Eagles, Pioneers close out season with Tennessee’s second-oldest rivalry
November 12, 2021

Eagles, Pioneers close out season with Tennessee’s second-oldest rivalry

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (1-8, -6 South Atlantic Conference) and Tusculum (4-6, 2-5 SAC) collide for the 51st time in the second-oldest rivalry game in the state of Tennessee at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Pioneer Field. 

VIDEO: Mike Clowney Press Conference

VIDEO: 2019 Tusculum  Highlights

VIDEO: 2019 Tusculum Full Game Broadcast  

VIDEO: Limestone Cinematic Highlights

C-N Game Notes

Tusculum Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (1-8, -6 South Atlantic Conference) and Tusculum (4-6, 2-5 SAC) collide for the 51st time in the second-oldest rivalry game in the state of Tennessee at 1:30 p.m. Saturday at Pioneer Field. 

The Pioneers and Eagles first met in 1904. (The Tennessee/Vanderbilt series is the oldest by eight years - 1896).  

"Regular season, for us, we know there have been some challenges along the way and throughout the season," Carson-Newman head football coach Mike Clowney said. "Overall, what a great group of guys with the coaches and players to go through this storm with in guys you can count on week-in and week out to give you their best effort. To get a win last week and turn our attention to the Tusculum game and try to finish the season on a positive note is something we're really looking forward to."

Carson-Newman is looking for its first win at Tusculum since 2014 when the Eagles prevailed 55-35. After Tusculum scored a school-record 35 second-quarter points to take a 35-27 lead into the locker room, Carson-Newman limited the Pioneers to just two first downs and 14 yards on 22 plays in the second half.

The Eagles' defense was keyed up for a win in Burke-Tarr Stadium, 49-13, in 2019. C-N produced negative 35 yards rushing for the Pioneers and held Tusculum to 149 yards of total offense. 

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.

"They're really good including a good running back who has done a good job for them," Clowney said. "They do a good job of mixing things up, but primarily have been able to put the ball in the air and find open receivers. They've been able to create a lot of things for guys to find open space and make plays. We have to make sure to do a good job of being sound in what we do and making sure we execute on the back end."

Carson-Newman has played the 13th toughest schedule to date in the nation. Tusculum will be just the second team that Carson-Newman has faced that has a losing record.

The Eagles have the number three kickoff return man in the country. DeQuan Dudley is third in the nation with 34.8 yards per kickoff return. Dudley ranks first with his two run backs. If Jayden Sullins had enough attempts/games play, Carson-Newman would have three of the top 34 kickoff return men in the country in Dudley, Sullins and EJ Davis.

Tusculum's defense has been elite at generating offense. Tusculum's four defensive TDs are the most in the SAC and listed seventh in NCAA II. The four defensive TDs ties a program single-season record, matching the feat set in 2003, 2004 and 2017. Carson-Newman has given up a defensive touchdown (both pick sixes) in back-to-back weeks.

TU's Nelson Louis has 20 career sacks to his credit, which are the second most in school history. He has seven sacks in nine games this year for a 0.77 sacks per game average (2nd in SAC/ 30th in NCAA II). He needs four more sacks to match the TU career record of 24 sacks.

Tusculum leads the South Atlantic Conference in tackles for loss with 8.4 per game, a figure that is ninth in the country.

Carson-Newman hasn't given up a sack in three consecutive weeks and has allowed just seven tackles for loss in the last two weeks.

"There are a lot of things that you don't see when you just watch a football game," Clowney said. "We're talking about an offensive line that when we started this summer, it was hard to practice and we did not have enough of them. It's hard because they have to learn what to do and also hard on the team because we can't line up for 11v11 since we have so few of them that we can't afford to get anyone hurt. It created a lot of challenges for us as a football team. Just watching them day in and day out come and give us their very best effort, there will be a point where we will be better at offensive line than other places if we don't continue to push and grow our guys in those places." 

A whopping 25 Pioneers have recorded at least one tackle for loss this season through 10 games

Alonzo Houston is 11th in the nation with 10.3 tackles per game. Sitting at 91 stops with one week left to play, Houston is positioned for the first triple-digit tackle season for the program since Jaycob Coleman's All-America campaign in 2013 when he had 137 tackles. Houston is the first player since Coleman to tally double-digit tackles in four straight weeks. Coleman did it in seven consecutive weeks to finish the 2013 season.

Kickoff between the Eagles and Pioneers is set for 1:30 p.m. from Pioneer Field. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 12:30 with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville) and online at cneagles.com/live.  

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