South Atlantic Conference = Week 4 Story Lines

No-Showdown in the 'Berry : Even though the Eagles took an early lead, Newberry hammered C-N over the final three quarters to win by 25 points. The gutsy call of the weekend came on the final play of second quarter. Up by 9, coach Todd Knight elected to go for six instead of kick the field goal. That capped a 21-0 2nd quarter and NC never looked back. They enter the AFCA Top 25 but somehow not the D2Football.com poll. Apparently my COUGH COUGH wasn't loud enough. :)

Eerie Game 3 for C-N: Lets go back to 2011 for a minute. Eagles are 2-0 after two very nice offensive outputs. Game three of season, at Lenoir-Rhyne. Second play of game, 66 yard TD pass to go up 7-0. Carson-Newman loses 20-7 and loses the next week to Wingate. Fastforward to 2012, two wins and a road game last Saturday. Second play of game at Newberry in third game of year, 84 yard TD run to go up 7-0. Lose the game 47-22. Crazy huh? Time will tell if C-N gets back on their feet this week against Wingate on CBS Sports Network.

Getting Defensive: Catawba, Wingate and Mars Hill hold their opponents to a combined two touchdowns in the wins Saturday night. No one and I mean NO ONE ever imagined the Indians keeping Tusculum out of the end zone for 60 minutes. Wingate did a great job limiting the Brevard rushing attack while Mars Hill dominated NGU in their home opener. All three will face three more tough offenses this week.

Shack Attack: I mentioned in the D2Football preview magazine that many coaches had given high marks to Shaikel Davis, the new featured back in the Mars Hill offense and man has he produced. He nearly gained 200 yards against the Crusaders and has made many Lion fans, not forget, but breathe easy about Randolph's career being over. The sophomore and his offensive line will have their toughest test with Newberry coming to town.

Bear Necessities : The pre-season SAC favorite Lenoir-Rhyne Bears have been under the radar with the week one loss and the doubt surrounding the quarterback situation. But without a doubt, they enjoyed the bye week to get healthy and a chance to re-establish themselves as the best defense in the league. While the Bears can't pick up a SAC win this weekend, playing North Greenville will give them a chance to get back on the right foot.

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Offensive Helmet Stickers:

WT Murden, QB, & Offensive Line, Newberry : (17-26, 64%, 243 yds, 3TD, 0 INT, 0 Sacks Allowed, 565 yds Total Offense). Murden only attempted 26 passes this week because of the great success the ground game had against the Eagles. He picks up his second helmet sticker in a row, while the Wolves offensive line helped four rushers gain 70+ yards and has yet to give up a sack in 2012.

Shaikel Davis, RB, Mars Hill : (24 car, 190 yds, 2TD). Like Murden, Davis picks up a second straight helmet sticker with a Randolph-esque effort in Tigerville. Davis had positive yards on 23 of his 24 carries with the loss play only dropping one yard.

Bobby Morrison & Xavier Bond, RB, Catawba : (43 car, 221 yds, 1TD) : Morrison and Bond helped the Catawba Indians control the line of scrimmage and time of possession in the win over the Pioneers. Catawba had possession for 40 minutes against TC which limited the offensive possessions for Cordell and the 'Neer offense. It also took pressure off of freshman BJ Sherill, who had a solid game as well.

(Just outside the huddle- John Richt, QB, Mars Hill, Chris Bowden, WR, Wingate, John Gadson, RB, Newberry)

Defensive Helmet Stickers:

Richie Kazazian, LB, Wingate : Kazazian vaulted to the nation's leader in fumble recoveries with 3 on Saturday at Brevard. He scored on one, while being tackled on the five on another. Wingate and Kazazian held BC to one touchdown and 3-17 on third down. Another option team is ahead for the Bulldogs in Carson-Newman.

Apollo Stretch, LB, Newberry : After allowing a TD run by Carson-Newman in the first minute, Stretch and the Newberry defense kept the Eagles out of the endzone for the next 57 minutes to turn in a impressive effort against the number one offense in the SAC. Stretch had 3 tackles for loss, including a sack and seven tackles.

Catawba Secondary : Great group effort to keep the Pioneers passing attack at bay. Cordell did have 33 completions but for only 254 yards, well below his average of 400. The secondary tackled well, as the average reception for TC was a shocking 4.4 yards. Tusculum came into the game averaging 10 yards per catch.

(Just outside the huddle - Michael Gruber, LB, Brevard, Michael Robinson, DB, Mars Hill, Johnny Maxey, DL, Mars Hill)

Special Teams Helmet Stickers:

Matt Sierk, PK/KO, Wingate : Sierk drilled three field goals on the choppy field at Brevard Memorial Stadium. He hit from 45, 19, and 42 to become first Wingate kicker to hit two 40+ yard field goals in same game in 7 seasons. Sierk also had four touchbacks and made four extra points.

Eric Watts, P, Brevard : I know what you're thinking. Can't be Watts again on an 0-4 team. But I saw it in person this week and he needs another sticker. 46 yard average with four of the six punts inside the 20. The first punt was kicked to the moon and fumbled by Wingate returner to set up a BC field goal. Without a doubt, an All-American contender.

(Just outside the huddle - BJ Richmond, KO/P, Mars Hill)


Coaches of the Week

Todd Knight, Newberry & Chip Hester, Catawba : Both coaches have equaled their win total from 2011 already in just four weeks. Knight has taken the luxury of four straight home games and made it count. He has been a great defensive coordinator for a long time but this year the Wolves have a solid offense to complete this team. This week his coaching efforts will be in spotlight again, as his 2012 team goes on road for first time to 2-0 (D2) Mars Hill. Hester and his staff executed an impressive gameplan against TC. The Indians offensive played clock control, running the football right at Tusculum to keep their offense off the field as much as possible.

SAC Week 4 Pick 'Em Helmet Stickers

"bullybully", "ncxcstud" (4-0 records) : Both were impressive on the week, hitting all four picks. The Catawba/Tusculum game ended as a split amongst the pickers and it ended up being difference. Both members pick up first helmet sticker of season.

(Just outside the huddle - Everyone else that finished 3-1)

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An 8 pack of Stats:

46: Games in a row that Tusculum had scored atleast one touchdown before the streak was broken at Catawba on Saturday.

25: The number of penalties called in the Carson-Newman / Newberry game.

11: The number of penalties called on Brevard this season.

80-7: The margin in which Mars Hill has outscored their first two Division II opponents.

2 : Games out of 4 that Catabwa has held an opponent out of the endzone this year, after failing to do so in 2011 and 2010.

1st: The ranking of the Wingate defense in yards per game allowed in the SAC through four games after finishing 8th in the same category in 2011.

156.2 : Efficiency rating of WT Murden through the first four games, which is tops in the SAC.

3rd: The NCAA ranking in turnover margin for Carson-Newman, despite having zero interceptions this year.



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- Ryan ( @RyanBrown_PxP )