October 17, 2025

C-N heads to the Palmetto State for date at defensively stingy Anderson

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the first time in 11 years, Carson-Newman (3-2, 2-2 South Atlantic Conference) has a mid-season bye week to utilize to prepare for a conference opponent.

Carson-Newman

4-2

Anderson

5-3

Final	1	2	3	4	T
Carson-Newman (4-2)	0	7	7	14	28
Anderson (5-3)	0	6	0	0	6

C-N Game Notes

VIDEO: Ashley Ingram presser

VIDEO: In The Booth – Radio Feed for C-N @ AU

VIDEO: 2024 C-N v. Anderson Cinematic Recap

VIDEO: 2024 C-N v. Anderson Full Broadcast Replay

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – For the first time in 11 years, Carson-Newman (3-2, 2-2 South Atlantic Conference) has a mid-season bye week to utilize to prepare for a conference opponent.

After a 14-day respite, C-N makes the three-hour trek east to tangle with the defensive-minded Anderson (5-2, 3-2 SAC) Saturday at 1 p.m. at Spero Financial Field.

Carson-Newman is coming off a rare October bye while looking to work past a 19-13 loss at Emory & Henry two weeks ago. The last time C-N had a bye week in October - 2014. Strangely enough, C-N also had Oct. 11 off that year as well, and exited the bye week with a 55-35 shootout win over Tusculum.

You have to go all the way back to 1991 to find the next October bye week for C-N. C-N was off Oct. 12 that year before collecting a 57-15 win over Mars Hill on Oct. 19. Excluding early September bye weeks, Carson-Newman has won 10 straight games out of a mid-season bye week dating back to 1980.

"The bye week came at a great time," Carson-Newman head football coach Ashley Ingram said. "You know, we've been going since early August, had a few guys banged up and looks like we're going to be pretty healthy going into this game. We've got a great challenge in front of us in Anderson. We did spend a lot of time trying to get healthy and recharge and get fresh. Obviously we practiced, but just kind of focusing on Carson-Newman and what we need to do to improve down this back stretch."

That great challenge comes in the form of an Anderson defense that has surrendered little.

Anderson has the top defense in the South Atlantic Conference. The Trojans lead the league in scoring defense, giving up 16 points per game. In four of the Trojans five wins, they have given up a combined 21 points (Shorter, Ferrum, Tusculum and UVA Wise). The Trojans are seventh nationally, allowing 243 yards per game and boast the league's top passing defense (141.9 yds/game) and number two rush defense (101.1 yds/game).

"They are very well coached," Ingram said. "Then they've got good players and they're playing with confidence now. They're playing fast, they're playing hard and they've got a good group."

The Trojans have held four teams (UVA Wise, Tusculum, Erskine and Shorter) below 250 yards of offense, only allowing a season-low 88 yards to Tusculum. No team has gained more than 400 yards of offense on AU this season.

Anderson has the reigning SAC offensive and defensive player of the week. Bryson James went for 221 yards against Lenoir-Rhyne, while defensive back Carter Wit picked off a pass and made 10 tackles in the Trojans win in Hickory. James would also be named the D2Football.com National Offensive Player of the Week for his efforts.

James nearly doubled his program-record rushing yards in a game with 221 yards, while posting the third and fourth longest plays from scrimmage, which are also the two longest rushes from scrimmage, with touchdown runs of 73 and 70 yards in Anderson's 35-28 win at Lenoir-Rhyne on Oct. 11.

"He's athletic, he's big, he's explosive," Ingram said. "He can break a tackle, he can make you miss, he can jump, cut and then run away from people and score. So he's a very talented young man."

Last season, James carried the ball six times for 17 yards in Carson-Newman's 28-7 win over the Trojans. C-N was dialed in defensively last season, holding AU to 181 yards of total offense. The Trojans didn't dent the scoreboard until 1:12 left in the fourth quarter. C-N racked up 14 tackles for loss and three sacks.

AU lost 56 yards on 14 Eagle stops behind the line of scrimmage. The 14 tackles for a loss are the sixth-highest total in school history.

Carson-Newman has played the seventh-most challenging schedule in NCAA Division II when factoring in past opposition. The only teams that have played more challenging schedules in terms of opponents' win/loss records than the Eagles are: Wayne State (.821), Edinboro (.759), Erskine (.710), Gannon (.690), UIndy (.677) and Wingate (.677). C-N opponents have a .667 win percentage. Of that above grouping, UIndy and Wingate are the only two to join C-N with a winning record.

Carson-Newman has kept the defensive pressure dialed up. With a sack in every week of the 2023 and 2024 seasons, the last two years's teams are the fourth and fifth this century to tally a sack in every week of the season. C-N has registered a sack in 28 straight weeks and 36 of the last 37.

Mekhi Brown has 17.5 career sacks, good for eighth among active players in NCAA Division II. Brown is 11th all-time in school history for career sacks. He needs 0.5 more sacks to move into the top-10 all-time in school history - 18 for a career to be tied with Eric Rice and David Roberts.

Jayden Sullins has 1,851 yards rushing for his career. A seventh career 100-yard day, 149 yards to be exact - would make him Carson-Newman's 22nd all-time 2,000-yard rusher for a career. Sullins six-career 100-yard performances are tied for the 24th-most all-time. Sullins has 20-career rushes of 20 yards or longer. The big play back also has five career rushes of 40 yards or longer that didn't score touchdowns.

Kickoff between the Eagles and Trojans is set for 1 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at noon with the AEC Countdown To Tipoff on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. The ESN also allows you to go "Inside the Radio Booth" with a live feed of the ESN crew on YouTube.