Carson-Newman defeated the University of Virginia’s College at Wise (UVA Wise or Virginia-Wise) by 35 points during the Division II college football game on Saturday. The Eagles did not complete a single pass and finished with zero passing yards.
It is one of the most unusual box scores you will ever see!
Even if the Carson-Newman college football program runs the triple option, the Eagles typically throw downfield a few times a game. That was not necessary during their most recent win.
Carson-Newman defeated Virginia-Wise in blowout fashion.
If you are not a college sports sicko or from the southeast, you have probably never heard of either school. The two campuses are separated by approximately 110 miles from point to point.
Carson-Newman University is a private, Christian liberal arts school located in Jefferson City, Tennessee. It enrolls ~2,800 students split about 50/50 between undergraduate students and graduate students. UVA Wise is located in Wise, Virgina. It enrolls ~2,500 students with the majority in pursuit of a bachelor’s degree.
When it comes to athletics, both schools compete on the Division II level of NCAA competition as members of the South Atlantic Conference. The two college football programs are on two very different trajectories.
The undefeated Bears are ranked inside the Top 25 at 4-0 while Cavaliers dropped to 0-4 with a loss on Saturday. It was a lopsided result. Carson-Newman scored 42 points over the course of four quarters. Virginia-Wise scored only seven in the first quarter.
The final score is one thing. How it got to that point is another.
The Eagles did not complete a single pass during the college football game.
One might assume that Carson-Newman exploited the UVA Wise secondary to score a lot of points through the air and/or used a balance attack to dice up the defense. That was very much not the case. Rather, the exact opposite.
The Bears attempted only one pass. It fell incomplete.
According to the official box score, Carson Newman ran the ball 71 times for 500 yards with an average of 6.9 yards per play. 14 different players recorded a carry.
- Josiah Edwards — 4 carries, 84 yards, 1 touchdown
- Justin Johnson — 15 carries, 77 yards, 3 touchdowns
- Kayden McCoy — 3 carries, 73 yards, 1 touchdown
- Josh Adams — 14 carries, 57 yards
- Trey Gunnings — 11 carries, 54 yards
- Jerome Newland — 1 carries, 39 yards
- Dayshawn Brown — 3 carries, 31 yards, 1 touchdown
- Don Bradley — 2 carries, 23 yards
- Malaki Dowell — 3 carries, 17 yards
- Shooby Coleman — 5 carries, 16 yards
- Eli Graf — 2 carries, 15 yards
- Jaden Jones — 2 carries, 8 yards
- Natarruean Hampton — 3 carries, 8 yards
- John Celestin — 2 carries, 1 yards
Given that the Bears run the flexbone offense, the lack of downfield pass attempts does not come as a huge surprise. The triple option is not known for its verbose passing attack. However, Carson-Newman typically completes at least one pass at some point over the course of four quarters. Just not on Saturday!