October 13, 2023

C-N pays visit to Clowney country, Erskine

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (2-4, 1-3 South Atlantic Conference) will venture to the stadium where Eagle head coach Mike Clowney began his full-time coaching career when C-N takes on Erskine (0-6, 0-4 SAC) Saturday at 4 p.m. at JW Babb Stadium.

Carson-Newman

3-4

Erskine

0-7

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Carson-Newman (3-4)	0	7	7	0	14
Erskine (0-7)	0	7	0	3	10

VIDEO: Mike Clowney Presser

VIDEO: 2022 Erskine Full Game Replay

VIDEO: 2022 Erskine Highlight Reel

VIDEO: 2022 Erskine Cinematic

C-N Game Notes

Erskine Game Notes

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (2-4, 1-3 South Atlantic Conference) will venture to the stadium where Eagle head coach Mike Clowney began his full-time coaching career when C-N takes on Erskine (0-6, 0-4 SAC) Saturday at 4 p.m. at JW Babb Stadium.

The contest is a homecoming for Mike Clowney. Clowney will be coaching in the same stadium - Greenwood High School's JW Babb - where he began his full-time coaching career under Shell Dula. Clowney was Greenwood's defensive coordinator and an assistant from 1999-2003. He helped the Eagles to state titles in his first two years with the program. Clowney was born in Union, S.C., a 50-mile jaunt north from Greenwood.

"I tell everybody I had 10 jobs in two places which is at Carson-Newman and with Greenwood School District 50," Clowney said "I coached at both of the high schools down there and then started out at Greenwood High School which is where we'll play the game. They've made some significant improvements over there, and it's a beautiful place. They always do a good job. I've got a lot of friends there, so I'm looking forward to going back there and coaching."

Carson-Newman will match up with Erskine as a league member for the last time for the foreseeable future. The Flying Fleet is set to join the Gulf South in 2024.

Carson-Newman is 15-6 when playing in high school stadiums this century. The Eagles have won three straight in this scenario dating back to a 2015 loss to Valdosta State in the first round of the playoffs. In fact, of the six losses, five are to Valdosta, who shares occupancy of Bazemore-Hyder Stadium with Valdosta High School. The only other team to beat C-N in a high school stadium this century is Presbyterian, who took a 37-3 decision in 2005 at Jefferson County High School while Burke-Tarr Stadium was being renovated.

Erskine has struggled this season offensively. The Flying Fleet rank last in the league in every offensive statistical category this year with the exception of fourth down conversions (eighth at 33 percent) and turnovers lost (seventh at 10).

"I think the thing that we have to do is we have to go and continue to work and to develop from a fundamental standpoint," Clowney said. "We still have to minimize mistakes. We're going to make mistakes, but for whatever reason for us right now, we make one and it turns into a big play. So, we've got to make sure we minimize mistakes, and if we do make a mistake, we've got to minimize the gain for the other team off of it. We've got to continue to work to move the football, especially in the ground game, and we've got to continue to perform in the area of tackling execution. So, I think if our guys continue to put forth the things in practice this week as far as growing and developing, we could give ourselves a chance to do what we need to do here Saturday."

Erskine has dropped 15 consecutive games – the country's fourth-longest active losing streak. The Flying Fleet haven't tasted victory in a SAC game in 18 tries, the nation's third-longest active streak. Erskine's last win overall came in week two last year, a 23-19 triumph over Clark Atlanta.

Since the first quarter of Erskine's week two game against Shorter, Erskine has found the end zone offensively just once. In their last 19 quarters of football, Erskine's only offensive TD is a two-yard Rashad Luckey run that capped a 13-play, 99-yard drive with 1:10 to play in an eventual 24-17 loss to Newberry on Sept. 23.

Saturday is just Erskine's second home game of the season and the Flying Fleet's Homecoming game. Carson-Newman has done well playing the role of spoiler on other teams Homecomings. Carson-Newman has beaten opponents eight of the last 10 times that it has represented their foes' homecoming opponent. Limestone proved to be the latest to schedule the Eagles for homecoming and lose, doing so in week six of 2017, 31-20. Newberry was the last team to schedule C-N for Homecoming (2021, a 34-3 Newberry win).

Through six weeks of football, Carson-Newman has yet to make a field goal. C-N hasn't gone six weeks without a field goal since 2010, when it made one field goal on the entire year.

Shockingly, Carson-Newman's best marker for success is its passing game this year. The Eagles are 2-0 when they average 7.0 yards or greater per pass, and are 0-4 when below that mark.

Preseason All-America safety Major Williams is sixth among active Division II players in non-offensive touchdowns. Williams has a pick six and two punt return TDs to his name in his career. His second career punt return for a touchdown came at Newberry last week. The 65-yard return registers as the 10th-longest punt return in school history.

Carson-Newman has rushed the ball fewer than 30 times in three straight weeks. While no longer running the split-back veer as it did under Ken Sparks and Mike Turner. The Eagles haven't run the ball fewer than 30 times in back-to-back weeks ever. Until now.

Kickoff between the Eagles and Flying Fleet is set for 4 p.m. Saturday. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network begins at 3 with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Talk 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live.