College Football: Catawba vs. Carson-Newman

Published 8:27 pm Friday, September 16, 2016

CARSON-NEWMAN (1-1, 0-0 SAC) at CATAWBA (0-2, 0-0 SAC)
Kirkland Field, Shuford Stadium — Today, 1:30 p.m.
Radio: WSAT Memories 1280 (Salisbury). Audio: Available on1280wsat.com.
COACHES: Carson-Newman — Ken Sparks’ record is 335-93-2, including 30-7 against Catawba. Sparks has coached the Eagles since 1980 and is the winningest football coach in NCAA Division II history. Catawba — In his fourth season, Curtis Walker is 21-15, including 2-1 against Carson-Newman.
LAST WEEK: Carson-Newman cruised past St. Augustine’s, a CIAA club, winning, 48-14, on the road. Catawba lost a game it fully expected to win, falling, 23-17, at home to Winston-Salem State, the defending CIAA champs.
SERIES: Carson-Newman leads 37-11-1, making this the 50th meeting between the Eagles and the Indians. The teams have met every season since 1976. The roots of the series go back to 1932.
LAST SEASON: Catawba won 14-7 in Jefferson City, Tenn. Catawba QB Mike Sheehan ran for a score and threw a touchdown pass.
WORTH MENTIONING: The 72-year-old Sparks played wide receiver for Carson-Newman in 1967. He’s coached Carson-Newman to 21 South Atlantic Conference championships, although the most recent was in 2009. While the Eagles always contend, Wingate (2010), Mars Hill (2011 co-champion), Lenoir-Rhyne (2011-14) and Catawba (2015) all have claimed more recent league championships.
WATCH FOR: Carson-Newman still runs the ball with precision with its veer offense, but the new wrinkle is the Eagles are throwing more efficiently (55.6 percent completions). The Eagles have been a well-balanced offensive hurricane in their first two games, averaging 46.5 points and 580 yards per game. They rank third in D-II in yards gained.
Basically, Carson-Newman averages double the yardage Catawba does, and the Indians have managed only 10.0 points per game.
Even with nine starters back, Catawba’s defense (53rd nationally in yards allowed) hasn’t been stingy enough to compensate for an offense that has been starved for big plays and is converting third downs at a dismal 20-percent rate (6 for 30).
Catawba’s fast defense must play assignment football against the triple-option Eagles — stop the dive, the quarterback keeper and the pitch — while watching for the pass.
There’s significant pressure on Catawba’s defense because it doesn’t appear the Indians have the firepower to prevail if it becomes a shootout.
Catawba’s unexpected 0-2 start feels much different than the expected 1-1. Catawba is 0-2 for the first time since 2011, and that was a 3-8 season. Walker’s first season at the helm was 2013, a campaign that ended up 6-5.

Walker’s team was also 6-5 in 2014, before the 9-3 championship season last year.

“We’re 0-2, and that’s somewhere we haven’t been,” Walker said. “It’s a very important game for us.”