A week off. Time to relax.

That is, unless you’re a member of the Catawba College football team.

A week off? Yeah, right.

“It was very intense,” said All-American offensive guard Don Moore. “There was a lot of drill work. It was a great teaching week for us and helped us refocus.”

Why would the undefeated, nationally-fourth-ranked Division II team have to refocus for NAIA North Greenville, which comes here for a 2 p.m. game sporting a 0-6 record?

Because the offense hasn’t produced enough in the eyes of the coaching staff. Not when you’ve got nine seniors on offense.

“We need to get rolling,” said head coach David Bennett during his weekly press conference at the Western Steer. “We haven’t scored 30 points in three weeks. We had 27 against Presbyterian, 28 against Newberry and 24 against Tusculum. And the offense only scored 17 against Tusculum (Cornerback Ryan Norman scored on an interception).

“That’s not championship football.”

LUCKYNO. 7: There is something to play for Saturday: history.

Catawba could be the first team to ever start a season 7-0.

The Tangerine Bowl team of 1946 didn’t do it. It lost early to VMI. The 1930 team went undefeated but had a tie in the third game, finishing 8-0-1.

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BUTTERFINGERS:Moore said the reason for the lack of big scoring games is simple — turnovers.

“I think we’ve just made a lot of mistakes,” said the South Carolina native. “We’d get to where we’d turn the ball over and we’ve got our heads down. We’ve made (10) turnovers in the last three games and that has caused us not to put points on the board.”

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THE“H”WORD: Saturday is Homecoming at Catawba.

Moore said the Indians don’t say the word “Homecoming” very often. And for good reason. Bennett knows there are many distractions during the week.

“Coach Bennett calls it “Reunion Week.” He doesn’t like to say the “H” word,” smiled Moore.

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RECORDS: Radell Lockhart has set a new Catawba record in tackles for losses.

Tailback Kevin McKenzie is already 15th on the all-time rushing list, despite playing just 18 games. With 59 yards Saturday, he would move to 10th.

He is also on pace to break the single-season rushing mark of 1,001.

Quarterback Mitch Ellis needs just five passing yards to move into fourth place all-time and six touchdown passes to reach second.

Sophomore Nick Means already has 60 receptions, good for 15th place.

Joe Hilliard needs 20 yards to reach 20th in rushing.

Matt Gross is eight field goals behind career leader Randy Brown.

DeVonte Peterson needs six sacks to equal the school mark held by Todd Lipe.

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INJURIES: Senior safety Anthony Spencer is recovering from a shoulder injury suffered against Tusculum but it isn’t definite that he’ll play Saturday. MRIresults were due in Tuesday.

“Anthony’s chomping at the bit,” Bennett said. “He has raised his shoulders. Everything feels fine.”

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HOMESWEETHOME: The best thing about Game 7 is that it is at home in Shuford Stadium.

“It has been a good while since somebody has beaten us on our field,” said Bennett.

Carson-Newman was the last to accomplish that feat back in 1998. The Indians has won 11 straight at home since then and are 25-5 at home under Bennett.

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SPEAKINGOF... Carson-Newman swaggers into Salisbury Oct. 28 for the South Atlantic Conference’s latest “biggest game ever played” and the Eagles are mad. They lost to Presbyterian two weeks ago and rebounded by blasting Tusculum 77-24 last week.

That’s right. 77-24.

“They had time to refocus and you see what they did to Tusculum,” said Bennett. “That ain’t what we did (Catawba won 24-19).

Bennett said Carson-Newman’s win was a statement after Tusculum students painted Carson-Newman’s field and campus. The Tusculum players were also taunting (say what?) Carson-Newman (3-1, 6-1) before the game.

“The players started hollering, ‘This is our house.’” said Bennett. “The last time I checked, Carson-Newman hadn’t lost a conference game since 1989. It was a grave mistake. We tell our kids to play the game. You don’t run your mouths.”

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HOSED: Presbyterian (3-1, 4-2) ended Mars Hill’s six-game home winning streak, 34-27. The Blue Hose, who have lost to only nationally-ranked Catawba and West Georgia, moved into the 10th spot in the South Region.

“You lose to two teams like that and then beat a great Carson-Newman team ... they ought to be nationally-ranked in the coaches poll. They’re not but we voted for them,” said Bennett.

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MORESAC: The other winner last week was Newberry (23-14 over Wingate). Newberry is 1-2, 4-3. Hapless Wingate is 0-4, 1-6 ... Tusculum fell to fourth (2-2, 5-3). ... Offensive player of the week was Carson-Newman’s Leonard Guyton (131 all-purpose yards while moving over 3,000 career passing yards) ... Defensive back Maurice Robinson of Newberry was Defensive Player of the Week. He had six tackles and one interception. ... Special Teams Player of the Week was Newberry’s Josh Pierce, who ran a missed field goal back 105 yards for a score. ... Newberry’s Vic Gilmore rushed for 144 yards. ... Tusculum had given up just 97 points in seven games until giving up the 77. ... Tusculum’s Paul Czerniak kicked his 15th field goal and is just five off the SAC record. ... This week’s games have Presbyterian going to Wingate’s Homecoming, Newberry going to Carson-Newman and Mars Hill visiting Lenoir-Rhyne.

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WIGWAMWISPS: Catawba’s No. 4 ranking matches its highest since 1997. ... Catawba has scored 21 of 27 times in the red zone (the opponents’ 20-yard line). The Catawba defense has allowed opponents inside its 20-yard line just six times. ... The defense has limited opponents to three downs or less in 47 of 82 possessions. ... Catawba has not been shut out in 71 games, dating back to 1994. ... Bennett is 47-14 since taking over in 1995.