November 15, 2019

Eagles honor 25 seniors in final regular season home game against Tusculum

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (7-2, 5-2 South Atlantic Conference) will look to put a bow on the 2019 regular season and honor a 25-member senior class when it renews the second oldest rivalry in the state of Tennessee against Tusculum Saturday at 1 p.m. in Burke-Tarr Stadium.

Tusculum

5-6

Carson-Newman

8-2

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Tusculum (5-6)	0	0	6	7	13
Carson-Newman (8-2)	14	14	21	0	49

VIDEO: Mike Turner Press Conference

VIDEO: 2018 Highlight Reel

C-N Game Notes

Tusculum Game Notes

SAC Weekly Report

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (7-2, 5-2 South Atlantic Conference) will look to put a bow on the 2019 regular season and honor a 25-member senior class when it renews the second oldest rivalry in the state of Tennessee against Tusculum Saturday at 1 p.m. in Burke-Tarr Stadium.

The Eagles 25 seniors will be honored in a pregame ceremony 25 minutes before kickoff.

"When you're around a group of young men for four or five years and you are the daddy in residence and you learn to love those kids and care about them deeply and you want great things to happen in their lives," Carson-Newman head football coach Mike Turner said. "You want them to be very successful in (being) a great football player but you want them academically to be successful, to graduate, which they are. But the most important thing is you want them to be a better man for being here and being a part of this program. So all those kids have impacted this program in many and I hope this program has impacted their lives forever."

The Eagles senior class will be looking to guide Carson-Newman into the playoffs for a 26^th time in program history. Carson-Newman is in position to make it, ranked fifth in the last region ranking, if it can get past the Pioneers in the second oldest rivalry in Tennessee.

"I think it's exciting for our kids," Turner said. "To be playing the third week of November and it counts, and it's your last regular season game, and you know where you are sitting in the regional rankings. You know you got to get the job done. You should be about a mission, by having a great week of practice this week in preparation for Tusculum, but also being single-minded on Saturday."

The Pioneers come to Burke-Tarr Stadium as one of the hottest teams in Super Region II. After a 1-5 start, Tusculum has rattled off four straight wins, that's tied for the third longest winning streak in the region behind Gulf South Champion Valdosta State, SAC Champion Lenoir-Rhyne and CIAA North Champion Bowie State.

"It says a lot about Jerry (Odom, head coach) and his staff of preparing them and getting them ready and believing," Turner said. "You win four games in a row in this league or any league and that's a great accomplishment. They're a very talented football team."

The four straight wins for Tusculum are the program's longest winning streak since the 2014 team won four straight to close that year with a winning record.

The Pioneers have been dialed in defensively on the streak. During its four-game winning streak (wins over UVa-Wise, UNC Pembroke, Catawba, Mars Hill), the Pioneers are limiting the opposition to 15 points per contest and 259.2 total yards per game, including 57.8 rushing yards per contest. Furthermore, Tusculum's defense has forced 12 turnovers in the last four games.

The Pioneers have been solid offensively during the stretch, especially on the ground where they've averaged 249.8 yards rushing per game.

Last year, the Pioneers had a pair of backs rush for more than 100 yards on Carson-Newman in the Pioneer's 41-28 triumph in Greeneville. Lorenzo Pratt and Jordan Shippy both crested the mark.

"They proved that last year (that they could run the ball against us)," Turner said. "They took that last drive and went 75 yards without throwing the football (to seal the game). We know they are a zone and a split zone type of team. We know he's a very talented running back, he's got very capable offensive lineman in front of him and it's going to require the defense to attack the line of scrimmage but you've got to maintain your gap integrity. You can't get washed out of your gap and the linebackers got to know where to fill at."

Meanwhile, Carson-Newman has won three straight and six of its last seven. The Eagles have needed to grit out two of the three on the streak, winning with 19 seconds left last week against Limestone, and 24-21 against Newberry three weeks ago on Homecoming.

Carson-Newman is protecting an unbeaten record at Mossy Creek. The Eagles haven't lost at home since a 40-21 defeat at the hands of Lenoir-Rhyne last year. C-N is aiming for its first unbeaten home record for a season since 2009.

The Eagles' senior class has a litany of senior players who can impact the Eagles' record books.

Antonio Wimbush (Kingsland, Ga.) became the fourth member of Carson-Newman's 3,500-yard rushing club against Mars Hill. He is third all-time in rushing yards with 3,621. Wimbush is 421 yards away from second and Kennth Tyson, and 535 yards away from first and Robert Thomas.

Wimbush's next 100-yard performance would give him 16 for his career, putting him within one of Brandon Baker and Kenneth Tyson for the second most all-time. A touchdown would make Wimbush the sixth player in school history with 40 career rushing scores. It would also tie him with Tyron Douglas for sixth all-time.

Derrick Evans (Macon, Ga.) has also accounted for 34 rushing scores in his career, his next rushing touchdown will put him even with Robert Thomas for 11th on the all-time list.

Desmond Fairell's (Miami, Fla.) next interception will be his 19th in his career. He needs six more picks to catch Mike Schlecter and Chuck Proffitt for the all-time record. The six interceptions Fairell has this year are tied for the ninth most for a single-season in school history. His next pick will move him into a seven-way tie for the third-most in school history for one year. Al Canty holds the single season record with 11 set in 1972.

Carson-Newman has picked off 18 passes this year. Two more picks and this version of the Eagles will become the 11th team in school history with 20 picks in a single year. The 1991 team holds the school record with 31 interceptions. Carson-Newman is third nationally this year with its 18 picks.

Carson-Newman and Tusculum renew what is the second-oldest rivalry game in the state of Tennessee. The Pioneers and Eagles first met in 1904. (The Tennessee/Vanderbilt series is the oldest by eight years - 1896).

The Eagles won 10 straight contests from 1935-1950, missing a handful of years because of World War II. Carson-Newman outscored Tusculum 359-20 over that stretch. The Eagles shutout TU in eight of those meetings

Kickoff between the Eagles and Pioneers is set for 1 p.m. Saturday. Pregame coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts one hour prior to kickoff with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville) and online at cneagles.com/live.