Bulldogs to take long way to face No. 25 Carson-Newman

Barton College has been largely unaffected by Hurricane Helene to this point as the Bulldogs were able to host Anderson University for a game last Saturday, Sept. 28, as many colleges in the South Atlantic Conference were dealing with the immediate effects of the storm.

With Interstate-40 West closed in Tennessee, Barton players and coaches will travel around and then into the storm-impacted areas Friday for a game Saturday afternoon against Carson-Newman in Jefferson City, Tennessee, which was was mostly out of the way of the most destructive parts of Helene. Still, the long trip got longer by a couple of hours for the Bulldogs, who hope to avoid a long afternoon in their first experience at Burke-Tarr Stadium against one of the top small-college football programs in the nation historically. Kickoff is at 1 p.m.

Barton defeated the Eagles in Wilson, 31-17, in the fall of 2021 in their only other meeting as SAC foes. Carson-Newman finished 1-9 that season coming out of the COVID-19 pandemic. But beyond that game, Bulldogs head coach Chip Hester is well-acquainted with the tradition of excellence set forth by Carson-Newman. Hester as the head coach for 11 of his 18 years at fellow South Atlantic Conference member Catawba.

“They want to be good in football, and they’ve got a really, really great facility,” Hester said of the Eagles. “And, man, they pour resources into that program and so, they’re built to win. Their new coach, Coach (Ashley) Ingram, has brought back the option attack and it just fits well up there.”

It’s fit to the tune of a 4-0 start under Ingram, including two SAC wins, as well as a No. 25 national ranking by the American Football Coaches Association. Carson-Newman stunned No. 23 Wingate 31-28 in overtime two weeks ago and then pulled out a 35-34 win over Catawba in the only other SAC game played last Saturday.

The triple-option Ingram favors is similar to what Navy ran under Paul Johnson for years because that’s where Ingram has coached offense for the last 16 years. It’s a tricky scheme to try to defend, but experience is a major plus for the Bulldogs veteran defensive unit.

“My hope is that our experience playing against Davidson last year and the year before has been helpful,” Hester said. “Our young guys, and even some of our old guys, have stepped into some spots and tried to give the best look that we could give to try to simulate it, but it’s just so much faster in person and so much smoother in person, so it’s gonna be a challenge for our defense. There’s no question about it. They lead by a lot in rushing and so they’ve had a lot of success. AI think the thing with us, we’ve got to be patient and I think that’s that’s the only way you can try to combat it.”

Carson-Newman is churning up yardage on offense, averaging 245 yards per game on the ground and another 126.2 per game through the air while scoring 43 points per game.

The Eagles have committed just one turnover but have only forced three.

Barton’s offense had its best outing last week after its worst showing two weeks ago in a 41-0 loss at Emory & Henry. The Bulldogs’ passing game clicked in the 27-13 win over Anderson at Truist Stadium. Quarterback Trevor Nored was 22-of-31 passing for 289 yards and two touchdowns, both to wide receiver Jayden Flood-Brown, who caught seven total passes for 162 yards.

But with starting halfback Tay Long still sidelined with an injury he sustained while running for a career-high 137 yards in a week 2 win at Chowan, Barton still hasn’t gotten its running game to where Hester wants it to be, averaging just over 100 rushing yards per game.

The Bulldogs have turned the ball over five times to four by their opponents, a trend that Hester hopes to reverse.

Barton has another road trip ahead next week to Wingate before returning to Truist for an Oct. 19 tussle with now-No. 6 Lenoir-Rhyne.

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