VIDEO: Ashley Ingram Interview
JEFFERSON CITY, Tenn. – Carson-Newman head football coach Ashley Ingram has unveiled the Eagles’ 2025 schedule featuring six home dates inside the friendly confines of Burke-Tarr Stadium.
The schedule is like a sandwich. The Eagles play three of their first four at home, and three of their final four at home, but will be on the road for a month in the middle of the season.
For a second straight year, Carson-Newman will play in the NCAA’s recently-approved week zero. The Eagles open the year Saturday, Aug. 30 at noon against West Virginia State. The Eagles and Yellowjackets battled in Institute, W.Va. last season, with C-N prevailing 56-25 in the first meeting between the two schools.
“I’m looking forward to it,” Ingram said. “We get a good team in West Virginia State week one, a team that won more games than it lost last season. Then we had to shift our schedule around with Limestone closing. So we have a bye week in the middle of the year. That break should help us. We’re excited to get going.”
Week two brings a Thursday night game to the banks of Mossy Creek. Carson-Newman welcomes South Carolina Central Christian College on Sept. 4 for a 6 p.m. kick in the first meeting between the schools.
Carson-Newman plays its first road game and opens SAC play on Sept. 13. The Eagles head to Mars Hill to take on the Lions. C-N stole last year’s meeting in Mars Hill 28-27 after scoring 14 points with 90 seconds left in the game aided by the recovery of an onside kick.
C-N caps its run of three home games in four weeks by welcoming in NCAA Playoff participant Lenoir-Rhyne. Kickoff on Sept. 20 from Burke-Tarr Stadium is slated for 1 p.m. C-N and LR did not play last season, the first year the schools didn’t appear on one another’s schedules since 1964.
That brings the Eagles to a stretch of three straight road games in four weeks. On Sept. 27, C-N heads back to Irwin Belk Stadium to take on Wingate in a rematch of last year’s SAC title game (there’s no SAC title game this year as the league moves away from divisions). C-N opens October at Emory & Henry.
The games at Wingate and E&H lead C-N into a bye week on Oct. 11. The Eagles were originally scheduled to face Limestone that day prior to the institution’s closure in early May (South Carolina Central Christian takes the Saints spot on the schedule). The Eagles conclude their road swing Oct. 18 at Anderson.
“Obviously the league is great,” Ingram said. “We’re really front-loaded with the teams that have had lots of success here in recent memory. Going back-to-back years to MHU, Wingate and Emory & Henry. But there’s no slouches in the back half of the year. We have to be ready to roll from day one.”
It will be a literal and figurative Homecoming for C-N on Oct. 25 after 35 straight days away from home. The Eagles will play host to their annual Homecoming game against UVA Wise with a 3 p.m. kick.
C-N starts the month of November at home against Catawba on the first, before travelling to Newberry on Nov. 8. C-N will celebrate Senior Day on Nov. 15 when it plays in the Second Oldest Rivalry Game in the State of Tennessee against Tusculum.
All Carson-Newman games are broadcast on the Eagle Sports Network. Airtime is one hour before kickoff beginning with the AEC Tailgate Show on Joy 620 (WRJZ-AM, Knoxville), Mix 105.5 (WSEV-FM, Sevierville) and online at cneagles.com/live. All home games can be found on FloSports with a video stream available at cneagles.com/FloFB.