valdosta State University.
Valdosta State eliminated Carson-Newman from the 2012 playoffs in the quarterfinal round.
The meeting is the teams' seventh in the playoffs (only one of the schools' meetings has been in the regular season). The Blazers have ended three of Carson-Newman's last six trips into the playoffs, also knocking C-N out in 2004 and 2008.
The Eagles are 3-4 all-time against the Blazers, 2-4 in the playoffs. The teams have met twice in the opening round of the playoffs, both of the previous meetings also came at VSU's Bazemore-Hyder Stadium.
The Eagles knocked out VSU 35-29 to start the 2003 playoffs and got knocked out in the first round in 2008 24-20. That was also the last time that Carson-Newman lost a first round playoff game.
C-N will effort to buck a recent trend of road struggles in the playoffs. Trips outside Jeff City haven't been fun for Carson-Newman. The Eagles are 2-14 away from Burke-Tarr Stadium in the Division II playoffs. The Eagles two victories came in the quarterfinals of the 2009 playoffs against North Alabama and in the first round of the 2003 postseason with a win over Valdosta State.
Carson-Newman is 39-19-1 in postseason play all-time under Sparks.
Ticket, gametime and broadcast information will be released as it becomes available.
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