EDINBORO Fighting Scots (5-6 in 2013) at No. 16 CARSON-NEWMAN Eagles (9-3 in 2013)
Thursday, September 4, 2014 l 7:00 p.m.  
Burke-Tarr Stadium (5,500) l Jefferson City, Tenn.
Radio:  WFSE 88.9 FM 
 
Edinboro Game Notes
Carson-Newman Game Notes

Date:  Thursday, September 4, 201 4
Site:  Jefferson City, Tenn.
Stadium:  Burke-Tarr Stadium (5,500)
Kickoff: 7:00 p.m.
Next:  Saturday, September 13 at Shippensburg, 12 noon
Live Stats:  Stretch Internet (http://client.stretchinternet.com/client/cneagles.portal#)
 
Series History
Series Record:  Carson-Newman leads 3-0
Last Meeting:  1998 -- Carson-Newman 45, Edinboro 44
 
Radio: WFSEFM 88.9 -- The Edinboro-Carson-Newman game can be heard live on WFSE FM 88.9, with Ron Raymond on the play-by-play and Mike Fenner providing the color commentary. To access the internet broadcast go to http://wfseradio.com
Twitter updates at @BoroAthletics
 
The Game Story

Edinboro opens the 2014 season facing a formidable opponent in Carson-Newman. The Fighting Scots come off a 5-6 finish in 2013, marking the second straight losing campaign.  A young team is expected to take the field at Burke-Tarr Stadium, with no fewer than 15 freshmen and redshirt freshmen on the two-deep.

Carson-Newman, under long-time head coach Ken Sparks, finished with a 9-3 record a year ago, reaching the second round of the NCAA Division II Playoffs. The Eagles defeated Newberry 37-27 in the first round of the NCAA playoffs before falling to Lenoir-Rhyne, the eventual national runnerup, 27-20 in the second round.  It marked the Eagles 25th appearance in the NCAA playoffs.   

The Fighting Scots return five starters on offense. The offense will have a definite new look under first-year offensive coordinator Mike Miller, whose resume' includes a stint as the offensive coordinator of the Arizona Cardinals. The unit welcomes back quarterback Cody Harris, who ranks among the career leaders in numerous statistical categories but played in just the first two games a year ago before suffering a season-ending injury. Edinboro averaged 35 points and 454.5 total yards in the first two games but just 19.6 points and 283.1 total yards over the final nine contests.  Harris was a second team All-PSAC West selection in 2011 and '12, and WR Ben Eisel was a second-team selection a year ago.

The Edinboro defense also has five starters back, and will welcome back a key injured player, as well, in linebacker Kyle Matula. The senior appeared in three games last year before going down. Head coach Scott Browning noted that his loss was as big to the defense as Harris' was on offense. The defense struggled a year ago, giving up 30-or-more points six times. ILB Mike Shansky, a 2013 second team All-PSAC?West pick, is the top returnee. 

Carson-Newman head coach Ken Sparks begins his 35th season as a head coach, all at the helm of the Eagles. A 1968 graduate of Carson-Newman, Sparks is the winningest active coach with 318 victories. The holder of a 318-86-2 career record, he needs one win to tie Pop Warner for sixth place in all-time victories, and six to catch Bear Bryant.  He has led the Eagles to 25 NCAA?playoff appearances, including the last two seasons, plus 22 South Atlantic Conference championships. Carson-Newman won five NAIA National Championships in the 1980's and was an NCAA Division II national finalist in 1996, '98, and '99.

While spread offenses and wide-open passing attacks have become the norm in college football, Carson-Newman head coach Ken Sparks is known for his relentless ground game. The Eagles showcase the Split-Back Veer Option. A year ago they ranked fourth in the country in rushing with 343.8 ypg. and 50 TDs rushing. Four different players ran for at least 800 yards and 9 TDs.      

Edinboro was picked to finish sixth in the PSAC?West in the coaches' preseason poll for the second straight year. Carson-Newman is the preseason favorite in the South Atlantic Conference, edging out last year's champion and national runner-up Lenoir-Rhyne.

The Carson-Newman contest is the first of three Thursday games the Fighting Scots will play in 2014. Edinboro will also face local rivals Gannon and Mercyhurst on Thursday evenings. The Scots will host Gannon on Thursday, October 16 in the first Thursday night contest at Sox Harrison Stadium since 2008. A week later Edinboro will play for the first time at Erie Veterans Stadium since 1982 as Mercyhurst hosts the Scots on Thursday, October 23.
  
The All-Time Series
Carson-Newman leads 3-0
Edinboro and Carson-Newman played for three straight years from 1996-98, with the Eagles winning all three previous meetings. This will mark the third time in four meetings that the Fighting Scots will make the long trek to Tennessee. The lone meeting at Sox Harrison Stadium came in 1998, as Carson-Newman held for the Boro's upset attempt 45-44.   
 
The Last Meeting
1998 -- Carson-Newman 45, Edinboro 44
Edinboro nearly pulled off one of the great upsets in school history before third-ranked Carson-Newman overcame a 22-point deficit to win. The Fighting Scots jumped out to a 28-6 lead and led 41-20 at the half. The lead was still 44-28 entering the fourth quarter, but the Eagles rallied with 17 unanswered points in less than ten minutes. The last two touchdowns were set up by Edinboro turnovers. Gerald Thompson scored on touchdown runs of one, three and one yards, and Brian Caldwell threw a 32-yard touchdown pass to Dorian Wilkerson and a 65-yard strike to Quentin Ware-Bey to build the big lead. The Eagles, a team which had reached the NCAA?Division II semifinals the year before, took their only lead of the day on a 15-yard run by Melvin Oates with 5 minutes, 34 seconds remaining following an interception. Edinboro had one last opportunity to score, as Wilkerson returned the ensuing kickoff 33 yards and 15 more yards were tacked on for a personal foul, giving the Scots the ball at the CN 42. Thompson gave Edinboro a first down at the 27 with a 15-yard run, but the Scots were eventually stopped on downs at the 37. Carson-Newman took over with 3:12 to play and ran out the clock with a pair of first downs. Thompson bulled his way for 128 yards on 30 carries, and Caldwell completed 20 of 34 passes for 259 yards with 2 TDs and 3 INTs. The Eagles ended with 222 yards rushing, as Oakes matched Thompson with 128 yards on 19 carries.      
        
The Coaches
Scott Browning (Ohio State '81) took over as Edinboro's 13th head coach on January 5, 2006, and in his first six seasons he tied the record for most wins by a coach during that period.  Browning is now entering his ninth season with a 54-35 record, and is in his 29th season as a member of the Edinboro staff.  With last year's season-opening 35-34 win over Walsh, he became the third coach at Edinboro to reach 50 wins, joining Tom Hollman and Bill McDonald.   The win over Clarion was his 54th, tying him with McDonald for second in career victories.  Browning was certainly no stranger to Fighting Scot football when he was hired as head coach, serving as an assistant coach for the previous twenty years. While at Edinboro he has coached the offensive linemen, defensive backs and running backs, along with serving as the offensive coordinator.  Browning became the first head coach at Edinboro to debut with a win since McDonald in 1969 when the Fighting Scots opened the 2006 season with a 28-14 win at West Chester.  He went on to lead Edinboro to a 6-5 finish, the most wins ever by a first-year coach.  That was followed by a 7-4 finish in 2007.  His next two Fighting Scot editions recorded a school-record tying nine wins.  In 2008 Edinboro ended the year at 9-2 and was ranked 20th in the final AFCA Top 25.  The Fighting Scots had a 9-4 record in 2009, making the NCAA playoffs for the first time in his tenure.  Edinboro would end the year 24th in the AFCA poll.  The Boro posted back-to-back 7-4 finishes in 2010 and 2011.  Last year's 4-6 finish represented Browning's first losing season as head coach. 

Ken Sparks (Carson-Newman '68) is a coaching legend, with 318 career victories in 34 seasons as the head coach at Carson-Newman. Sparks enters his 35th season at the helm with a 318-86-2 record. He is the winningest active coach with the 318 victories, needing one win to tie Pop Warner for sixth place in all-time victories, and six to catch Bear Bryant.  He has led the Eagles to 25 NCAA playoff appearances, including the last two seasons, plus 22 South Atlantic Conference championships. Carson-Newman won five NAIA National Championships in the 1980's and was NCAA Division II national finalist in 1996, '98, and '99. Sparks maintains his outstanding coaching standards while battling cancer. He was diagnosed with cancer in June 2012.      
 
Browning Comments ... on the Fighting Scots
"I think that we've had an excellent camp. We stayed pretty much injury-free. We had some vets who came back and really helped the younger players. Some of the new players have really come along. I'm really proud of them. I think we have a chance to be really good if we avoid the injuries. We're going to play a lot of young guys."
 
Browning Comments ... on the Eagles
"14 of the last 21 years they've been in the NCAA playoffs. They lost some key players but they just reload. They're going to have great speed and are going to be physical. Ken Sparks has been there 34 years and you know what they are going to do."