VIDEO: Mike Clowney Interview
VIDEO: Highlights
VIDEO: Major Williams Interview
VIDEO: Braxton Westfield Interview
GREENEVILLE, Tenn. – Carson-Newman (2-4, 1-3 South Atlantic Conference) entered Saturday's contest with Tusculum (5-1, 3-1 SAC) with just five giveaways on the season and the 21st fewest fumbles lost in the country.
The Eagles exceeded both those totals in a 34-6 defeat to the Pioneers Saturday afternoon at Pioneer Field. Carson-Newman coughed up three fumbles and threw two picks, while only scoring on one out of four trips into Tusculum's red zone.
"We were flat from the very beginning," Carson-Newman head football coach Mike Clowney said. "That showed up. That goes back to focus, the miscues we had, and that's my job. That's my job to make sure when we get here we're energetic. We didn't do that today."
Tusculum pounced on Carson-Newman miscues left and right to take a 21-0 halftime lead.
The Pioneers struck first on the opening possession of the game. On third-and-three, quarterback Tre Simmons took off on a 71-yard touchdown gallop to give the Pioneers a 7-0 lead 84 seconds in the game.
"We felt like we did a good job of covering up their receivers," Clowney said. "That's something that we had rally passed. We did not respond well and turned it over to give them a 14-0 lead."
The teams traded punts before Carson-Newman fumbled away its third possession. The Pioneers hopped on the loose pigskin. Four plays later, Cortney Jackson plunged into the end zone on a one-yard run out of a wildcat formation to give the Pioneers a 14-0 lead with 7:27 left in the first quarter.
Carson-Newman's ensuing drive stalled out at the 47, and a Nate Craft punt pinned the Pioneers at their own 20. However, Tusculum rolled off a 10-play, 80-yard drive culminating in a Mydreon Vines nine-yard TD catch.
The first half wasn't without opportunities for C-N. The Eagles were 0-for-2 in the redzone, fumbling away one possession and missing a 37-yard field goal before the half.
"We never gave ourselves chances," Clowney said. "The mistakes that we made in the positions that we made them in are just things that you cannot do."
Tusculum stretched the lead to 34-0 with a third-quarter 46-yard sprint from Jackson and a fourth-quarter 23-yard pitch and catch from Simmons to Tyler Burke.
Carson-Newman dented the scoreboard with 5:52 to play when TJ King (Knoxville, Tenn.) plunged into the end zone from four yards out for his third rushing touchdown of the season. The play was set up by a 42-yard bomb to Cade Meeks (Ooltewah, Tenn.).
Tusculum outgained Carson-Newman 453-312. The bulk of the damage for TU came on the ground. The Pioneers ground out 303 yards rushing on 41 carries. The Pioneers' 7.4 yards per rush are the sixth-highest tally that C-N has allowed in school history.
Simmons led the ground attack with 89 yards on seven carries. Simmons was one of three players with at least 70 yards rushing. Jackson added 84 yards on eight touches. Mekhai Johnson added 77 yards on 13 carries.
Simmons was also strong through the air, completing 17-of-28 passes for 150 yards. His top target was Tyler Burke, who snared four passes for 61 yards and a touchdown.
Tusculum entered the contest 15th in the country in total defense. Carson-Newman became the second team to put up more than 300 yards of offense against the Pioneers.
C-N rushed for 153 yards. Ivan Corbin (Warner Robbins, Ga.) led C-N on the ground for a second straight week. He had 11 yards on 53 carries.
Corbin became the 19th C-N quarterback all-time to throw 25 passes in a game. He was 11-of-25 through the air for 145 yards.
Braxton Westfield (Simpsonville, S.C.) caught seven passes for 81 yards to lead the Eagles' receiving corps.
Carson-Newman returns home to face Erskine Saturday at 6 p.m. Coverage on the Eagle Sports Network starts at 5 p.m. with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mountain Sports 106.3 (WPFT-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. A video stream is available through FloSports with a monthly subscription.
