September 23, 2010

Eagles Travel to UNC Pembroke on Saturday for First Road Test of 2010

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — The 14th-ranked Carson-Newman football team has played in the friendly confines of Burke-Tarr Stadium for its first three games this season, but on Saturday, the young Eagle squad will face its first road test of 2010, and it won’t be an easy one. C-N is set to face UNC Pembroke at 2 p.m. at Grace P. Johnson Stadium in Pembroke, N.C. The Braves enter the contest with a 2-1 record and went 9-2 last season, reaching the NCAA playoffs.

JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. — The 14th-ranked Carson-Newman football team has played in the friendly confines of Burke-Tarr Stadium for its first three games this season, but on Saturday, the young Eagle squad will face its first road test of 2010, and it won't be an easy one.

C-N is set to face UNC Pembroke at 2 p.m. at Grace P. Johnson Stadium in Pembroke, N.C. The Braves enter the contest with a 2-1 record and went 9-2 last season, reaching the NCAA playoffs.

"It's our first road trip period," said C-N head coach Ken Sparks, whose team handed the Braves their only regular season loss last year with a 35-22 victory. "It's the longest one that we will take. We definitely have some adjustment going on, but it shouldn't have any effect on us. It will be interesting to see how far we have come as far as maturity is concerned."

The Eagles (2-1) enter the contest with two straight wins and are coming off of their most complete performance of the season as they rolled over Concordia-Selma, 37-7, last Thursday.

C-N's defense, which had struggled at times in its first two games, took major steps in the right direction against the Hornets. After the Hornets scored on their opening drive of the game, the Eagles forced five turnovers, including four interceptions, and recorded seven sacks in holding Concordia to 267 yards of offense.

"I think we played lower and a little bit more explosive and faster than we had been playing," Sparks said of his defense. "We are probably understanding a little bit more about what the requirements are to play. We were pleased that we got a shutout after that first drive, but we certainly were not pleased with that first drive."

"We made a couple of big mistakes right away. I hope we will get away from those gifts that we have been giving, but the five turnovers and the pressure on the quarterback were the two key things. It's progress, and that's what we are looking for this time of year."

Junior defensive end Byron Bell (Knoxville, Tenn.) had a breakout game to lead the Eagles as he collected seven tackles, including 4.5 for a loss, and 3.5 sacks. Sparks said he hopes Bell can continue playing at that level against the Braves.

"Byron is a special young man," Sparks offered. "He's one of our shining stars as far as his character and what he's about. It was fun to watch him get some fruit for his labor because he's worked as hard as anybody that we've ever had."

C-N will need another solid effort from both sides of the ball against UNC Pembroke. The Braves are coming off their first loss of the season, a 28-23 setback last week at Wingate, but they rolled to a pair of wins to start the season, outscoring their opponents 81-14.

UNC Pembroke will be one of the most experienced squads the Eagles will face this season with 19 starters (nine offense, 10 defense) returning. Fourteen of those returners are seniors.

"It's a senior dominated football team that has a lot of experience," Sparks said. "They have fought in the wars and have been two or three-year starters. That's a tremendous advantage over a team like us that has been playing a bunch of freshmen and sophomores."

Leading the way for the Braves' offense is junior running back Travis Daniels and senior quarterback Cory Smith. Daniels amassed 1,042 yards last season, while Smith threw for 1,784 yards and 17 touchdowns.

Sparks said his team must be prepared to play disciplined football against a very quick and athletic UNC Pembroke offense.

"I think they have really good speed at running back and big receivers, which creates problems for our little defensive backs," Sparks said. "They create problems for you defensively because they have a great screen package. They use them a lot. It's very important that you play assignment football against a team like this."

Defensively, Sparks said the Braves play very aggressively and live in opponent's backfields. UNC Pembroke has recorded 15 sacks in three games.

"They are very big and physical and have some good looking athletes," Sparks said. "We look forward to seeing if we can continue our growth because we are in a growth mode."